Community R-6 hopes to match Tuesday’s start when it starts districts next week.

The Trojans scored five runs in each of the first two innings against Central Activities Conference foe Glasgow to win their regular season finale 12-4 at home. Community (12-7) will stay home for the Class 1 District 4 semifinals at 5 p.m. Monday. 

Cooper Rohan pitched 6⅓ innings with six hits, two earned runs and two walks and went 2-for-3 with three runs, two walks and one double at the plate. The senior said the team’s offense, especially early in the game, has been better than in recent weeks. Just the day before, the Trojans beat Higbee 13-3 in five innings at home.

Community R-6 vs Glasgow Photo Gallery

“I wanted to see, once we start getting runs on the board, we can’t lay down,” Rohan said. “We’ve got to keep putting them across. Tonight, I felt like we did a good job with that and kept the bats going.”

Rohan said Community is “getting hot at the right time” after several games of low scoring. The Trojans were shut out in back-to-back games 1-0 and 15-0 against district foe North Shelby (13-3) and Cairo (8-7), respectively, before scoring five of their runs in the seventh inning of a 10-8 loss to Mark Twain (11-7). 

Community put runners on and had them cross, including seven of its first 10 runs without a hit. Connor Maxwell, Alex Poindexter and Lane Carter each ran out plays in the infield to keep the line moving. Kyler Swaim went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one double, Nik Crider finished 2-for-3 with three runs, and Carter Schafer, Kaiden Erdel and Houston Hogan each had two RBIs.  

“Anytime you can get some momentum, it’s big and important for you,” head coach Chris Ellersieck said. “For us to jump out ahead, it allows your pitcher to be more comfortable on the mound.”

Community is already pretty comfortable with its No. 1 pitcher Rohan on the mound, Ellersieck said. Rohan’s ERA sits at 1.13 going into the playoffs even though he didn’t feel like he was at his best against Glasgow (5-11). 

“He was a little disappointed in his performance tonight,” Ellersieck said. “He is doing a great job of keeping his composure.”

Rohan said he didn’t disagree with some calls behind the plate and pitched with some traffic in a few innings. He admitted some of them “get in my head a little bit” but stayed the course.

“I’m staying ahead in counts and not getting deep,” Rohan said. “Just throw strikes. I like to stay confident in my head. I don’t let anything bother me that much.”

Crider, Swaim and Rohan are three of Community’s top hitters in OPS and RBIs while in the Nos. 2-4 spots in the lineup. They each reached base multiple times against Higbee (6-14) and Glasgow and appear to be ready for districts.

Ellersieck said they have produced at the top of the lineup and so has the freshman leadoff hitter Schafer. He had a two-RBI single against Glasgow to give him a hit in six of his previous seven varsity games.

“He was in a big hit streak for a little while,” Ellersieck said. “He’s getting on base and is doing the little things. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Community is preparing to host districts for the first time since 2018. It will play either New Haven (3-12) or Marion County (1-12) on Monday.

Rohan said he would like to see the Trojans come out with energy and avoid a result like the Cairo game. Ellersieck said they have to continue making it easy on themselves.

“We’re playing cleaner baseball and putting bats on the ball,” Ellersieck said. “When you throw strikes, the game is much easier. I see kids that are bought in and are ready to compete. They’re excited to play baseball every day. That, in itself, does a lot for you.”