(Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
EATON — Jim Danley is a living legend in the high school baseball ranks.
The longtime Eaton coach, head man for 44 seasons and counting, has won 35 league championships. The Reds have reached the Class 3A state title game 20 of the past 25 seasons, winning 10 crowns during that stretch. They’ve been in the championship the last three years and are tied with Revere for the most baseball championships in state history with 10.
They outscored opponents 312-44 a season ago before bowing to Holy Family in the state finals.
So when Eaton blows a team out it doesn’t typically raise any eyebrows. Of course, when that team is ranked No. 6 in all of 3A, earning one first place vote this week, a victory does seem to cement the Reds atop their classification, at least for now.
Eaton handled the Sterling Tigers 10-0 at home on Thursday, two days removed from a 17-0 drubbing at the Tigers’ place. The No. 1 ranked program in 3A is now 2-0.
In round one this week, the Reds outhit Sterling 21-1 as Brady Tedesco dominated on the mound.
The Tigers, starting their captain and 6-foot-4 ace Jacob Thiessen, looked thirsty for redemption at Eaton and held in the game early as the first two innings were scoreless.
But, Eaton’s powerful lineup could only be tamed for so long as the Reds nip-and-tucked in one run in the third and two runs in the fourth. Eaton starter Ryan Koehler hung tough for three and a third innings while giving up only two hits and two walks, while striking out five.
Then, in a pressure cooker situation with a man on second after a walk and stolen base and only one out, Danley brought in Lane Greiman to try his hand at pitching. The senior earned a strikeout and fly out to escape the fourth inning.
“When Lane came in and threw that slider, that was a big pitch,” Danley said of the strikeout. “He’s that senior that you want in those situations. That was a game turning pitch.”
Finally, Eaton’s bats went from soft blows to a knockout punch in the fifth with seven runs to clinch a mercy rule 10-0 victory.
Sean Carson of Eaton. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
Left fielder Sean Carson, a sophomore who looks anything but at 5-foot-10 and 220 pounds as the cleanup hitter, nailed a two-RBI double in the fifth and made a fantastic diving catch to finish off Sterling in the same frame. He went 2-for-4 at the plate.
Oh, and he did all his damage while having the flu, causing him to miss the past two-and-a-half days of school.
“He’s a big sophomore and he’s starting out on fire,” said Danley, who also raved about Carson’s mental fortitude. “You usually don’t expect a sophomore to hit the good pitching as well as he does.”
On an evening with multiple contributions from a number of talented players in the white and red of Eaton, the game served as a reminder of what has made baseball so successful in the town of 4,500.
Pitching was prominent, bats came alive, and depth was obvious. So was crowd support.
“We’re very fortunate to be in a community that really honors and respects these kids that come out and battle,” Danley said. “The fans here are great. It’s a perfect baseball situation.”
In a small town like Eaton, the high school program feeds off the baseball culture that so many take part in at a young age.
“We’ve been working at it a long time and we’ve got just a bunch of good players coming up,” Danley said. “We develop the system. We have certain things that we want all the kids to do at all the levels.”
Carson has certainly embraced the tradition.
“It’s a really big honor to be wearing this uniform, especially on the varsity level because we’ve had a lot of good players that have moved on to the minor and major leagues,” the sophomore said. “Many go on to play college ball with great scholarships. It’s a great honor.”