How Jordan Glasscock, No. 20 Male knocked off No. 3 St. X in 26th District baseball final
Bases loaded, tie score and one of the state’s top hitters at the plate, Male High School relief pitcher Jordan Glasscock had just one thought.
“Go out there and shove it past him,” the senior right-hander said.
Glasscock did just that, striking out St. Xavier slugger Jake Bennett to help the Bulldogs beat the host Tigers 3-2 in Tuesday’s championship game of the 26th District Tournament.
Both teams will advance to next week’s Seventh Region Tournament, but Male will get to host a quarterfinal game May 25 while St. X will have to hit the road. The draw for the regional tournament will be held Sunday evening.
“It’s a really good win,” first-year Male coach Jordan Pass said. “It’s St. X. Our main focus is to compete against the best teams all the time at a high level. We did just that.”
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With the score tied at 2, St. X loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the fifth inning against Male starter Nolan Hood.
Pass decided to relieve Hood with Glasscock.
“If we were going to give up a run there, it was going to be with our best bullet,” Pass said. “He does a good job of throwing multiple pitches for strikes. You can’t just sit on one thing.”
Bennett, a senior catcher who has signed with San Jacinto College, entered the game leading the Tigers in batting average (.436), home runs (11) and RBIs (53). On a 2-2 pitch, Glasscock threw a change-up to strike out Bennett.
Glasscock has started just one game this season for Male and relishes his role as a stopper in the bullpen.
“Just be ready whenever they call you in,” he said. “Go out there and throw strikes. That’s all I do.”
What it means
St. X (27-10) is ranked No. 3 in the state by Prep Baseball Report but is 1-3 over its past four games.
Tigers coach Andy Porta said there hasn’t been a common theme during the skid, but his team has scored a combined six runs in losses to Lyon County, DeSales and Male.
“I never try to lose a game on purpose, but we’re not trying to go undefeated,” Porta said. “We’re still trying to look at different combinations … so there hasn’t been a common theme. We get up for good opponents, and we’ve had a couple of games this year when we weren’t up and focused as much as we should have been and paid the price.”
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Meanwhile, No. 20-ranked Male (19-11) has won six in a row and is 9-1 over its past 10 games.
Key moment
After the strikeout ended the fifth inning, senior catcher Andrew Daniel led off the Male sixth with a double to right field.
Hood’s sacrifice bunt moved courtesy runner Tristen Etheridge to third base, and Etheridge scored on Nic Schutte’s sacrifice fly. Etheridge just beat the throw to the plate from St. X center fielder John Paul Jardina.
Pass was pleased with his team’s execution in scoring the winning run.
“You always talk about the little things in baseball,” Pass said. “It truly came full circle today. We do (batting practice) rounds with that — get them in with less than two outs. … Put the ball in play, and good things happen.”
By the numbers
Glasscock pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and striking out two. After St. X’s Ryan Comella led off the seventh with a single, Glasscock retired the next three batters to secure the victory.
The Tigers managed just four hits, including a first-inning home run from Cooper Smith. Zach Marks’ sacrifice fly tied the score at 2 in the fourth inning.
Male right fielder Cooper Knoop went 2 for 3 with a run, scoring on Jackson Vize’s two-run double in the second inning.
Up next
Male will host a Seventh Region Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday, May 24. St. X will play on the road in a Seventh Region Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday, May 24.
They said it
Pass on Male’s chances in the Seventh Region Tournament: “I feel like we stack up just fine with everybody else. We have a little bit of momentum.”
Porta on the Tigers entering the regional as a district runner-up: “Our guys know the predicament we’re in. We told them, ‘There’s no more scrimmage games. They’re all for real now.’”
Glasscock on Male’s first district title since 2018: “It’s huge. I think we have a shot to go all the way to State.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA baseball: Male knocks off St. X for 26th District championship
