Jimtown High School

Cook spins three-hit shutout as Jimmies win sectional opener By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART - This story might well be entitled, “Goldielocks and the Eight Beach Boys.” Sporting a newly doffed blond “do,” Dalton Cook hurled a masterpiece Wednesday night (5.28.25) to lead Jimtown’s baseball squad to a 10-0 victory over LaVille. A good crowd was on hand for this Sectional 34, Class 2A game, the third time these two teams have met this season. The Jimmies, under Head Coach Brandon Squibb, now have a 20-7 record and are ranked sixth in the South Bend Tribune’s final area ratings. LaVille finishes at 10-12. Jimtown will face Knox in a semi-final game on Saturday, with the first pitch about 12:30 pm, following Winamac vs. Bremen in the 10:00 opener. The championship contest will be at 5:30 pm Monday (6.2.25). “Goldielocks” would be a reference to Cook (with an incongruent black moustache), and the “Eight Beach Boys” would be the rest of the starting lineup, all of whom bleached or dyed their hair blond over the Memorial Day weekend. (It apparently started at the home of one player whose mother is a hair stylist. Is this the beginning of a fad?) Squibb jokingly suggested the shorter hair on some of the players was a big help in the game. Cook allowed singles in each of the first three innings, none of which led to a run. In fact, none even got to second base. The junior righty struck out five and gave up no walks. “My fastball was working pretty well inside,” he said, “and I was able to locate my curve down and in. I concentrated on getting the first pitch in for a strike. “I did what my team wanted.” The only spot of anxiety was the fact that the Jimmies were clinging to a slim 1-0 lead thru the first four innings. “That added a little more pressure,” he said. That first run was scored in Jimtown’s second inning when senior third-baseman Broderick Kaler cranked a soaring flyball down the left field line that hit the foul pole. The umpires met at midfield to discuss the situation and rightly awarded Kaler a home run.| The anxiety lifted greatly when the Jimmies took advantage of some wildness (two walks and a hit batsman) along with singles byTy Zartman and Colin Davis to plate a pair of runs in the fifth. Jimtown added three more in the sixth when it batted around and another four in the seventh. The big blow in the final stanza was a bases-loaded double deep to center by Conner Christman. All three runners crossed the plate, and the senior second-basemen went to third on a LaVille error (one of three). Squibb said he was impressed by three issues: Cook on the mound, the defense behind him (error-free) and the batters’ approach at the plate. LaVille’s starter, Andrew Wolford, “is one of the best pitchers we’ve faced this season,” Squibb said. But the Jimmies got to him for three runs and sprinted to the victory the rest of the way. Score by innings: Jimtown 010 023 4 10 7 0 LaVille 000 000 0 0 3 3 Umpires: Ryan Eakins, Luke Karczewski, Phillip Colburn