ELKHART —
At times over the course of this season, Elkhart baseball coach John Adair has had a bit of a problem.
But, it’s not the bad kind of problem. In fact, it’s the kind of problem most baseball coaches would love to have.
See, Adair has had trouble getting all of his pitchers significant amounts of innings during the year.
“It makes the decisions tough for us, because we’ve got guys that we can run out there no matter what,” Adair said. “It’s hard to get them innings, and in that aspect it’s difficult. But just watching those guys go out there and work and the job that (pitching) coach (Bryan) Finch has done with our pitching staff, it’s fun.”
That’s how good the pitching staff for the fifth-ranked Elks has been so far this season, good enough that Adair legitimately has four — sometimes five — arms he could go to on a given night.
On the year, the Elks’ staff — Cam Reeves, Jacob Cheatham, Jordan White and Cole Bridges — have given up 29 earned runs. They’ve played 29 games.
That pitching dominance was on display Tuesday, when the Elks beat Class 3A No. 9 Lindale 5-1. Lindale managed four hits off of Elkhart pitching, but only one left the infield.
“It’s a really big confidence builder, but we’ve got to keep our feet on the ground that way we don’t get to high that way we don’t fall too far,” said White, who pitched two innings of one-hit ball Tuesday. “We’re keeping level heads right now, just trying to stay humble.”
Staying humble and level are common themes around the Elkhart team right now.
After all, the Elks are in the same position right now that they were in last season, coming off of a perfect district season.
Last year they were upset in the area round of the playoffs. They think that won’t happen again.
“I think we’ve grown up a little bit, got a little more confidence,” Bridges said. “A one-game series worried us last year. A one-game series wouldn’t bother us this year.”
After last night, White’s ERA dropped to .76 on the season. That’s good for second-best on the staff.
On a staff full of good arms, Reeves’ has been the best, a fact not lost on his teammates.
“It’s good knowing that I’m not really going to have to go in (to pitch) because Cam does most of the work,” Bridges said with a laugh Wednesday.
Reeves has thrown 58 innings so far this season. In that span, he’s 10-0 with only five earned runs allowed.
He’s struck out 94 in the span, and opponents are hitting only .111 off of him.
“I just feel a lot more relaxed (this season), knowing I have my pitches and not having to find it so much now,” Reeves said. “I just go out there and throw it and find my spots. I just get up there and throw it.”
Reeves’ numbers aren’t the only ones that are impressive. Cheatham’s ERA is 1.56, and his strikeout-to-walk ration is a second on the team at 5.3-to-1.
Along with the second-best ERA, White boasts the staff’s best strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.5-to-1.
Bridges, who has only pitched 12 innings so far, has struck out 10 and batters are hitting only .163 off of him.
One player has had a front row seat for the entire staff’s performance this season.
Catcher Levi Smith has been behind the plate for the majority of the Elks’ games, making him more than qualified to comment on how good this staff h as been this season.
In his mind, its “one of the best around.”
“It’s just fun to go out every night and catch for them, to know that they’re going to be on and, if they’re not, you’ve got somebody else to bring in,” he said. “That’s probably the best part about it, just always having somebody that’s going to be on getting ready to pitch.
The tests just keep coming for the Elks, however, and they’ll welcome in Class 1A’s second-ranked team, Douglass, to The Backyard Friday for their final warm-up contest.
“We’re happy about (beating ranked teams), but it doesn’t mean anything because it’s a warm-up game,” Cheatham said of the Lindale win. “We’re just taking it day-by-day, game-by-game. We’re not satisfied.”
First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
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