JJ Pearce Game 1- 3/14/23: 

Starting off their district play against JJ Pearce, the Rangers look to dominate the district to gain momentum looking for a spot in playoffs. Junior Joe Allen took the bump for game one at home on Tuesday of spring break. Allen had early success in the non-district play posting an ERA of 0.875, the lowest on the team. But Pearce got to him early scoring 2 runs in the first inning and 4 runs in the third causing the Rangers to pull Allen. Joe Allen had four strikeouts and allowed five hits while walking four batters.

Then the Rangers turned to Sophomore Dillon Brandt. Brandt, formerly a starter in the non-district play, also had a ton of success early in the season. Brandt went two and two-thirds innings 

allowing two earned runs. After Brandt, Junior Will Whitehead pitched the final inning allowing no runs. The Rangers’ offense didn’t keep up with Pearce nor supported their pitching staff. The Rangers only scratched across two runs on five hits. The Rangers suffered a hard 2-9 loss in the first game of district play.

” It was a disappointing game. We have a lot more in us and we’ll prove that Thursday” -Pitcher Jaxx Rigelsky ’24

JJ Pearce Game 2- 3/16/23: 

The Rangers look to bounce back and spilt the series with an away win against Pearce on Thursday March 16th. The Rangers were confident with Senior pitching ace Luke Isett on the mound. Isett has dominated pitching for the Rangers for the last two years, facing hostile environments regularly. Pearce had a great crowd for a midday game during spring break. Isett went for all seven innings throwing just under one hundred pitches, allowing only three earned runs with four strikeouts.

“It was easy for me to pitch with confidence on Thursday knowing that my team was behind me, bringing energy and being there to support me. ” -Luke Isett ’23

The Ranger’s offense really shined with sixteen hits with almost every batter notching at least one hit. Senior Jonah Timmons shined with a four-for-five day at the plate driving in two runs. Senior Nick Barber also went three for five and freshman James Jorgensen went three for four. The Rangers really put it together winning 8-4.

 “We were all really motivated after losing on Tuesday. Coming into the Thursday, I felt like we had good energy as a team, which helped me individually to maintain a high level of intensity and focus during each at bat.” -Jonah Timmons ’23

The Rangers take on Lake Highlands on the road on Tuesday, March 24th, hoping to stack their district success. Stay tuned for The Roundup‘s weekly baseball reports and other news!