Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada Blue Jays Take Second In 7A Conference

For the second time this season history was made by the Nevada Bluejay baseball team.

First, the Jays beat Prescott for the first time earlier this season. Then, the Nevada nine made its first trip to the regional tournament in Horatio Monday by finishing second in the 7A South district tourney at Stamps.

In the first round of the tourney, the Jays manhandled Gurdon 14-5 behind the pitching of Tony Key.

The Jays opened with four runs in the top of the first, as Julius Gulley, Sam Evans, Todd Evans and Key all scored.

On the other hand, Key fanned two and walked one before shutting the door on the Devils.

Nevada added a run in the top of the second when T. Evans scored again.

Gurdon went quietly as Key fanned the side.

The Jays posted a five-spot in the third on a two-out rally. Ricardo Young cranked up his wayback machine with a homer to get the rally going.

This was followed by a double from Gulley and an RBI single from S. Evans. Kevin Marlar walked with T. Evans reaching on an error. Key belted a double, scoring on an error by the centerfielder.

The Devils were again fanned by Key in the bottom of the third.

Sam Mason had his wayback machine on to start the fourth as he took one out of the park. However, the next three batters went down in order.

Gurdon finally got to key in the bottom of the inning with a pair of scores by Justin and Josh Griffin.

T. Evans scored for the fourth time of the game as he singled, advanced on Key's one-bagger and went home on Kretz's single.

Brandon Gattis scored for Gurdon in the Devils's portion of the frame.

The Jay offense was held in check for the only time of the day in the top of the sixth, though the Nevada squad did get Gulley as far as third.

Key and the staunch Jay defense was impenetrable in the bottom of the inning, as Nevada kept the Devils ice cold.

For good measure, the Jays added a pair in the top of the seventh when T. Evans and Key scored.

Though the game was out of hand, the Devils never gave up and added two in the seventh as Jennings and Paul McMillan scored.

The win advanced the Jays to a date with the Yellowjackets in the finals.

Both teams fought tooth and nail, but the Jays committed nine errors in the first, giving up nine runs, finally succumbing 14-11.

The Jays went down in order in the top of the first and took the field behind the pitching of Terry Sanders.

Stamps jumped all over the Jays because of the mistakes, which began with an error in left to allow Ervin to reach. Three errors were made on the next play, one by the right fielder, one by the first baseman and the third by the shortstop.

This was followed by an error at second when Meeler batted.

The sixth batter of the frame, Sanders, reached on the second baseman's second error. Errors were also made by the third baseman, two more in right and one in center before the Jays got out of the inning.

Following a horrendous first frame, the Jays defense settled down and played solid ball until the sixth, when three more errors occurred.

The Jays began their climb out of the hole in the second starting with Key cranking up his wayback machine for a homer. Kretz and Mason singled, with Kretz scoring on Young's single.

Stamps went down in order in the bottom of the frame.

Nevada added a trio of runs in the top of the third, narrowing the score to 9-7.

Marlar singled, and was followed on the bases by T. Evans and Key who walked. All three later scored.

Stamps posted two to its tally in the bottom of the third, starting with a single from Hampton. He scored on a double by Ervin, who scored when Dunbar singled.

S. Evans doubled to begin the fourth, scoring when T. Evans doubled.

It was one, two, three for the Jackets in their part of the inning.

However, the Jays were also quiet in the top of the fifth, as they couldn't advance a runner from third to home.

Sanders kept Stamps in check again in the fifth, though the Jackets also got a runner as far as third.

Nevada's offense fired its final salvo on the top of the sixth, pushing three runs across the plate.

Marlar and T. Evans walked, scoring when Key doubled. Key scored when Jarvis singled. This tied the game at 11-11.

The Jackets, though, had just enough gas left in their tank to finish Nevada off as Stamps scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, with the help of three errors.

Still, the second place finish in the district tilt was good enough to earn the Jays a berth in the regional tourney.

The Jays had an overall record of 8-9 and were 2-4 in league play.

Coach Jeff Steed said there were several game which could have gone either way and improved the Jays' record. In addition, Nevada had to forfeit a game to Stephens when the officials didn't show.

Steed said the primary reason the Jays did well this year has been the right arm of Key, who posted an earned run average of 2.07 on the season with a 7-3 record.

Key, he said, pitched 71 innings this season, striking out 113 batters.

However, this righthander wasn't merely an ace starter. He could also swing the bat. Key, Steed said, hit .630 on the season, with nine doubles, 27 RBIs and a total of seven home runs. His on base percentage was .786, which means he seldom walked.

Three other members of the Jays had batting averages above .350. T. Evans recorded a .353 average, with Kretz batting .419 and Gulley hitting .352.

As a team, the Jays had 119 hits in 363 at bats. They also had 12 homers and a team batting average of .327.

Gulley was 19 of 54 with two homers for his .352 average. Ricardo Young was four of 13 with a dinger and a .308 average.

T. Evans connected on 12 of 34 at bats for his .353 mark, while S. Evans was 17 of 51 for a .333 average.

Kretz had a homer in his 18 of 43 effort and .419 average, as Jace Jarvis was eight of 46 and a .174 average. Sam Mason was seven of 40 with a homer and .175 average.

Marlar boasted a .333 batting average nailing nine of 27 shots.

Key was 17 of 31 with seven long balls for his .630 mark, while Casey Curtis was eight of 24 at the plate for a .333 average.

"I'm pleased with their effort," Steed said of the Jays. "They worked hard all year. There have been times they could have given up, but they didn't. They stuck with it and played hard. Now, they're getting their reward."

The previous best season for the Jays was 4-11.

Steed said the Jays will be losing three senior starters from this team, but there were some freshmen who showed a lot of promise during this campaign oh the diamond.

"I feel we'll be a contender in years to come," Steed said. "The biggest thrill was the 6-3 win over Prescott earlier this year, but going to the regional tournament is the highlight of the season."