Apr 23, 2018 By Kevin Harrison for The 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE TWP — Jefferson-Morgan went on the road to earn a 17-0 Section 2-A victory against Geibel Catholic on Monday afternoon.

The Rockets pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of five Gator errors in the three-inning game that was stopped by the 15-run mercy rule.

The Rockets (5-2, 4-2) got a big day at the plate from No. 9 hitter Logan Rhodes. He collected two hits, one of those a double, drove in four runs and scored a run.

“I’m happy for Logan because he is only a freshman,” J-M coach John Curtis said. “He had a tough day at Waynesburg last Friday. We got together and worked on some things over the weekend and he got a couple of hits today. I have a bunch of kids that want to work and want to learn and that’s awesome.”

The Rockets took advantage of four Geibel errors in the first inning to put up seven runs on four hits. Zack Gamble had an RBI double. He scored on the first of three hits from winning pitcher Jake Broadwater, and Rhodes drove in his first two runs with a base hit.

“We made too many errors today,” Geibel’s Shawn Chory said. “I felt my pitchers gave a good effort. We had balls hit right at us and we didn’t make the routine play and you can’t do that in varsity baseball. The kids are working hard but you can’t give teams extra outs.”

Geibel (0-6, 0-7) did manage to put a couple of runners on in the bottom of the first but couldn’t get the key hit. Jesse Yourish drew a walk but was forced at second on Isaiah Krizner’s ground ball. He moved to second on a wild pitch, but Broadwater struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

Jefferson-Morgan put the game out of reach in the second, scoring nine runs on eight hits. Broadwater lead off the inning with a double and moved to third on Justin Maddich’s single. Maddich advanced to second, then Devin Stoneking hit a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Broadwater. Maddich tried to move to third but was gunned down on a strong throw from Yourish.

“The scores may not always reflect it but the kids are getting better,” Chory said. “We’ve got a long way to go but we’re making progress. The big things for the kids is to keep their heads up and continue to try to do the right things over the last few weeks of the season.”

With two outs, the Rockets came on to score eight more runs, getting big hits from Rhodes on a two-run double and Stoneking with a two-run single. Gamble, Broadwater and Maddich also picked up RBI as the Rockets sent 13 men to the plate. They added one more run in the top of the third when Ayden Pratt and Rhodes drew walks and Pratt scored on Bryce Bedillion’s single.

“We’re really young this year, starting five freshmen and two sophomores,” Curtis said. “I have only one senior but the kids are growing and learning everyday.

“They’re starting to do some good things.”

Jefferson-Morgan will be at home today for a 12:30 p.m. game against Monessen.