Jordan-Small baseball squad shows strength against Waynflete

Raymond seventh grader Jacob Buckley bats
during a baseball game against Waynflete at
Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond on
Friday, May 28. Buckley singled in the first
and third innings and scored on both of those
innings. Raymond put in a solid effort, but
Waynflete took a 19-6 win.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA   

By Matt Pascarella

As the season nears its end, Raymond’s Jordan-Small Middle School baseball team wanted to show what it could do when matched up against Waynflete at Raymond on Friday, May 28.

Waynflete jumped to an early lead, but Raymond’s offense proved to be tough to hold down and forced a tie. Although Waynflete slowly pulled away, Raymond wasn’t far behind and the Jordan-Small Middle School team stole several bases, exhibited some great skill batting and turned in some nice fielding. Despite a strong effort shown by Raymond, Waynflete pulled away and won 19-6.

In the top of the first, Waynflete loaded up the bases and got a grand slam which brought in four runs. There was some impressive fielding from Raymond eighth grader Josh Plummer who got a double play by catching the ball and then tagged a runner headed to second base. Plummer later tagged out another runner who had taken a lead off first base.

In the bottom of the first inning, Raymond eighth grader Griffin Richmond doubled. Raymond seventh grader Eli Powers walked and then seventh grader Jacob Buckley singled. Richmond scored. Plummer doubled and Powers scored. Raymond eighth grader Erik Dupont ripped a long ball into the outfield and was thrown out on his way to second base. However, this brought in Buckley and Plummer who scored. The game was tied at four after one inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, Waynflete went up 10-4 but Jordan-Small attempted a rally. Raymond’s Buckley smashed the ball to get on base for a single. Plummer crushed the ball and tripled. Buckley scored. Later in the inning, Plummer stole home. Raymond had made progress, with the score now 10-6, Waynflete.

As the innings progressed, Waynflete pulled away and while Raymond put in a solid effort, they could not catch their opponent.

“We are improving on what we do as a whole,” said Raymond’s Jordan-Small Middle School coach Jim Beers. “They are getting better at knowing the game. In four games we’ve come a long way.”

Plummer said he did well with his pitching, and he did ok with fielding and batting. He did mention an error at shortstop, but other than that he said he thought he played well overall.

Plummer said that there are a lot of inexperienced players on the team and everyone, including him, needed to work on their own skills. Yet, overall, he thought the team did okay this season. <