The No. 1 state-ranked Spalding High baseball team, which is preparing to face the No. 6 state-ranked Columbus Blue Devils in the Class AAA state finals Monday afternoon, is known as a group of players who can smash the ball out of just about any ball park in the state. What may be overlooked is that they’re not bad on the pitcher’s mound, either.

The Jags (31-3) have hit the ball so well that others may not realize how good they have been on the “bump” (the nickname for the pitcher’s mound). Spalding recorded 10 shutouts during the regular season, allowing 61 total runs (2.4 per game). During their four rounds of the state playoffs, the Jags have allowed 52 runs (5.7 per game), which was inflated due to the Woodward Academy series in which the War Eagles scored 10 and 14 runs in the two games.

“I think for us to get to 31-3, we’re doing something well this season,” said Jags head coach Mickey Moody. “We’re not only playing good defense and hitting well, we’re doing well on the bump. Our pitching staff has continued to grind and they’ve done an outstanding job all year.”

Moody said that his pitchers — seniors Austin Hurt, Nathan Skinner, Dylan Griffin and Caleb Gavel and juniors Austin Smith and Casey Moody — have been effective enough to keep the Jags in games.

“Have we been dominant? At times during the regular season, we have,” Mickey Moody said. “But once you get to this level of the playoffs, it’s hard to be consistently dominant. These guys we’re playing are very, very good.”

Coach Moody said the key for his staff is to just make quality pitches. He and the rest of the coaching staff constantly get on the pitchers to “repeat your delivery.”

“When I say repeat your delivery I mean to keep the same mechanics and the same throwing motion and velocity over and over,” he said. “What I want our guys to do on the mound is to get their location down and if they make a mistake pitch, just bear down and get the next pitches together.”

A good test for the Jags’ pitchers was their semifinals series against Woodward Academy. Due to the fact the War Eagles have a small field, pop ups in most fields are home runs at Woodward. The Jags bore down and got the necessary outs when needed despite allowing 24 runs in two games.

“The most important part for us on the mound is to make sure we get ahead and stay ahead in the count,” Hurt said. “We also want to control the tempo and hit our spots.”

Griffin said he has to work on his biggest problem — overthrowing.

“As a pitcher, I can’t overthrow. I’m working on that,” Griffin said. “As a pitcher, you also want to keep your composure on the mound.”

“I want to throw strikes and pitch to contact,” said Austin Smith. “A pitcher has to trust his pitches.”

Despite giving up so many runs in the Woodward series, the Jags pitchers are still confident. To a man, they all said they expected Woodward to score runs since the field was so small.

“You have to have confidence on the mound at all times,” said Casey Moody. “Also as a pitcher, you must be able to locate your pitches.”

Skinner, who comes in relief, said his main job out of the bullpen is to “keep the hitters guessing.”

“When a pitcher comes into a game in relief, the mindset is to do whatever it takes to get the job done,” he said.

HEAD TO HEAD

No. 6-ranked Columbus Blue Devils (28-8)

Category:

Runs Scored (per game) Runs Allowed (per game)

Regular Season: 223 (8.5) 105 (4.0)

Playoffs: 80 (8.0) 35 (3.5)

vs. Like Opponents: 35 (8.7) 29 (7.2)

Overall: 303 (8.4) 140 (3.8)



No. 1-ranked Spalding Jaguars (31-3)

Category:

Runs Scored (per game) Runs Allowed (per game)

Regular Season: 269 (10.7) 61 (2.4)

Playoffs: 99 (11.0) 52 (5.7)

vs. Like Opponents: 48 (12.0) 34 (8.5)

Overall: 368 (10.8) 113 (3.3)