By the time the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association (SLABA) playoffs start next week, the Jefferson County Blazers will have played in more than 30 games, three times as many as the other five teams in their league.
Going into doubleheaders Tuesday against the Chaminade Flyers and Wednesday against the Granite City (Ill.) Tribe Scouts after deadline, Jefferson County had an overall record of 17-10-2 and league mark of 6-1, good for first place. Before those games, the Flyers and Scouts each had yet to play 10 games this summer. The two top teams in the standings will meet in a best two-of-three championship series. Granite City (3-2, 4-5) was in second place going into this week. Waterloo (Ill.) has won the last two SLABA titles.
The Blazers are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, which included a 9-1 SLABA win over the Bandits (2-4, 3-9) on June 30 during last week’s heatwave.
JC head coach Ed Pottgen said the players and coaches all needed a week’s respite from the heat and grueling schedule, but they’re focused on one thing now that the Fourth of July is over and the playoffs are beckoning.
“I’m anxious to get the playoffs going,” Pottgen said. “It’s been a huge joy to coach these kids and in this week off, I feel like I’ve been missing them. I hope we can finish the goals we set out at the beginning of the year, which was to win it all.”
All season, Pottgen has said this version of the Blazers has the best defense he’s coached. He said they’re on a record-setting pace in turning double plays.
Now JC is bolstered by the return of 6-9 pitcher Colton Hicks, who will be a senior at Hillsboro High this fall. Hicks was injured during the spring season with the Hawks. He pitched for the Blazers for the first time on June 25 against Midland Navy. Hicks pitched all three innings in a 0-0 tie that was called due to weather.
Hicks was back on the mound against the Bandits, and pitched all seven innings, with four hits allowed and six strikeouts. Hicks could be in line to start one of the playoff games if the Blazers get in.
“We were only going to give him a few innings (against Midland), and it was a rainout so it was perfect, so we knew he was ready for that next start,” Pottgen said. “You could see he was getting into the rhythm and he said he felt good afterward. He has great command. The long arms coming at you. He has a sharp curveball and a good changeup. He’s a 6-9 control pitcher. He doesn’t give up barrels often.”
With 12 hits against the Bandits, the Blazers didn’t have any trouble putting barrel to ball. First baseman Jackson LaPlante has triples in his last two games.
“He is one of our leaders. He’s a great athlete, student, kid. He keeps everyone loose on the bench. On the field, you can always depend on his glove at first base. Hitting-wise, he got down on himself but he cleared the bases with one of those triples, and he will be missed after this season.”
Kannon French is likely to start one of the two playoff games, along with Hicks. French leads JC this season in innings pitched (36) and has a spotless 6-0 record. He’s struck out 49 batters and has an ERA of 1.16. French also leads the team in hitting, and was tickling .400 at .397 going into this week.
Brody Green (.391), Ethan French (.389) and Landen Palmer (.362) all have played 23 or more games this summer and their bats, combined with the tight defense and two aces on the mound, will make the Blazers a hard team to beat.
“They take great at-bats, and we’re getting the (opposing starting) pitchers out early in games,” Pottgen said.
“If we do have a walk or error, I have the confidence in our defense to get a double play. I’ve never seen a team get that many before. If we keep playing like we have been, I can see us cruising to the SLABA championship.”
Editor's note: This story was posted before the Blazers played Tuesday or Wednesday. For an update on those games, read next week's Leader.