July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

Bunt ends Jay's year

JCHS baseball
Bunt ends Jay's year
Bunt ends Jay's year

By RAY COONEY
President, editor and publisher

HUNTINGTON - Set in the wooded ravine east of Huntington University, Forest Glen Park has held some bad karma for the Patriots.

Their season, again, came to an end there on a walk off hit.

In 2007, the hit that sent them home for the year soared more than 365 feet. Thursday night, the ball trickled a mere 40.

Fort Wayne North Side's Timothy Hillery bunted home Nathan Fleming with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Jay County High School baseball team a 7-6 defeat in the semifinal round of the Class 4A sectional tournament hosted by Huntington North.

"It's kind of like déjà vu from the last time we were here," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey.

Two seasons ago, one of the best teams in school history lost in the sectional championship game when Ryan Wright of Homestead broke a scoreless tie with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning. That squad finished 25-3.

This time around, the Patriots looked as if they might go home in five innings as they fell behind 5-0 when North Side sent 16 batters to the plate in the first two frames. But they rallied, scoring three times in the fifth inning and three times with two outs in the seventh to pull even before the walk-off bunt ended their season.

"That's kind of the way they've been all year," said Selvey. "They just keep hanging in there. ...

"I'm proud of the kids' effort. I've been proud of the effort all year long. ... We're not the most talented team that's ever come through here, but they've got a lot of fight ... and a lot of belief in themselves.

"I couldn't be prouder of this bunch. Even though we lost and we didn't have a winning record, I'm as proud of this group as I have been with any group I've ever seen out here."

Trailing by three with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Jay County (9-12) started its dramatic rally when a hard-hit ground ball by Jon Pettus skipped off the chest of Redskins' shortstop Alexander McKinstry. Willie Mayfield worked a walk, and shortstop Michael Daniels dropped a single into left field to score Pettus.

An infield single from Eric Homan loaded the bases, and then Michael Masters hit a ground ball to third baseman Robert Lawhorne. Instead of throwing across the diamond to attempt to get Masters, Lawhorne tried, and failed, to beat Daniels to third base. Mayfield scored on the play.

Daniels then hustled home with the tying run when Chance Fuller reached base on a McKinstry error.

With the game tied and the bases still loaded for the Patriots, North Side pitcher Dylan Stantz finally came up with a strikeout to end the inning.

"We didn't give up the lead," said Redskins' coach Alex McKinstry. "I thought that was huge. If we had given up the lead, we would have been in a little bit of trouble.

"(Stantz has) been our best pitcher all year long. ... Even when he struggled late, I still thought he was throwing OK, we just didn't make the play when we needed to make the play."

But in the bottom of the inning, North Side (14-12) executed perfectly at the plate.

Fleming led off the frame with a looping single just over Daniels' glove in short center field. He advanced to second base on a passed ball, and then Tyler Vergon (3-for-3, three RBIs) followed with a bunt single to put runners on first and third. JCHS intentionally walked Timothy Holley to load the bases and set up a force play at the plate.

But Hillery and Fleming never gave the Patriots a chance to make that play.

Hillery deadened the ball as he bunted directly back at Homan on the mound. And by the time Homan was able to make the flip to catcher Andre Duke, Fleming had already dived across the plate and his teammates were streaming out of the dugout in celebration.

"He's the fastest guy on our team ... and it was a great bunt to get him in," said McKinstry of Fleming. "That's one of the fastest guys in Fort Wayne right there. He's unbelievably quick. We thought we were going to lose him to track, and I'm going to go kiss him here in a minute because I'm so glad he didn't run track."

The Redskins took control early, smacking four hits and scoring three runs in the first inning. They added two runs on five hits, including two bunts, in the second, and ran the lead to 6-0 when McKinstry (3-for-4, two runs, stolen base) led off the fourth with a double, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly.

"We kept thinking (in the first inning), if we get out of this with just two we'll be fine," said Selvey. "And then the next inning we're right back in the same (situation).

"But we managed to get back. And the kids believed that they could come back ..."

Jay County's rally started in the fifth inning when singles from Masters, Andre Duke, Nathaniel Brown and Mayfield keyed a three-run frame. It had runners on second and third with just one out in the sixth but failed to score before coming through in the seventh when they were down to their final out.

Homan faced the minimum in three innings of scoreless relief before allowing the run in the bottom of the seventh to take the loss. He also led the JCHS offense, going 3-for-4 - his hits came in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings - with a run.

"You couldn't ask for much more," said Selvey. "He came in and shut the door on them basically until that last inning.

"He had three hits and pitched well. I'm proud of him. He had a nice night."

Michael Daniels had two hits, including a double, a run, an RBI and a stolen base. Masters totaled two hits, and Mayfield and Duke each finished with a hit, a run and an RBI.[[In-content Ad]]
PORTLAND WEATHER

Events

July

SU
MO
TU
WE
TH
FR
SA
29
30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
29 30 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 1 2

To Submit an Event Sign in first

Today's Events

No calendar events have been scheduled for today.

250 X 250 AD