Patriots fall 18-1 in opener

FORT WAYNE - Once the Homestead Spartans got their bats going, it seemed almost impossible to slow them down.

The seventh-ranked host team scored three times in the fourth inning, four in the fifth and a demoralizing eight in the sixth and final Friday as it handed Jay County High School an 18-1 defeat in the opening round of the Class 4A sectional tournament.

"Wow. Oh my gosh. They're good," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team finished at 11-12. "Actually, I don't think we played bad. They just manhandled us. We would have won a lot of games if we played like we did today. They just tattooed everything we had.

"They've got a shot to win it," he added of the Spartans' chance at a state title. "I think they could."

The teams traded runs in the first inning before Homestead scored twice in the top of the second to take the lead for good.

The Spartans, who finished as state runners-up last season, started their offensive onslaught in earnest in the fourth inning when Jake Renkenberger hit a solo home run with one out. Jacob Veerkamp added a single before Steve Lowden blasted a two-run home run to push the Spartans' lead to 6-1.

Cody O'Neal hammered another solo home run to start the four-run sixth inning, and then Homestead got its merry-go-round rolling in the sixth.

The Spartans sent 13 batters to the plate in what would be the last inning. At one point eight straight batters reached base, and they put together six hits in a row to end the stretch. The last three of those hits came from pinch-hitters before Skyler Petty finally got a ground out to end the inning.

Lowden and Chuck Weaver each had doubles in the sixth as the lead ballooned to 18-1.

"That's been our theme for most of the season," said Homestead coach Steve Sotir, "for us to come out and put the ball in play and hit it hard. That's exactly what happened today."

Lowden racked up five RBIs with his three hits and also scored twice. Renkenberger finished 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, and Veerkamp had three hits, two runs and two RBIs.

Kinzer stole a pair of bases and drove in two runs, and John Killham also scored three times.

Jay County's only run came in the first inning after Trey Dunn drew a leadoff walk. He stole second base, and advanced to third when the throw skipped into center field.

Nathaniel Brown delivered and RBI single to center field to tie the game at 1-1.

Brown also had the only other hit for the Patriots with a single to center in the fifth inning.

"Brownie's been hot," said Selvey. "At one point he was hitting like .237, and he's been on a tear where he's up to .350 now. ... It was a good thing he was here today."

The rest of the JCHS lineup finished 0-for-16 with six strikeouts against Veerkamp. He gave up just four walks.

"All we ask of our pitchers is to get ahead in the count, throw strikes, make them put the ball in play," said Sotir. "Veerkamp has pretty good control most of the time. Today he came at them."

Wellman, who pitched six scoreless innings against Homestead in the sectional tournament last season before the Patriots fell to a 4-0 defeat, took the loss. He gave up 10 runs - six earned - on 11 hits and a walk in four-plus innings.[[In-content Ad]]