The hook of Jobe
Charger prospect’s fastball also elite as HH blanks Jackets
KHS SENIOR Cade Stephenson makes a diving catch in centerfield to stop a would-be Heritage Hall rally on Monday. The Chargers ultimately won the game 4-0. [Photo by Chris Simon/ www.simon-sports-photos.smugmug.com]
One scouting report on Jackson Jobe laid out the rarity of the Heritage Hall pitcher’s arm.
“Guys that throw breaking balls exceeding 3,100 RPMs (revolutions per minute) are rare. Of the nearly 47,000 sliders thrown in Major League Baseball in 2020, just 353 of them exceeded 3,100 RPM,” wrote Joe Doyle, the MLB Draft director for Prospects Live. “There were just nine pitchers in baseball last year that threw more than 10 of them over the course of the entire season.
“Jobe routinely floats around that 3,100 mark during an entire outing. 99th percentile stuff and then some.”
Kingfisher got a full dose of that Monday when Jobe was nearly untouchable in a 4-0 Charger victory at Homier Field.
Jobe struck out 16 batters and surrendered one hit over the course of six dominant innings to give the Chargers a leg up in the District 4A-1 championship race.
The Ole Miss signee is expected to go as high as the first round in this year’s MLB Draft and at least a dozen scouts were at Kingfisher Park to watch him perform.
They saw him throw 82 pitches - 59 of them strikes - to rifle through Kingfisher’s lineup.
One of the scouts clocked his fastball at 99 miles per hour. He routinely hit mid-90s while mixing in his devastating slider, curve and changeup.
Ian Daugherty’s first-in ning single was Kingfisher’s only baserunner until T.J. Parker was able to leg out a single off Bowen Bridges in the seventh inning.
Kingfisher’s Brady Friesen was matching Jobe’s donuts on the scoreboard until the third inning.
A double, a walk and an error loaded the bases for Jobe, who doubled in a pair of runs.
The Chargers tacked on two more in the fourth when Gannon Allen sent a Friesen pitch over the left-field wall.
Friesen gave up just six hits and struck out seven through his seven innings of work. He did surrender four walks.
The teams were scheduled to meet again Tuesday, but inclement weather pushed Kingfisher’s return trip to Heritage Hall to 4 p.m. Wednesday.
A Heritage Hall (17-4, 9-0) win would clinch the district title for the Chargers, provided they sweep Seminole, which has yet to win a district game.
Kingfisher (17-6, 10-1) would need to defeat the Chargers by four or more runs to stake its claim to the championship.