Local “small school” fans have been spoiled the past several years by getting to watch a really good brand of baseball and softball being played by Jackson Parish schools Quitman and Weston.

You don’t have to wait for the varsity seasons to start in the spring to “wet your appetite” as the two schools are dominating the junior high “Fall Ball” circuit. As evidence, the two baseball teams are sporting a combined 13-2 record, with each team suffering only one loss each, that being to their Jackson Parish rival. In softball play, Weston is riding an 8-game winning streak after opening the season with a loss and Quitman is at 5-4 on the year but has won three of their last five.

Baseball

Weston Junior High (7-1): Sporting the most explosive offense in the area, the Wolves are currently on a four-game winning streak where they are averaging 12.25 runs per game, which includes a 16-1 thrashing of Castor on Monday.

Five players are averaging .500 or better, led by Eli Henderson, who in 8 games has 10 hits in 13 at bats for an area best .769 average while scoring a team high 12, knocking in six, and stealing five bases. Carter Powell is next with a .588 average (7 RBI, 4 RS), followed by Bryce Tolar at .571 (11 RBI, 8 RS), and both Corbin Powell (9 RS, 4 RBI) and Colton Otwell (7 RBI, 2 RS,) who are at .500 even on the year to date. 

Levi Southern (7 RBI, 7 RS, 4 SB) is hitting .385, Jensen Waggoner (2 RS) is at .333, and Leyton Younse has a .313 average, but four of his five hits are for extra bases (2B, 3-3B), and he leads the team with 15 RBI while scoring 10 runs. Grant Griffin is hitting .250 with a team-leading 9 walks to go along with 8 runs scored and 3 RBI. Additional contributors are James Lewis (6 BB, 3 RS, 2 RBI), Remy Davis (3 RBI, 3 RS), Kaine Stassen (5 BB, 4 RBI, 2 RS), Eli Jones (4 BB, 3 RBI, 3 RS), and Brett Rasbury ( 2 BB, RBI, RS)

Quitman Junior High (6-1): The Wolverines blasted Castor 16-0 on Thursday before coming back to win a 6-5 thriller over Claiborne Christian when Noah Spillman knocked in Aiden Reed and then forced two errors while running the bases to score the game winner. The win was especially sweet as QJH managed only one hit, a Thatcher Savage double that scored two runs, but took advantage of 7 walks and 6 Claiborne Christian errors. 

Against Castor, Noah Spillman went the distance to strike out seven and give up only three meaningless hits in a shutout performance while QJH pounded Castor pitching for 14 runs, including 6 that went for extra bases as Aiden Reed and Hayden Seymore hit triples and Caston Zimmerman, Hayden Essmeier, Jake Moak, and Thatcher Savage all connected on “two baggers”. Seymore and Mason Thomas scored three runs each, while Moak and Savage led the way with 3 RBI apiece. 

Jake Moak leads the offense with a .500 average and a team-leading 8 RBI, while Mason Thomas has scored 10 runs and stolen 9 bases, both team highs. 

Softball

Weston (8-1): Having scored at least six runs in each, the Lady Wolves have reeled off 8 wins in a row, including sweeping the “C” schools by beating Calvin 9-0, Claiborne Christian 6-3, and Castor 11-1 in the past five days. While the offensive output is impressive, it pales in comparison to the job done in the circle by Ryan Kate Wyatt and Rachel Bandy, who have combined for three straight no-hitters, with Wyatt getting two and Bandy one in complete game efforts. In 29 innings pitched, the two have combined for 58 strikeouts on the year and given up only 7 earned runs. 

Hitting-wise wise Wyatt has 8 hits in 10 at-bats for a sterling .800 average, while Kate Keiffer is hitting at a .714 pace. Aubrie Allen, Autumn Kohler, Ashlyn Petre, and Bandy, who leads the team with 8 RBI, are all at .500 even on the year. Brooklyn Keiffer (9 RS) is hitting .462, Kylee Ann Allen is at .429, while Hannah Aldy, who is tied for the team lead with 9 runs scored, and Cadie Conn are at .357 and .333, respectively. Miriam Shuler and Ryleigh Puffer have also contributed to the team’s scoring average of nearly 7 runs per game and a .430 batting average.  

Quitman (5-4): Win two, lose two, lose one, win one, lose one! That has been the rollercoaster the Lady Wolverines have been on this season, which has seen Quitman score 52 runs but give up 48. Ella Simonelli leads the QJH offense with 6 hits in 12 at-bats (.500) and leads the team with 8 runs scored. Charleigh Newton is next at .467 and has a team high 3 doubles and 5 RBI. Ryleigh McCormick leads with one triple, Anna Pardue has scored 7 runs, and both Emma Gray and Brelaina Hall have coaxed a team-best 5 walks each. Ameila Staggs is the top force in the circle having pitched 18 innings and giving up only 4 earned runs for a 1.556 earned run average (ERA).Jessica Walker has also thrown well, giving up only one earned run and striking out 10 in 6.2 innings.