A Jefferson High School player helps his team to a 7-2 win over Greenbrier East High School on Friday. Courtesy photo

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION — With its four seasonal wins — two of the victories just secured — over Greenbrier East High School, Jefferson High School improved its overall record to 16-9, with its latest successes being accomplished in baseball’s nirvana — Cooperstown, New York’s Doubleday Field located near the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Statistical leaders for 2024 Cougars have been left-handed pitcher Riley Morgan, freshman Serf Guerra, Alex Danner (a .347 hitter at the week’s beginning) and pitcher Cohen Rutherford.

Morgan led the Cougars in batting average at .352 before Monday’s road game at Spring Mills. Morgan was also the leader with the lowest earned run average with a miniscule 0.41 showing.

Danner was just a few batting average points below Morgan, with his .347 average prior to this week’s games.

Rutherford had posted a 2.83 earned run average with the close-by Class AAA Sectional tournament coming early this month.

Jefferson had seven games remaining on its regular season schedule, which has seen the Cougars too often chase after runs their offense could not produce. Pitching has kept the Cougars afloat for the most part and the May 2 rematch with Martinsburg High School (already a winner over Jefferson in an earlier game this season) could prove to be the most difficult outing of the late season. Martinsburg has only lost twice this season, prior to the beginning of this week.

Should the Cougars run into unexpected trouble this week, they would still have the double elimination Sectional tournament to get additional wins toward a 47th straight 20-win season.

And if the Cougars are able to win past Washington High School and Hampshire High School in the Sectional tournament, they would then be able to face off against the winner of Region 2’s other Sectional that is played among Martinsburg High School, Hedgesville High School, Musselman High School and Spring Mills High School.

Jefferson and Washington split the two regular season games they played and the Cougars tamed Hampshire in both games between the two schools.

With its often reliable pitching as its best statistical category this season, scoring enough runs to aid its pitchers seems to be an area to see if the Cougars will do enough in the post-season tournaments.