Bounce back

Tuesday’s loss left the Patriots with something to prove.
On Thursday, they did.
Two days after falling to a winless Marion squad, Jay County erased an early deficit and knocked off the visiting Mississinewa Indians 7-4.
Mississinewa, which scored twice in the top of the first inning, entered the game at 9-3 and finished 12th in the voting in this week’s Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Class 3A poll.
“We needed that,” said JCHS coach Doug Arbuckle. “That’s an important win for us, especially after the other night. The girls were really down. This was just a pick-me-up, and hopefully it can propel us to playing some good softball in May.”
The Patriots (9-6) wasted no time in mounting their comeback as sophomore third baseman Chelsea Tighe ripped a double to the base of the fence in left-center field to open the bottom of the first inning. Rachelle Jackson and Catherine Dunn followed by drawing back-to-back walks to load the bases for Nikka Chaney.
The JCHS clean-up hitter delivered with a two-run double to center field, and Katie Aker added an RBI single to right field to give the Patriots the lead for good. Chaney added a fourth run thanks to an error.
“(We had to) just keep our heads in it and not give up,” said Tighe of her team’s mindset after Mississinewa’s first at bat.
“We came back and answered the call there and it got us pumped back up,” added Arbuckle. “It got our enthusiasm going again, got our confidence back. … That’s just a good feeling to have when you can answer … and you get the lead back and they’re chasing you.”
Miscues by Mississinewa helped the Patriots put the game away late as Lexie Gierhart reached base on an error with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Katlin Petro followed with a single and advanced to second when Gierhart got into, and escaped, a rundown.
With runners on second and third Taylor Franklin executed a squeeze bunt to score Gierhart, and pinch runner Courtney Finnerty also came all the way around from second thanks to an errant throw.
The Indians still had a chance as they cut a four-run deficit to 7-4 when their first three batters reached base in the top of the seventh inning. But with no outs and the tying run at the plate, Justine May tried to steal third base. Dunn fired the ball down to Tighe to catch May for the first out of the inning.
Chaney then struck out Lexi Sands before inducing a hopper back to the circle from Cupp to end the game.
“You take yourself out of the game. You run yourself right out of the game,” said Mississinewa coach Steve Miller. “That’s basically it.
“Those two mistakes there hurt us, the rundown, a whole lot of things we didn’t do very well.”
Chaney overcame seven walks to earn the victory as she and the JCHS defense repeatedly got out of jams in the second through fifth innings. She gave just one run in the second despite allowing five base runners, and stranded one runner in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth.
The senior struck out four batters while giving up 11 hits as she earned her third win.
“After the first inning … we had some key situations where we got some force outs at third on some bunts and got out of some jams,” said Arbuckle. “That’s what it’s going to take to beat these good teams, because they’re going to have base runners. You’ve got to work your way through those.”
Despite retiring 12 straight batters during one stretch, Cupp gave up seven runs — five earned — on six hits and two walks to take the loss.
Tighe went 2-for-4 to lead the JCHS offense as she improved her team-best batting average to .416. She also had a stolen base.
“She has just been consistent,” Arbuckle said. “She’s been hitting the ball hard on the nose. .... If you get it in there, she’s going to make good contact.”
Nicole Herring, Madeline Eaton and Sands all had two hits for Mississinewa, which left 10 runners on base.[[In-content Ad]]