Bloomington Jefferson’s Jake Irvin turned in just another “ordinary” outing on Monday.

The senior finished with eight strikeouts and gave up four runs in six innings as Bloomington Jefferson rallied to defeat Centennial 9-4 in a nonconference matchup at Dred Scott Fields in Bloomington.

Eight strikeouts would be an impressive performance for many high school pitchers, but not for Irvin, who makes the extraordinary seem ordinary.

“Definitely not the best game of the year,” Irvin said. “Eight strikeouts. I mean, that’s pretty normal, honestly.”

No kidding. Irvin, who was an all-conference honorable mention and all-section selection last year, has a 5-0 record and tallied 10 or more strikeouts in four of his victories. His best game came on April 29, when he recorded 15 strikeouts en route to a 4-2 win over Chaska, currently ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by Let’s Play Baseball.

It’s tough performance to follow up and puts an eight-strikeout outing in some context for Irvin, who has one of the state’s highest strikeout totals with 56 this season.

Irvin is headed to pitch at the University of Oklahoma next year, a dream come true for the 6-foot-5 right-hander from Bloomington.

“Finally being able to live out that dream is awesome,” Irvin said.

Monday’s win didn’t come too easily for Irvin and the No. 13-3A Jaguars (13-6).

With the bases loaded in the second inning, Irvin struggled with his control. He walked in one run, and another scored on a fielder’s choice. Irvin then gave up a two-run triple and ended the inning staring at a 4-0 deficit.

But he adjusted.

Irvin didn’t allow another run while pitching four more innings.

“He adjusts to things, and that’s what he did after that one inning,” Bloomington Jefferson coach Jim Gess said. “He knew our kids would battle back for him and held (the Cougars) at four. The rest of the way, he was pretty dominant.”

Battling back was exactly what the Jaguars did, scoring one run in the bottom of the second and two in the third. Bloomington Jefferson capped the rally with a six-run fourth inning that included a big single up the middle by sophomore Nathan Martindale. The catcher, who entered the game batting .375, said he was waiting for just one pitch.

“I was looking for a fastball on the outside corner,” Martindale said.

He found it and punched the ball past the Centennial pitcher, driving in two runs to give his team a five-run lead.

Gess said the back-and-forth game was exactly what he expected from the Cougars (13-7) and is the type of contest the Jaguars needed to prepare for the upcoming section tournament.

“We tried to approach this as a playoff game,” Gess said. “This is what it’s like. You’re going to get up and you’re going to get down. 

“You just have to keep playing the game,” he added.

Irvin has a fastball that is just above 90 mph and a sly slider, and both were just as effective in his first inning as in his last. A scout clocked Irvin’s fastball at 86 mph in the sixth and the pitch was the only source of heat during the blisteringly cold afternoon in Bloomington. 

Irvin’s final inning was perhaps his most impressive. He retired all three batters, including the first two with strikeouts. Then Irvin made a difficult play look easy as he grounded a speeding line drive up the middle and confidently tossed the ball to the first baseman for the final out.

Three up. Three down.

Martindale said Irvin is somewhat of a quiet force in the dugout, but is “intimidating” on the mound.

Gess said Irvin is “stud.” 

However, Irvin doesn’t seem to care what he’s called. For him, it’s not about descriptive nicknames or how many strikeouts he gets. It’s all about winning.

“Strikeouts aren’t the biggest thing I’m looking for,” he said. “I’m looking at getting the ‘W,’ and if we get there, that’s what means the most.”

Senior pitcher Jake Irvin gave up four runs and struck out eight in six innings as Bloomington Jefferson defeated Centennial 9-4 in a nonconference matchup Monday at Dred Scott Fields in Bloomington.

The Cougars (13-7) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning thanks to juniors Blake Haugen and Levi Falck. Haugen drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, while Falck’s triple over the right fielder’s head scored two more.

The Jaguars (13-6), ranked No. 13 in Class 3A by Let’s Play Baseball, answered in the bottom half of the inning when right fielder Sean Bannigan blasted a two-out RBI double to deep center field. It was the offense spark Bloomington Jefferson needed and led to nine unanswered runs over the next three innings.

Jaguars sophomore Nathan Martindale hit a two-RBI single, and seniors Sam Ott and Noah Siiro followed with back-to-back RBI singles as part of a six-run outburst in the fourth that sealed Centennial’s demise.

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