TJ Baseball

MVC Baseball Weekly Notebook

ST. LOUIS – University of Evansville left-hander Kyle Freeland has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week, announced by the league office Monday afternoon. The honor marks the second for Freeland and third for the Purple Aces’ pitching staff this season.

Freeland, a native of Denver, Colo., out-dueled Baseball America’s top prospect of the MVC and foiled the league’s top conference hitting team, as he tossed a complete game, one-hit shutout with a career-high 11 strikeouts in Evansville’s 1-0 rubber match victory over Missouri State.

Freeland had a no-hitter going into the ninth inning, and limited MSU to just three base runners in the game, facing 29 batters. From the second to the eighth, the southpaw sat down 17 consecutive Bears, and had six perfect sides in his fourth win of the season and second complete game shutout in Valley play.

On the season, Freeland owns a 4-5 record, 4.40 ERA, 58 strikeouts and just 19 walks.

TJ Baseball is pleased to congratulate the class of 2012: Brandon Gonzales, Tyler Bybee  and Evan Walter. “Our three seniors were our heart and soul this season, the season would not have been the success it was without these guys leading the way” -Coach Bales

We are also very proud to announce that all will attend and play college athletics. Brandon will attend the University of  Northern Colorado as a preferred walk on for the football and baseball programs. Tyler signed with Adams State to play baseball and study sports management and Evan signed to play with Northeastern Junior College and also would like to coach some day.

Congrats fellas, continue to make us proud,

-TJ Baseball

The Spartans were eliminated from post season play at the hands of Thompson Valley. TJ was unable to over come the 1st inning jitters and fell 10-0 to the Eagles. TJ finishes the 2012 season 12-8 and will have to replace seniors including ace LHP Brandon Gonzales, table setter Tyler Bybee as well a the big bat of Evan Walter. This summer is a vital time in the maturation process for a young TJ club that consists mainly of sophomores and freshmen. Summer practices begin May 23rd at 5:30 questions or comments rbales5@yahoo.com

The TJ Baseball program takes the next step on it’s quest for a state championship on Saturday 5/12 at 12:30 PM. The #14 Spartans will take on #19 Thompson Valley at DeEvlyn High School, winner will play the winner of #4 DeEvlyn and #29 Widefield at 3:00 PM (weather permitting). Grab your rain coat and come support the Spartans.

Friday 4/27/2012: The Thomas Jefferson Baseball Team completed an 8-0 sweep of the Denver Prep League for the second consecutive season with a 14-4 victory over cross town rival George Washington. The sweep comes a week after the Spartans clinched the league title with a 2-1 win over arch rival East. TJ was unimpressed with the Angels strength of schedule as they would give East their second loss in the DPL as they were previously handled by George Washington. The Spartans are currently in the midst of a 4 game winning streak as they look to carry momentum into the 4A state tournament with remaining regular season games at Prairie View (5/5/2012, 11am) and at All-City vs. Mtn. View (5/7/2012, 4PM). Stay tuned for updates on the state tournament 5/12/2012.

Friday 4/20 the TJ baseball team will look to clinch the Denver Prep League Championship versus arch rival East H.S. The Spartans come in with a 6-0 league record whereas the Angels sit just a half game below the Spartans in the standings at 6-1. Coach Bales will look to Sophomore south paw Sam Reed  and a cast of Spartans swinging hot bats to get the job done. Be there to support TJ on their way to another city title.

Friday 4/20/2012     at 4:15 PM           East (11-1) (6-1) @ Thomas Jefferson (8-6) (6-0)

Leaman-Miller (3-0) (2.21 ERA)    VS.    Reed (2-1) (3.35 ERA)

Thomas Jefferson Senior captain and second baseman Tyler Bybee has committed to play his college ball for the newly acquired Adams State Baseball program and former Arvada West High School and new Adams State coach Jim Capra.

Adams State became a perfect fit for Tyler once baseball was added as the College already has the Sports Management degree he seeks. Bybee maintains a 4.1 GPA and is active in DECA as well as other extra curricular activities. Bybee also has Coach Bales’ vote for the upcoming Mr. TJ competition.

Coach Bales on Tyler: ” I’m so proud of Tyler, he has fought through a lot of adversity in the last year” in returning from  an elbow injury that sidelined him for most of his Junior year. “Tyler is a coaches dream. He leads by example, is a great student, plays the game as it should be played and most importantly is a great person”.

Today’s Varsity game is postponed due to field conditions. Make up date TBA. We will practice at 3:45. Questions or comments rbales5@yahoo.com

Today the TJ Baseball team will travel to Eaglecrest High School to take on the Raptors and their new Head Coach Tory Humphrey. “Coach Hump” coached the Spartans for 10 years winning 9 city titles and leading TJ to 2 State Championship appearences before testing the waters of the college game as an assistant at Metro State for a year then landing the Head job at Eaglecrest. “Tory did a outstanding job at TJ and has set the bar high for my players, and myself” , said current TJ skipper Robby Bales. “We’re lookin’ forward to it.”

Friday 3/30/2012  4:00 PM

Thomas Jefferson(4-3) @ Eaglecrest(1-3)

Reed (1-1) (4.85) vs. TBA