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Bogenpohl’s record-breaking game pushes Jackson past Oakville in district semis
Sometimes, the story simply writes itself. Jackson’s Caden Bogenpohl threw a complete-game, no-hit shutout on Thursday afternoon while clubbing two home runs on offense to will the Indians to a 6-0 victory against Oakville to advance to the district championship.
Bogenpohl recorded 18 strikeouts in the win, tied for eighth-most in MSHSAA history while breaking the Jackson record for single-game strikeouts by four, set by now-Redhawk football kicker Logan Bruns in 2021 with 14.
In addition to this record, Bogenpohl also broke the Indians’ records for single-season strikeouts and single-season home runs, etching his name into program history on both sides of the ball as Jackson commandingly took down Oakville in the district semifinal stage.
“I was just telling the guys: that's one of the best high school performances I think you'll ever see in a lifetime,” Indians coach Josh Roach said. “To strike out 18 hitters, to have two home runs – two big home runs – and to be able to get it done on both sides.
“To be able to get out of a couple of tight situations where we have baserunners on and basically kind of just put the team on his shoulders and just be like ‘I got you’ today.”
While Missouri State-commit Bogenpohl didn’t create all of the offense for the Indians, he led the team in RBIs with four as both home runs came in two-run fashion.
Bogenpohl’s reputation as a dominant two-way player has reached across the state, with his fastball rising into the mid-90s and helping to create MLB Draft stock as he's reached the radars of scouts across the region. Roach has confidence that Bogenpohl’s future at the next level is bright no matter where he is playing in 2024.
“He's just a high-level guy,” Roach said. “He's been obviously a huge part of our success this year, and he's a great young man. He's very coachable. I anticipate him getting to the next level and just having the same success. He's just that type of kid, right? He's got a great work ethic and he's gonna get the job done wherever he goes.”
Henley Parker scored the winning run just two plate appearances into the game, walking on five pitches, stealing two bases on wild pitches before Cooper Rhodes singled him in to open the scoring for the Indians.
Jackson loaded the bases twice in the first two innings but didn’t score in either, jamming the base path but failing to capitalize, keeping the Tigers within one until the fourth inning.
Parker drove a sacrifice fly into right field to score Grant Dotson from third before Rhodes’ double down the left field line set up Bogenpohl with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Bogenpohl crushed a pitch to left-center field and over the wall for his first homer of the game, cracking the game open at 4-0.
While he continued to build momentum on the mound, Bogenpohl drilled a no-doubt home run over the right field wall to increase the lead to 6-0 and seal the win for Jackson, one in which the Indians controlled for the majority of the contest.
Bogenpohl expired his pitch limit on the final at-bat of the game, going over the limit in his second pitch of the series. Baden Hackworth assisted a dropped third strike at first base to secure the complete-game shutout for “Bogey” to send the Indians to the district championship game, leaping into the pitcher at the mound after recording the 21st out.
“Mentality going in was to never take a game off,” Bogenpohl said. “In the postseason, you can't mess up. You lose one and you’re out. I was just trying to stay competitive throughout the whole game. Threw the ball really well today, obviously, and I helped myself out a bit with the bat, too.”
The win propelled Jackson into another district title game, this time against the Mehlville Panthers at 23-6. After defeating Seckman 5-2 following the game between Jackson and Oakville, Mehlville looks to upend the top-seeded Indians while facing what might be Jackson’s ace pitcher in John-Paul Sauer.
After a tough win at the plate for Jackson, the Indians will look to fight out of a defensive battle in order to take down the Panthers on Saturday.
“It's gonna be pitched really well. John-Paul, he's gonna do what he's done all year – be very stingy with runs and baserunners,” Roach said. “We're playing our best baseball right now. We're hitting the ball well, we're baserunning well, we're playing great defense, we're pitching it well. We have a lot of confidence going into Saturday, for sure.”