The 2005 season was my first at Lutheran High School as the baseball coach. Our team finished the season with a record of 15 wins and 10 losses. We lost in the Sectional to Eminence, winner of the Sectional, 7 to 6. It was a disappointing loss as we made 5 errors.
My memory is that I ruffled a few feathers with the returning players and families. One of the issues was that a freshman player was introduced to the starting line-up, hit third in the batting order and played third base. His name was Jared Broughton. It did not help matters that Jared is my nephew. As I knew Jared and his abilities so well, I was very comfortable in putting him in these situations. You would have to ask Jared how comfortable he was.
The team and Jared were having solid seasons as we played Sheboygan Lutheran at LHS on May 21, 2005. These games were scheduled as the previous coach, Gary St. Clair, had been at Sheboygan Lutheran previous to coming to Lutheran High School. We certainly did not know anything about our opponent and I doubt if they knew anything about us. To make a long story short, we won both games of the doubleheader; 20-2 and 12-2. Jared pitched the first game and senior Ryan Angrick pitched the second game. Something pretty special happened in these two games.
In the first game, Jared singled and scored in the first inning. In the second inning, Jared singled again, had 2 RBI and scored. In his 3rd at bat, Jared hit a 2-run homer, 2 RBI and a run scored. We batted around in the third inning and in his next at bat Jared hit a grand slam home run, 4 RBI and a run scored. So, if you are keeping score, Jared had 4 hits in 4 At Bats, 4 runs scored, 2 singles, 2 home runs and 8 RBI. Plus, he pitched the first game and won. A pretty good day or week. He was not done.
To Sheboygan Lutheran’s credit, they pitched to Jared in the second game. They most likely thought that he could not keep up the pace. In his first at bat of the second game, Jared hit a 2-run blast, 2 RBI and a run scored. In his second at bat, Jared hit his 4th consecutive home run! This time it was for 3 runs, 3 RBI and a run scored. In his next plate appearance Jared continued his hot streak with a single and a run scored. He hit one more time and bless Sheboygan’s pitcher, as he tried to get Jared out. Jared got another single and scored another run!
To recap the day, Jared Broughton was 8 for 8, 4 singles, 4 home runs including a grand slam, 8 runs scored, 13 RBI and pitched a complete game for the win in game one. A great day! For some perspective, Jared hit 37 home runs in his Lutheran career. In his freshman season, he hit 6 home runs, had a batting average of .446 and had a pitching record of 6 wins and 0 losses. All in all, a pretty good season highlighted by one great day in Lutheran Baseball history!
Comments