Slinkard's resolve helps Jackson baseball team to semis of conference tourney

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Jackson Indians had the right man on the mound to turn things around in their first-round game at the SEMO Conference tournament Friday at Whitey Herzog Stadium.

The Indians committed two throwing errors before an out was recorded in the first inning behind senior right-hander Tyler Slinkard, allowing two runs to score and staking sixth-seeded Dexter to an early lead.

But Slinkard has demonstrated the ability to stare down adversity during his senior year in recovering from a severe hand injury sustained in an offseason accident, and he was in vintage form against the Bearcats.

Slinkard, who allowed the first three batters to reach base on an opening walk and a pair of singles, quickly put the brakes on a bad day, retiring the next three batters on his way to throwing a complete game in the Indians' 9-3 victory.

Slinkard gave the Indians' offense time to find itself, retiring Dexter (7-10) in order in the second before third-seeded Jackson (16-7) struck for seven hits and five runs in the second to seize control of the situation.

Jackson kept the offense flowing, adding two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings and accumulating 14 hits off Dexter starter Jason Mattison in advancing to a semifinal game against second-seeded Poplar Bluff.

The offense was a relief for the Indians, who posted just two runs in a one-run loss to Perryville two days earlier.

"The last couple games we've struggled at the plate, but today we really broke loose," Slinkard said. "Everybody had a great day at the plate, which always helps."

Senior Ben Maudie had two triples among his three hits, while sophomore Jarrett Newell went 4 for 4.

"We were coming in off some lumps," Maudie said. "Through the season we've had some bumps, but today we knew the standard of the tournament was hight, and we knew that we really had to step it up. After that first inning we got that first-inning jitters out and we really stepped it up as a team."

Maudie opened the second with a triple and scored on the first of Newell's four singles. Slinkard followed with a hit-and-run single, and both he and Newell scored on Josh Barber's two-run double down the right-field line that gave Jackson a 3-2 lead. Ryan Harvey followed with an RBI single, and he went to third on a single by Jon Schumer and scored on the front end of double-steal attempt in which Schumer was caught in a rundown between first and second.

Slinkard allowed just six hits, walked two and struck out six in his first complete game of the season.

"That was huge for us," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "We just used him, we didn't have to go to our bullpen at all. So we'll have our bullpen and all of our other starters ready, so that was a great effort out of Tyler."

Dexter's Austin Aldridge had three of the Bearcats' hits. All of Dexter's hits went for singles with the exception of Dalton Manuel's inside-the-park home run that skipped past Jackson's center fielder, who failed to make a diving catch on a sinking liner in the fourth inning as Dexter closed the gap to 5-3.

The complete game was a major milestone for Slinkard, who was involved in a weight room accident at Jackson High School on Jan. 15. Slinkard was spotting a teammate on a bench press when the weights fell on the safety rack and on his hand. He lost more than an inch off the middle finger of his right hand in the accident.

"Once it happened, I didn't think I'd be doing anything any more," Slinkard said. "... At the beginning it kind of got me down, thinking it was my senior season and I can't play any more, but then my teammates helped me kind of rise above it, all the parents and everybody. I had a lot of support the whole way."

Maudie said that was a difficult time and at first the expectations were not too high.

"Knowing Tyler, he stepped up and worked really hard in the offseason and put himself in the spot he is right now," Maudie said. "I just got to give him the effort, and as a team we've got to back him up on the mound, especially with everything he's gone through it's nice to have him bounce back and have us bounce back behind him as a team."

Austin remained confident Slinkard would pitch again in the days after the accident.

"He's a kid that we know loves baseball and he's willing to put in the work it takes," Austin said. "And when you have a kid like that, he's going to get it done."

Slinkard got back to throwing after about five weeks and made his season debut in relief in the Indians' second game of the season in March.

He's slowly increased his workload over the past two months, working both as a reliever and a starter.

"Our goal with him the whole time was get him ready for May, get him ready for the district tournament time," Austin said. "We've gained pitch counts on him, we've gained innings on him. He's getting to the point now where we can turn him loose and go seven inning and go 90 pitches, so it's really worked well."

Slinkard has picked up three wins for the Indians, and provided an unlimited amount of inspiration for his teammates.

"That was a bad incident, and for him to bounce back is incredible," said Newell, who plays shortstop behind Slinkard. "It's big. It's very inspiring for us. It makes us play better, I feel."

Slinkard now uses a two-seam grip on his fastball and said it has more movement.

He displayed a sharp curveball over the final three innings of Friday's game, where he picked up three of his strikeouts, and he gives credit to his shortened finger .

"It's kind of helped me out," Slinkard said. "I've got more drop on my curveball and more drop on my changeup now. I wouldn't recommend it, but since it happened ... Everything happens for a reason."

Jackson 9, Dexter 3

Dexter 200 100 0 -- 3 6 4

Jackson 050 022 X -- 9 14 3

WP -- Tyler Slinkard. LP -- Jason Mattison. 2B -- Cameron Duke (J), Josh Barber (J),. 3B -- Ben Maudie 2 (J). HR -- Dalton Manuel (D). Multiple hits -- Dexter 3-4; Jackson: Duke 2-4, Maudie 3-4, Jarrett Newell 4-4.