Staff photo / Brian Yauger Jackson-Milton’s Jaidyn Henry slides into third base while McDonald’s Josh Srock attempts the tag. Henry went on to score for the Blue Jays.

McDONALD — At the end of a 10-games-in-11-days stretch, the Jackson-Milton Blue Jays were tired. Understandably so.

With McDonald taking an early lead, coming off a run-rule loss to the same team a day prior, and their first real break in almost two weeks on the horizon, it could have been easy to fold.

The Blue Jays did not.

A six-run sixth inning helped propel Jackson-Milton to a 10-5 victory over the Blue Devils on Thursday.

It’s been a tumultuous stretch, including a five-game skid that was snapped with the victory, but Blue Jays coach Matt Ruby is proud of the way his kids handled the two-week gauntlet.

“During a stretch (like that), it’s really easy for coaches to get down on their kids and be hard on their kids, but I want to say how much I commend my kids for the effort they put forward through that,” Ruby said. “I consider my kid that pitched tonight (Landon Workman), I consider him my leader of the team. He’s the most level-headed kid, and it was great to see him come back and bounce back this year after a season ending ACL surgery last year. It was great to see him performing the way he did. I commend my group of players for being level headed and understanding what to say.”

When McDonald went to the bullpen in the sixth inning, Jackson-Milton struck.

The Blue Jays (9-8) added six in the sixth, three of which came from runners that were walked home.

Facing a 5-1 deficit after the fourth, it could have been easy to pack it in and fight another day.

“Well the one thing that I preach and my other coaches preach is accountability. Like you own your mistakes, it’s nobody else’s fault,” Ruby said. “If you made a bad play on defense, you can’t carry that over to the plate. We were shocked yesterday. I think we started the game off with four straight errors. We came out today, we swung it well, we put balls in play, and we got a great performance out of my junior pitcher. Great performance.”

The Blue Devils fall to 8-4 on the season.

“That wasn’t us,” McDonald coach Andy Timko said. “5-1 in the fifth and just kicked the ball all over the place, walking guys and coming off a 10-0 game yesterday at their place, it’s just, I don’t know. We play horrible at this field. Our record over my three years here might be .500. We win here on the road all the time. We cannot win here and I don’t know what it is, but that’s neither here nor there. We’re still in (it for the league). If we beat Springfield twice, we end up winning the league.”

McDonald looks to rebound on Monday with a game against Springfield. They still have to finish a suspended contest as well. In that game, the Blue Devils hold a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning.

After some much-needed days off, the Blue Jays get back at it on Monday, facing Newton Falls at Eastwood Field.

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