Five games in five days: Edgewood baseball makes call to arms before busy stretch

Edgewood baseball coach Bob Jones spent part of last week trying to work a couple of new arms into the rotation.

He gave Isaac Lawson and Aiden Goerges, who have each made just one short relief appearance all year, a chance to face live batters in a game Jones calls '21 outs.'

The reason? A stretch like the one his team will face starting Tuesday, five games in five days, including three Friday and Saturday in the Jasper, and really seven games over eight.

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The run includes three Western Indiana Conference games, against Greencastle (on Tuesday, the Herald-Times Baseball Game of the Week), Northview and Owen Valley, assignments that usually draw a team's No. 1 or 2 arm. So it's a nice chance for the 5-8 Mustangs to get on a roll and prep for the postseason.

The three games at Jasper include the host Wildcats, who won last year's 4A state title, 4A Carmel and a rematch with Northview, which will give them taste of what it'll be like at sectional facing a team for the second time.

"We're toying with some things," Jones said. "(Pitching coach) Jake Bauer is piecing that together. We're thinking maybe we can get them some work in and limit them to a certain number of pitches so they can be available later on.

"We might do that at Jasper to make sure we have someone available for Owen Valley."

Building more depth

Jones had hoped to have a couple more lefties in his arsenal, senior Gabe Headdy and sophomore Austin Rains, but arm injuries foiled those plans. Headdy, who made six relief appearances last year, has been cleared to begin rehab, but he's not ready to unleash his arm yet.

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"We put him in center (with Edgewood up 17-0 against South Putnam), someplace where the ball probably won't find him," Jones said. "So of course they lace one to the bottom of the fence in center.

"He picked it up and tossed it to his brother Mack to throw it in. He said his arm was still hurting. It's something you can joke about when you're up 17-0."

So for now, it's Goerges and Lawson getting the call.

Thummel leading the way

Conner Thummel (3-1, 1.05 ERA, 27 strikeouts to six walks over 20 innings) has established himself not only as Edgewood's ace, but also its top hitter (.619, 13 RBI).

But given mandated rest periods based on how many pitches an athlete can throw, Jones is trying to figure out how best to use him in the next week while still keeping those WIC games, and that meeting with Jasper, at the top of the list.

"We're going to rely on him to keep going like he has," Jones said.

Jones wasn't sure if he wanted to use Thummel against a depleted South Putnam team (that had just eight players) on Wednesday, but not doing so would have meant going 13 days between starts.

Jones kept Thummel in his back pocket when Edgewood faced West Vigo (the Vikings did the same with their ace, but still got a one-hitter from Rhyan Shaffer), in case there's a showdown at sectional.

The rest of Edgewood's staff has pleased Jones for the most part.

Other known quantities

• Sophomore Ziggy Teran (1-1) has been more than solid, posting a 1.34 ERA over 15 innings, striking out 13 and walking seven. He's also hit three batters. Teran is also a catcher and still looking to make better contact at the plate.

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"We saw some interesting things last year and we liked what we saw," Jones said. "So we were pretty sure going into this year and after a few practices that he would definitely help us, mainly on the mound.

"He does a good job mixing his pitches and has a good breaking ball and changeup."

• Jacob Waugh has put in 14 2/3 innings with two starts and made three relief appearances against Bloomington South, West Vigo and Bedford North Lawrence. Without a real strong fastball, his breaking ball and changeup are his go to pitches.

• Carson Druckrey, a sophomore, has made two starts, both against 4A competition. He was hit hard by Evansville Central and had a better outing against Columbus East.

"He's hit and miss," Jones said. "He has games, he may go out, he may struggle, then all of sudden, he comes out and does well. So we're looking for consistency."

• Brayden Ault has picked up a couple of starts this year and his last one against Martinsville was a good bounce back after a tough inning at Bedford North Lawrence.

"Ault did a good job last week," Jones said. "Catching and pitching, those are two different arms. We've seen some good things out of him, so we're working more on his pitching than his catching."

• Leaving Jacob Boggs (0-1, 5.83) for last makes sense since the sophomore has taken on the role as closer or sorts, though he has yet to be credited with a save. He struggled against West Vigo and Columbus East, but otherwise has been solid in eight appearances.

He's struck out 18 and walked eight over 12 innings.

"He's been able to come in and throw strikes," Jones said. "He's been real consistent coming in so we've adopted him as a closer.

"But maybe we'll have to give him a start and see how he does."

Week ahead

Other games of interest this week:

Bloomington North (6-7-1) travels to Bedford North Lawrence on Tuesday and at Owen Valley (10-2) on Thursday.

Bloomington South (10-6, 3-0) has another Conference Indiana game at home against Southport on Wednesday and then Saturday heads to take on Franklin and one of the country's top prospects in Vanderbilt recruit Max Clark (.565, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 19 SB/ 2-0, 0.44. 39 strikeouts, 2 hits over 16 innings).

Eastern Greene (6-6), in the middle of a homestand, takes on SWIAC rivals White River Valley (Wednesday) and Bloomfield (Friday).

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Five games, five days: Edgewood makes call to arms before busy stretch