A much-needed win

Trailing 5-1 after dropping the first game of a doubleheader, the Patriots were looking at the possibility of a winless first week. They wouldn’t allow that to happen.
Jay County responded to Connersville’s four-run third inning with three runs of their own and eventually claimed an 8-7 win when Betsy Huffman scored on a Spartan error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
“We really needed that,” said JCHS coach Doug Arbuckle, whose team lost the opening game 7-4. “We were sitting at 0-3 and got down early, and the girls hung in there …
“We just really needed it … to give us that confidence, give us a little momentum going into next week, to know that we can finish games and not let them slip away. It was just a big win for us today.”
The Patriots (1-3) scored twice in the fourth inning and once in the sixth for a two-run lead, but Connersville (1-4) pulled even on Olivia McMillan’s two-run home run in the top of the seventh.
Katlin Petro started the bottom of the seventh with a single to left field, and pinch hitter Rachelle Jackson laid down a perfect bunt to advance her to second base.
“I told (Jackson) I was going to pinch hit her to get a bunt down and sacrifice her to second,” said Arbuckle. “It was just a super job from her. She’s been one of our most consistent bunters through her four years here. … I just really felt confident in her that she could get that done for us, and she did a great job.”
Huffman entered the game as a pinch runner for Petro and took third on a wild pitch after Gabby Hart flied out to center field. Abbey Vance then hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield, and the throw sailed over the head of McMillan at first base to allow Huffman to score the winning run.
“You put the ball in play and things will happen,” said Arbuckle. “They couldn’t make the play on it.”
Vance also earned the victory as she struck out a career-high 10 batters.
After giving up four runs, including a two-run homer, in the third inning, she proceeded to record 12 consecutive outs. That stretch included a run of four straight strikeouts, two to end the fourth inning and two more to start the fifth.
“Just hats off to Abbey Vance today to come in and finish up game one and pitch the whole game two,” said Arbuckle. “She changed up her speeds a lot. She hit her spots, for the most part. She had them really off balance. It was just a super job.”
Chelsea Tighe led the offense in the second game, reaching base in all four of her plate appearances as she finished 3-for-3 with four runs and two stolen bases.
Katie Aker had the key hit with a three-run double in the third inning, Cierra Nichols finished 3-for-3 and Chloe Steigerwalt had two hits.
Connersville led 1-0 through three innings in the opener before McMillan broke the game open when she crushed a grand slam down the left field. The bases were loaded thanks to a single from leadoff hitter Kelsey Rader and back-to-back walks from Morgan Schneider and Kelsey Kroger.
“That’s just so huge,” said Connersville coach Jaime Hamm, whose team had opened with losses to New Castle, Greenfield-Central and Franklin County. “I can’t even explain how monumental that was for the team.
“It was really good to see. We’d been struggling a little bit at the plate. Today our bats finally busted loose … and we hit like we knew we could.”
McMillan finished the day with three hits, two of which were home runs, and six RBIs for the Spartans. Destiny Ruch had three hits in the opener.
Jackson suffered the defeat in game one, giving up five runs on eight hits and three walks in four innings.
Aker had three of the Patriots’ six hits, including a double, in the first game. She stole a base and scored twice.
“Katie had a great day,” Arbuckle said. “She came up with a couple big hits. I think she’s getting more confident at the plate. She’s seeing the ball really well. She’s not getting fooled on any pitches.”
Courtney Finnerty and Tighe each had one hit, one run and one RBI.[[In-content Ad]]