Jay County will play two

“It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame … Let’s play two.”
Former Chicago Cub Ernie Banks became famous for the catch phrase, stating his constant wish to play double-headers, during his career from 1953 to ’71. Today it’s some not so beautiful weather that has led the Patriots in the same direction.
Thanks to the snow and ice that has wreaked havoc on the Jay County High School boys basketball team’s schedule, the squad will squeeze in its final two home games today — at noon against Bellmont and at 6 p.m. against Norwell.
“They want to play,” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle of his players, who will then travel to Huntington North Tuesday to take on the host Vikings (13-8) in the opening round of the sectional tournament. “That’s what it’s all about. With all the AAU that goes on, these kids are used to playing three or four games in a day anyway.
“For us it’s the opportunity to get both games in. And then it gives us a little bit of a regional feel.”
Neither of the games was originally scheduled for today, but weather has not cooperated with Jay County’s winter sports schedule this season.
The Patriots were originally slated to play Norwell (14-4) on Tuesday, but that game was postponed to today because of ice-covered roads. The game against Bellmont (3-16) was scheduled to be the regular-season finale on Friday, but heavy snowfall in the early morning hours tossed that plan out the window as well.
When the Bellmont game was called off, it was assumed that it would not be made up. But things changed when Teagle met with JCHS principal Phil Ford and athletics director Bob Lutton Friday morning.
One of the administrator’s joked that the game could be played Saturday. After a laugh, Teagle said “Let’s do it.”
After confirming that Teagle was serious about the idea, Lutton picked up the phone. Five minutes and a few calls later, the day-night double-header was set.
Teagle said, if possible, he didn’t want to see the work his players and coaching staff had put in to scouting, game-planning and practicing go to waste.
“We put in a lot of hours preparing for Bellmont,” he said. “It’s like a throw-away if you don’t do it.
“I just think there was so much that goes in mentally and physically for each game that it would be too bad and disappointing, especially of the kids, not to be able to go out and play.”
Jay County, which has already missed 11 days of school this year, was out of session for 12 days last year.
The Patriot boys played just 18 regular season games last season, missing home dates against Delta and Irvington Preparatory Academy. And this season the girls team lost three games — home against Huntington North and Delta and on the road at Pendleton Heights — because of inclement weather.
The double-header solution is a common occurrence for high school baseball and softball, but basketball is a different story.
This will be the first time the Patriots have played two games in a single day since the 2006 regional tournament when they defeated Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee on their way to the Class 3A state championship game. They last played two regular-season contests in a single day during the final Olympic Athletic Conference Tournament in 2000. (The girls team played a double-header last season as part of the Hall of Fame Classic.)
Teagle, who coached Jay County in four regional tournaments from 2003 through ’07, said he will approach Saturday’s games much the same way.
The players will arrive at JCHS at 10:15 a.m. and have a walk-through for the Bellmont game. They’ll review the scouting report and watch some video of the Braves before going through their “pre-pre-game” shooting drills at 11:10 a.m. The junior varsity game will start at noon, with the varsity to follow as usual.
Then the players will head home to rest for a couple of hours, taking their Norwell scouting reports with them. They will reconvene at JCHS at about 5:15 p.m. to go over that scouting report before the JV squad hits the floor again at 6 p.m.
There will be no walk-through or shooting drills before the Norwell contest, mirroring the regional format.
Teagle said he’s not worried about his team being fatigued for the sectional opener, when they will be playing for the fourth time in seven days. The Patriots defeated Yorktown 44-29 Wednesday and practiced Thursday, but Teagle gave his players an off-day Friday.
“They’ll get Sunday off to rest their legs,” he noted. “Monday will be Huntington North preparation, so although we want to go crisp and hard, but it’ll be short. Kids are pretty resilient at that age.”[[In-content Ad]]