Pictured are the Easley baseball players in the dugout rooting on the team to victory over JL Mann.
Photo courtesy of Alicia Tolbert
Pictured is Easley catcher Aaron Tolbert (center) with pitchers Trey Sutton (left) and Zach Jochimsen (right) before the game last week. The 1-2 punch of Sutton and Jochimsen led the way in Easley’s win over JL Mann. Tolbert has provided that senior leadership at catcher for the Green Wave.
Photo courtesy of Alicia Tolbert
EASLEY — JL Mann coach John Bolton and Easley baseball coach Gill Payne have quite similar coaching philosophies. They like to put pressure on their opponents.
“We kind of pride ourselves on putting the ball in play and putting pressure on people,” Bolton said, right before taking on the Green Wave last week. “We like to run and we’re pretty aggressive. I tell my kids all the time that I don’t care what your (batting) average is, but I care what your on-base percentage is and helping us find ways to win ballgames.”
Easley ended up winning the game, 8-5, behind a couple of standout pitching performances by senior Trey Sutton and junior Zach Jochimsen. Sutton threw 4.1 innings, gave up just 2 hits, scattered 5 runs (3 earned), walked 3 and struck out 4 batters. Jochimsen threw 2.2 innings, scattered 3 hits, and struck out 2 batters.
Plus, EHS senior catcher Aaron Tolbert went 2-for-3 at the plate.
“They (Sutton and Jochimsen) are fighters,” said Tolbert, just after catching the complete game. “They don’t have the 95-mile per hour fastball like some of those guys do, but they just fight for us. I’d rather have that than overpowering. They just fight for us. I love that. They just want it more. We’re resilient. We fight.”
Added Coach Payne, about the 1-2 punch of Sutton and Jochimsen, “I was so proud of Trey Sutton. Trey just goes out there and hits his spots. He’s a low to mid 80s guy. He doesn’t throw his fastball a ton. He’s got such a good cutter and change up. One of the biggest surprises for me is Jochimsen. He works fast and throws strikes. He hits his spots and throws two or three pitches for strikes. More than that, he thinks he throws 95 when he gets out on the mound. He just challenges guys. He went after their No. 3 guy and got him to fly out to center field.”
In the bottom of the second inning, Easley extended their lead to 5-1 when freshman Levi Holcombe hit a bloop single to center field and Tolbert delivered an RBI single to left field.
Then in the fourth inning, junior designated hitter Walker Cox bounced a 2-run single to center field for a 7-1 lead.
Cox is mainly known as a starting pitcher and has already committed to the University of South Carolina, but he has added some punch to the Green Wave offense this season.
“It’s been really fun,” Cox said after the win. “Coach Payne and a lot of the guys just believed in me from day one. It didn’t matter what anyone said, but they knew I could go in there and hit. I got in that box and all the pressure had been relieved. It had been set off my shoulders and I was ready.”
Easley improved to 4-3 on the season and 1-1 in the region.
Coach Payne was just happy how his team bounced back against a top-notch JL Mann team.
“They responded,” said Coach Payne. “They got their teeth kicked in the other night by 10 runs and we made mistakes. We made mistakes tonight too. The game wasn’t really even close except our mistakes (errors) let them back in it. For them to come back like that and finish like that, they needed that.”
Not to be overlooked in the win for Easley was lead-off hitter Jonathan Sonderfan who went 0-for-1 at the plate with 4 runs scored.
A quality win: Dawson Shiffer, the No. 3 hitter in the lineup for JL Mann, entered the game hitting close to .700 on the season with 2 home runs. Shiffer ended the night against Easley 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Senior pitcher Teddy Garner, who throws between 88 and 92 miles per hour for JL Mann, was a University of South Carolina commit until a coaching change at the school and then he decommitted. Garner’s stat line against Easley last week: 6 innings, 4 hits, 8 runs (5 earned), 6 walks and 11 strikeouts. They slipped to 3-4 on the season after the loss to Easley and 1-1 in the region.
From the cheap seats: One fan walked over by me after the sixth inning – right after Coach Payne had just got kicked out of the game – and said to me: “Are you getting your moneys worth?”
“Yep” I said.
Then, Coach Spitz handled the coaching duties on the third-base line. It didn’t show up in the box score, but it sure seemed to motivate the team.
Outlook on Green Wave: Easley lost a great group of seniors last season and so many of these returning players are finding their new roles with clutch performances. You can’t count this team out!
Recent win for EHS: Easley got past Travelers Rest 6-4 recently at Devil Dog Stadium. No. 3 hitter Walker Cox went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Tolbert (1-for-2) got the other hit for the Green Wave. Cox also threw the first three innings of the game to get the win, scattered 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 2 batters. Colton Irvin came on in relief to pitch the final inning of the game to get the save.
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.