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By Eric Thomas, Assistant Sports Editor, May 8, 2008

Last updated: Thursday, May 8, 2008 9:11 AM EDT

Aaron Jones had a simple approach to Wednesday’s game with Cumberland Valley.

All Jones wanted to do was pitch hard and see where it would take him.

His performance, a three-hit, six strikeout, 6-1 victory over the Eagles is taking Mechanicsburg to the District 3 Class AAA playoffs.

“Just battled hard all game and pitched as well as I could and now we’re in the playoffs,” said Jones afterward.

The Wildcats starter allowed just one hit over the first six innings of work sitting down 14 of 15 batters faced. Cumberland Valley would get a single and a double in the sixth, but would muster no more offense.

“Once I gave up another hit, I just kept throwing and battling, I didn’t care about the no-hitter,” Jones said. “If it happened it happened, but if it didn’t I wasn’t going to be too ashamed of myself.”

“Definitely that’s my best game so far. Only giving up three hits to a good team like CV is hard.”

“He threw very well in the bullpen yesterday,” said Wildcats head coach Clay McAllister. “I have confidence in all the pitchers if we had to put (someone else) out there.

“Our pitching has been getting better and better, the last three or four weeks it’s been getting better.”

Jones got immediate run support from the bottom half of the Wildcats order as Matt Koveleski, Ryan Mentzer, and Matt Morell went a combined 6-for-9 with five runs scored. Jones finished the day 2-for-2 with a run scored in the victory.

“Our whole thing is when we stay in the strike zone at the plate we have some guys that can hit. When we get out of the strike zone we get in trouble. Our approaches at the plate the last few weeks have been better and better so we’re getting better and it’s a good time of the year to be playing well,” McAllister said.

Eagles starter Jeremy Shepps last 4 and 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs and gave up 10 hits.

“They swung the bats, put the ball in play, made things happen and they fell in,” said Whitehead. “That’s the game of baseball.

“They had to win the game and he had to pitch a great performance for them. They got the big hits and beat us.”

Koveleski started things off in the bottom of the second with a single and would later score on Morell’s double to make it 1-0.

Mechanicsburg would push another run across later in the inning on a error.

In the top of the fourth, Kovaleski singled again, Jones later drove a run in on a RBI triple to make it 4-0. Mechanicsburg would add a run in the inning on a double steal, in the process chasing Shepps.

Jones was strong in the following two innings sitting down the order in the fourth and fifth on just 15 pitches.

“He pitched great,” McCAllister. “You go back to back to that Red Land game earlier in the year, (then) he battled Bishop McDevitt down there in a (6-5) loss. He’s pitched against really good teams for us. He maybe hasn’t always been as sharp as he was today, but he’s been an inning guy for us and battled.

“(Wednesday), when he has faith in his fastball and gets that in for strikes he’s tough. His ball moves around pretty good. His curveball was good today.”

“I just try not to listen too much to anything,” Jones said. “I just tried and battled my hardest and knowing that either today we would win or Saturday we would win, I would just pitch my hardest today and hopefully we would get the win today and we’re in the playoffs not having to worry about getting the win Saturday in our last game.

“It felt really good.”

Andrew Kramer picked up a RBI on his double in the sixth for Cumberland Valley.