Jimmies ready for busy stretch

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The Jamestown College baseball team will be busy the next couple days.

Today, they play once in Mayville before a doubleheader Saturday at the DAC Round Robin Tournament. Then on Sunday, they hop on a plane and fly to San Marcos, Calif., for the A.I.I./Independent Conference Tournament.

There is nothing at stake in Mayville the next two days in terms of conference or seeding for future tournaments, but playing their in-state rivals should provide plenty of motivation.

“Anytime you’re squaring off with conference opponents it’s meaningful and those are big games,” said JC coach Tom Hager. “And with what we have coming up next week, we want to play good baseball and be prepared for California.”

Hager plans to fine tune as many pieces as possible. A lot of the team’s pitchers will log innings and they also want to get as many hitters at bats as possible.

“We want everybody to be sharp for next week, but at the same time these are games we want to win,” Hager said.

The Jimmies (28-14-1) have played really good baseball the past month. They’re 13-4 in April and all four losses are by just 1 run.

They’ve outscored their opponents by 109 runs this season 299-190. Their team batting average is up over .300 at .302, while the ERA has steadily gone down to its current 4.50.

They’ve done it without the services of freshman outfielder Matt Achter, who suffered major damage to his shoulder in early April. At the time the Fargo product was in the top 10 in the NAIA at hitting at .424.

“Matt’s improved so much in the last year. It will be fun to watch how much he improves going forward,” Hager said.

The Jimmies and Mayville State are the only two teams from the DAC qualified for the A.I.I. next week, meaning Dickinson State and Valley City State will empty all their bullets this weekend. The Jimmies play both on Saturday.

“They’re playing to knock us off and we know firsthand both of those teams have good players and are going to play well,” Hager said. “We have to be sharp and focused if we want to be successful, so there’s plenty for us to play for.”

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jimmies, baseball, softball