MILL CREEK —- The Jackson baseball team’s season is riding on Saturday’s district opener against Monroe.
But you wouldn’t know it talking with the Timberwolves at practice Friday afternoon.
Less than 24 hours before a loser-out game against the Bearcats, Jackson was playing “Fungo Golf” and other games as it prepares to host the Bearcats in a loser-out game at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
For Jackson, which started the season 2-5, being loose has been the key. After starting the season with a difficult non-conference schedule and dropping their first two league games of the season, the Timberwolves decided to slow down and loosen up. As a result, Jackson won 11 of its next 12 games, finishing third in Wesco 4A.
“I’d say we got a little more loose,” said junior pitcher Jacob Bogacz. “We came out there and played our game. Everyone was really tense at the beginning of the year and wanted to get the wins and we’re all beating each other up and then we kind of just said, ‘Hey, let’s just get out here and have some fun.’ We started doing that and it went pretty well for us.”
“When you’re out there just having fun you’re not worried,” added senior Justin Hampson. “You’re with a group of guys that you love. I think that was the biggest key for us was just starting to play as a team. I think our approach started changing. We stopped trying to do too much with our bats and started hitting line drives. Balls started falling and we’ve been hitting the ball well all year.”
“We try to keep that in the back of our minds: Just keep playing like we can play and just play relaxed and have fun,” said senior third baseman Jeffery Atwood. “Just hanging out and having fun playing baseball.”
Jackson’s difficult non-league schedule, which featured three one-run losses to Wesco 3A playoff teams, threw the Timberwolves into the fire right off the bat.
“Three of six non-league games were teams that won their league. And they were good games,” said Jackson head coach Kirk Nicholson. “We played them tough. But it was boom, boom, boom. … We made a tough schedule for ourselves.”
After the first seven games things started to click for the Timberwolves. The players relaxed, hits started falling and Jackson got on a roll that at one point had it tied atop the Wesco 4A standings.
“I don’t think we’re any different than we were when we were 2-5,” Nicholson said. “I think we’re the same team. Baseball is just one of those things. Sometimes you square up a ball and it goes right at a guy. The next time you’ll get a swinging bunt and score two runs.”
“If the ball goes your way and your team makes great plays and you throw well and everyone is having fun doing their thing it works pretty well,” Bogacz said. “I think we’re playing really loose and having fun when we play right. Just kicking back, having fun, playing baseball.”
It’s been a group effort for Jackson, which has had several players step up over the course of the season — which featured an eight-game winning streak — including Bogacz, Atwood and pitcher Jeremy Martin.
But Hampson, a center fielder for the Timberwolves, has had the strongest impact of all. The Central Washington-bound Hampson has made an impact with his bat and defense, to help Jackson finish the regular season 13-8 overall.
Hampson is batting over .500 and has had only one game all season — Thursday’s seeding game against Snohomish — where he hasn’t had a multi-hit game.
“Hampson in center field, I’m telling you there and at the plate, he has won five games for us. Where it was him,” Nicholson said. “If you had taken him out of our lineup we would not have won those games. He has had a monster year.”
Jackson finished the regular season tied with the Panthers and, having split their league games, had to play Snohomish to see who earned the league’s No. 2 seed and accompanying bye in the first round of the district playoffs.
Snohomish topped Jackson 5-3, clinching the bye and sending Jackson to its second consecutive loss to wrap up the regular season.
However, the loss hasn’t fazed the Timberwolves’ players heading into the postseason.
“They understand that baseball is just a game,” Nicholson said. “We’re just playing it and enjoying it. (Thursday’s) game was a tough loss. The game against (Lake Stevens to end the regular season) was a tough loss. Both of those games could’ve edged another way and gone our way. But it’s baseball.”
Despite the loss to Snohomish, Jackson had a loose one-hour practice on Friday as it prepares to take on Monroe. The Timberwolves are 2-0 against the Bearcats this season, winning by scores of 1-0 and 3-0 earlier in the season.
“They’re a good team,” Atwood said. “We didn’t beat them by much but I think we can do that again. Just keep pitching and hitting like we have been doing. We just want to have fun. And obviously, go a long way, but I think we’re just having fun while we’re doing it and that’s what we want to keep doing.”
One thing the Jackson baseball team is not lacking is team chemistry.
“It’s one of the most fun teams I’ve ever been on,” Hampson said. “We have a good time. We screw around a bunch but we focus up with a flick of the switch. It’s a great group of guys.”
Because of that camaraderie, Jackson is going into Saturday’s make-or-break game loose and excited, with a chance to accomplish a goal its had since the beginning of the season.
“Our goal this year was to make the final four of the district tournament which means we have to win (Saturday),” Nicholson said. “We had two opportunities to do that — we could have beat Lake (Stevens) in the last game or Snohomish but it didn’t happen. Now we get a third chance to get in that thing. From there you have to win two games before you lose two games. And that’s all it is.
“We’re playing one game for the end of our season. It’s just another game. It’s another day at the yard. Whatever happens, happens.”
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