From left, Tyler Consolidated’s Brayden Neff, head coach Rob Jones and Reese Davis pose for a picture. The trio surpassed some benchmarks this year with Neff, a former Paden City Wildcat, stealing his 100th career bag as well as coach Jones picking up career win No. 200 and Davis surpassing 200 career punchouts. (Photo Provided)

KIDWELL — Tyler Consolidated dugout boss Rob Jones is hoping his Silver Knights can put their best foot forward when it comes time for the postseason.

Two years ago, the Silver Knights finished off back-to-back Little Kanawha Conference baseball championships at the Sue Morris Sports Complex in Glenville.

A return trip last spring resulted in a semifinal loss to Gilmer County, but the Silver Knights didn’t qualify this season and a large part of that was not having ace Reese Davis available.

The junior right-hander earned first team all-state honors in Class A in 2024 after going 9-3 with a 1.19 earned run average and 128 strikeouts in 76 1-3 innings.

“I’m expecting next year to just go in there like I was as a sophomore and just fill the zone up and be back where I was,” admitted Davis, who has been used sparingly and gave up just 41 hits and 26 base on balls while holding opponents to a .147 batting average a season ago.

Although Davis has been limited to just eight innings of mound work where he’s allowed three hits, five walks and no earned runs with 15 strikeouts en route to a 3-0 record, he’s second on the team with a .361 average and leads the Silver Knights in home runs (3), runs-batted-in (26) and is 11 for 11 in stolen-base attempts.

“We have worked Reese back into the rotation slowly this year coming off a shoulder injury from football season,” admitted coach Jones, who watched Davis record career punchout No. 200 earlier this spring at St. Marys.

“He has started to build his pitch count up some and has a personal goal of chasing Ty Walton’s 311 career strikeout record.”

The Silver Knights have received solid production from fellow junior and Paden City transfer Brayden Neff, who recorded his 100th career steal earlier in the campaign at home versus Beallsville.

“Brayden leads our offense in many statistical categories like average (.417), runs scored (27), and stolen bases (29 for 33),” coach Jones said of the former Wildcat, who also has a pair of round-trippers and 15 RBIs. “He’s a prototypical leadoff that can also hit the ball hard.”

Neff, who wouldn’t have had a team to play for next year with Paden City set to close its doors, admitted of being a Silver Knight “I love it here. I’ve been treated well. Great community. The support, the atmosphere, I love it all.”

When it came to his decision to leave Paden City and everything that transpired at the school he figured he’d graduate from, Neff added “it was pretty immensely draining. How the school was just always shutting down. The community at Paden City is nice. I loved it.”

As far as his acumen for getting on base Neff, who leads the team with a .500 on-base average, just tries to do his thing.

“I look for a first-pitch fastball,” he said. “Like any first pitch that’s in the zone I’m going to swing at it.

“I’m really aggressive. Just to get on base is my goal every at-bat. I don’t get hit often. I think I’ve only been hit once this year.”

The right-handed hitting Neff, who earned all-state honorable mention honors in 2024, also explained his keys for being an adept base stealer.

“The art for my stolen bases is to get a good jump, attack the backside of the bag and try to avoid the tag,” Neff said while adding “you have to learn the pitcher’s movements, watch their eyes, what they do and their routine.”

Both players agreed since the postseason is getting ready to start that they just needed to throw strikes, get on base, field the ball and take care of the little things.

Not being able to help out his team the way he wants to hasn’t been easy on Davis, but he said “I’m trying to fight through it the best that I can. Definitely, I’d like to pitch in college.

“That’s what I want to do. I think rest is the best thing right now. I should be just fine next year and ready to roll. I started feeling a little better.”

Although the situation is completely different with Davis battling injury and Neff having his school closing, it’s not been easy for the former first team all-stater.

“It’s definitely hard on me mentally because I hate being injured,” Davis stressed. “Obviously, no one likes it, but I always want to compete and push through it. I kind of have to be smart with it and I want to be better next year.”

Aside from Neff reaching the century mark in career stolen bases and Davis surpassing the 200 strikeout plateau, coach Jones also managed to earn career victory No. 200 earlier this month against Calhoun County.

“My dad, Bobby Jones, was my first assistant coach here at Tyler Consolidated 13 years ago, which was pretty special,” admitted the skipper. “We are now blessed with a great staff in Zach Heasley and Kyle Ritz.

“I feel like we have built a program the community can be proud of. When you take a minute to reflect, you just think about all the great relationships you have built through the years with the players, staff, families and community. It’s a credit to all of them.”

Of course, coach Jones is hoping for a magical postseason run and no matter what transpires there’s always 2026 to look forward to.

“Both of these guys are great teammates who bring energy and work ethic everyday in practice,” Jones stressed of Davis and Neff.

“They are leaders in every sense of the word and we look forward to finishing the year strong and them both having great senior seasons next year as well.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com