Coach Jeremy Richey knew Jeffersonville would be a load for his Seymour baseball team to hand Thursday at American Legion Field.

The Red Devils are ranked fourth in the state, coming in with a 4-1 record.

Jeff sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored six runs, and matched those numbers in the sixth inning and went home with a 16-3 win.

The game was called at the end of six innings because of the run rule.

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Richey said he was impressed with the Red Devils.

“We knew they were going to be able to swing it, we knew they had some arms, and the wind was going to be a little bit of an issue because they’re always one of the best, if not the best hitting teams on the schedule,” he said. “They got to us early and I think we did a great job of responding. They stayed on a roll and we couldn’t answer after the first inning.”

Red Devils leadoff batter Drew Taylor hit the second pitch he saw over the fence in center field and the visitors were ahead to stay. The first five batters in the lineup had hits, and Jeff had seven hits in the first inning. Jackson Kruer had a two-run single.

Ty McCory led off the bottom of the first with a walk and was replaced by courtesy runner Takumi Nishiwaki. After AJ Boshears singled, Alan Perry hit a ground ball to the first baseman, who tried to make a play on Boshears at second but his throw sailed into left field and Nishiwaki scored.

Seth Maki followed with a single to left-center that brought in Boshears and Perry to cut Jeff’s lead in half at 6-3.

Ethan English homered over the fence in right-center in the top of the second to make it 7-3, and the Red Devils combined three hits, a walk and a Seymour error into three runs in the fourth. Taylor and Jack Ellis had two-run singles in the sixth.

The Red Devils had 17 hits, and drew four walks off three Seymour pitchers.

Maki had two hits for the second game in a row, and Richey said he is pleased to see the senior outfielder’s bat warm up.

“He’s coming around. We need him to,” he said. “We’ve got to have some guys in the middle of the lineup put the bat on the ball and make some things happen.”

Maki singled in the third inning and McCory singled in the fifth and those were the only hits the Owls had after the first inning. Seymour batters struck out 10 times and walked three times.

“We overhauled the lineup today and made some moves, and some of the moves I like,” Richey said. “We got a lot of young kids in the game tonight that I think grew up a little bit.

Some of them started to realize that maybe they’re not quite ready yet, which against a team like this, that’s understandable. We’re going to making changes until we find a fit that we like that’s going to give us a chance to win night in, night out.”

The Owls (3-2) will travel to Bedford North Lawrence Monday.