Frustrated by an upset loss in the district title game last season, top-ranked Jonathan Alder dog-piled with gusto after the final out in senior Greg Kennedy’s perfect game clinched a district championship with a 2-0 win over London. (PressPros Feature Photos by Sheri Hooley).
With precious few land mines to negotiate, Jonathan Alder’s Greg Kennedy struck out 10 in recording his first career perfect game. Ashton Martin hit an RBI double and also scored the team’s other run to give the Pioneers all the offense they needed.
Grove City, OH — Leave it to senior third baseman Cam Potter to almost ruin an otherwise perfect day for Jonathan Alder Wednesday. No, Potter didn’t commit an error. In fact, he successfully handled three ground ball outs in the Division II district championship game against London. But he violated one of the unspoken rules of the baseball.
“I realized what was going on at the time and I’m sure the rest of the guys did, too,” junior shortstop Ashton Martin said, referring to a perfect game being thrown by pitcher Greg Kennedy. “Our third baseman yelled something about the no-hitter when we were on the field before the start of an inning, and I told him to shut up. I let him have it back in the dugout. That’s not something you’re supposed to talk about. It’s bad luck.”
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Martin isn’t certain whether Kennedy even heard the faux pas, but it wouldn’t have mattered the way the Lake Erie College-bound senior right-hander was slinging it Wednesday at Grove City High School.
Kennedy’s first career perfect game (he previously threw a no-hitter as a 14-year-old) powered Alder to a 2-0 shutout of its long-time Madison County rival, handing the second-seeded Pioneers their ninth district title and the seventh in head coach Craig Kyle’s 15 seasons.
London’s Collin Nickell comes up with this play in left field despite contact with center-fielder Cuyler Greenhill.
In running his season record to 8-0 and lowering his already microscopic earned run average of 0.78, Kennedy struck out 10. It marked his sixth shutout this spring.
“After the fifth inning, I think it started to creep in the back of my mind,” Kennedy said. “You try really hard not to think about it, but that’s like a dream for every pitcher. And to do it in the district championship game, gosh, that’s just amazing.”
After the final out, Kennedy grabbed the ball from catcher Jace Schrock and put it in his back pocket for safekeeping.
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To be fair, a perfect game never looked easier. Kennedy induced seven ground ball outs and four flyouts. A nice snag on a sharply hit line drive to first baseman Andy Yoder in the fourth and a deep fly out to centerfielder Chase Chopin to open the seventh were the only somewhat tense moments. He also ran a full count to Cuyler Greenhill in the seventh before whiffing him looking.
Seventh-seeded London (23-8) came in batting .303 as a team, while averaging just over six runs per game. The Red Raiders were coming in fresh off a 2-0 shutout of top-seeded, second-ranked Watterson Monday in a semifinal.
“You never expect anyone to come out and throw a perfect game, especially in a setting like this, but we go into every game knowing that pitching and defense have been the backbone of our team and we approach things with the mindset that if we can scratch across a run or two, we’re in good shape,” Kyle said.
You make the call….London’s Braxton Brown has the tag in place as Alder’s Ashton Martin stretches a single into a double. Martin scored the game’s first run on an RBI single shortly thereafter.
Martin, an Ohio State commit, offered his assessment of Kennedy’s performance.
“His fastball was electric and his slider was also very effective,” he said. “I realized something special was going on right from the start. I’m so proud of Greg. I’ve been playing ball with him since I was eight years old. We all felt like we had a lot to prove this year.”
Alder was knocked off by Bloom-Carroll 9-6 in the district final last May, capping a 26-2 campaign.
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Now 26-2 again, the Pioneers – ranked No. 1 in the final Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association state poll – will advance to play Thursday’s Springfield Kenton Ridge-Dayton Chaminade Julienne winner at 5 p.m. May 30 in regional play at Mason.
Kennedy isn’t the only ace on this staff. Martin (5-0, 0.82 ERA), Tyler Barton (6-1, 1.26) and Mason Keaton (4-1, 0.85) also are mainstays. Alder also boasts a team batting average of .371, while outscoring opponents by an astounding margin of 254-43.
Martin hit an RBI double in the third off Noah Fellure to give Kennedy all the support he would ultimately need. After Martin doubled again in the fifth with two outs, designated hitter Garrett Roach singled him home for an insurance run. Fellure was effective, allowing just seven hits, but on this day that just wasn’t enough.
Alder has won 14 of the past 15 meetings against London, dating to April 2013. The Pioneers swept the Red Raiders in Central Buckeye Conference play.
Not that a district championship is ever taken for granted, but the Pioneers entered the season on a mission to erase last season’s perceived disappointment.
“I didn’t pitch in the game against Bloom-Carroll last year, but I was really shaken by the loss, especially for the six seniors who really raised the bar for what we’re achieving this year,” Kennedy said. “This is a lot more than a perfect game for me. It’s a district title for these guys and the guys last year as well.”
Jonathan Alder senior Greg Kennedy (center) gets the celebratory squeeze from teammates Tyler Barton (15) and Cam Potter after the final out in his 2-0 perfect game performance.
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