Josh Weir|The Repository
NORTH CANTON — The term “ace” is not part of Jackson head coach Bill Gamble’s baseball vernacular when it comes to his pitching staff this season.
At least not yet.
Jaxon Clark displayed all the familiar signs of a bonafide No. 1 arm on Tuesday. The senior right-hander tossed six no-hit innings as the Polar Bears cruised past Hoover 8-3.
The last two matchups at Dick Miller Field between the rivals oozed with drama. Jackson was down to its last out before rallying and eventually winning the 2019 district championship game in extra innings. Last season, Hoover earned a season sweep of Jackson with a walk-off grand slam by Ty Sowers.
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On Tuesday, any doubt was zapped early after Jackson scored three runs in each of the first two innings to knock out Miami recruit Nick Vardavas (1-1). Clark took it from there, striking out 10 and allowing only three base runners (none of them got past first base) as he improved to 3-0 on the season.
“He did what a Tuesday guy is supposed to do,” Gamble said.
The Vikings beat the Polar Bears twice last year, ending Jackson’s 55-game league winning streak and setting themselves up for their first league title since 2013.
The Polar Bears (4-2, 2-1) made sure to blast “Take Me Home, Country Roads” from their dugout shortly after Tuesday’s game. The John Denver classic is a staple of Jackson celebrations, and Hoover played it loudly from its bus last year after winning on the Polar Bears’ home turf.
“This means a lot,” Clark said. “Beating Hoover has been the focus of our program since we lost to them last year. Those losses last year crushed us. Being able to come out here and beat them on their field, to get Game 1, that’s huge for us.”
Clark, who is signed to play forAdrian (Mich.) College, was at 89 pitches after six innings. A long top half of the seventh did not help his chances of finishing off the no-hitter, said Gamble, who decided to pull Clark with Jackson leading 8-0.
“We’ve got to think longevity,” Gamble said.
“I mean, I wanted to stay in, but he had good reasons,” Clark added with a smile. “I was at (almost) 90 pitches and at the end of the day we’re going to get that win. I don’t want to get hurt. So I understand it.
“It sucks, but I can’t do anything about it.”
Vardavas broke up the no-hitter with a bloop single off Mikey Olivieri to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Jack McKelley’s RBI single four batters later ruined the shutout. Andrew Roach followed with a two-run single for Hoover (3-1, 2-1).
Thus sums up the highlights for the defending league champs, who are retooling a bit after graduating studs such as Federal League Player of the Year Connor Ashby (Kent State) and Owen Blackledge (TCU). The Vikings committed three errors during a three-run second inning for Jackson and basically didn’t do anything well Tuesday other than Ricky Freeman’s 4.1 innings of scoreless relief.
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“There’s days you come out and you feel like this game is easy,” Hoover head coach Bryan Ashby said. “Then there’s games like tonight and it’s like, ‘This is the hardest game in the world.’ That’s what happened to us. So we look forward to (Wednesday). That’s the challenge and we’ll be ready to go.”
Weather permitting, Jackson and Hoover will renew acquaintances Wednesday at Jackson.
Junior Garrett Wright and senior Travis Feucht led Jackson’s bats with two hits and two RBIs apiece.
Wright’s laser double in the first was misplayed in center and scored Nick Zito for a 1-0 Jackson lead. Feucht later came through with a two-out, two-run single as the Polar Bears led 3-0.
Sophom*ore Carter Mottice added two singles and an RBI for a Jackson team that Gamble still is figuring out.
“There are a lot of questions,” he said. “I think we’re learning how to play to our style of baseball: Pound the zone, play great defense and keep putting pressure on the opponent offensively in many ways. You can’t just hit doubles in this league. The pitching is too good. If you want to make deep tournament runs, you can’t do that.
“We have to learn to play to our style and stay to our strengths. That’s what these guys are buying into.”
Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @jweirREP
