Jimtown High School

Jimmie Bats Hot in 6-0 Rout of Bethany’s Bruins By Red Williams Free Lance Sportswriter GOSHEN – There’s no option of using a punter in high school baseball. Pressed by a short bench, Jimtown’s Jimmies sent Aiden Carithers to the hill Tuesday afternoon in a 6-0 romp over Bethany Christian at Bodiker Field in Waterford. Carithers, who hasn’t pitched since little league, fired a one-hit complete-game shutout against the Bruins. The sturdy, 6-foot right- hander said he was relying on his fastball with different arm angles to keep BC off-kilter. And he helped his own cause by scoring the Jimmies’ first run. (Normally, Carithers plays third base.) He held the Bruins hitless into the fourth inning. He struck out five and walked just two, retiring 11 of the last 12 batters for the Bruins. He got great offensive support from his teammates. Shortstop Ben McAllister went 3- for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run, and left fielder Mason Armstrong matched that, and stretched the Jimmies’ lead to 4-0 with a towering home run over the leftfield fence to lead off the sixth frame. “It was a fastball middle- up,” he said. “I knew I caught it pretty good, but didn’t realize it was a homer until the leftfielder ran out of room.” Cole Dutton and Ashton Pulasko each had a pair of hits. Bethany’s only threat came in the fifth inning when leftfielder Eliott Borden got hit with a pitch and advanced to third with a stolen base and a fielder’s choice. Jim Fredwell, assistant coach for Jimtown, managed this game, because head coach Todd Cook was out of town for a death in the family. Fredwell said, “One of the big things was no errors. And we’ve been looking for selfless leadership, and I believe that showed up today.” The Jimmies now are 6- 4 and continue their road trip with a visit Wednesday to Mishawaka Marian. Jim Kraft, head coach for the Bruins (3-5) searched for a bright spot for his squad. “I thought we had better at-bats in this game than usual and hit the ball harder. Also, they showed better con- fidence in throwing the ball to get runners on base.”