Patriots fall to Eastbrook

The Patriots scored twice in the first inning and twice in the last.
Lea Selvey just wishes they had been able to do more in between.
Jay County put each of its first three runners on base in the seventh inning to bring the tying run to the plate with no outs. But visiting Eastbrook got the benefit of a close call at first base, and Josh King came up with a strikeout to finish off a complete game as the Panthers held off the Patriots 6-4 Tuesday.
“When it was 3-2 I thought we weren’t really doing anything and they were missing opportunities,” said Selvey, who is in his 25th season coaching JCHS. “And then we missed a couple opportunities. And I just kept feeling that if we put something together we could win the game.
“If we play the whole game with the fire we had that last inning … You’ve got to go up there with that do-or-die, right now attitude at the beginning of the game rather than wait til you’re down.”
The Patriots (2-2) trailed 4-2 heading into the final frame, and gave up two runs in the top of the seventh inning. Each of their first three hitters reached base in their final at bat, with Toby McCallister slapping a single to center field, Wesley Hibbard drawing a walk and Landry Inman smacking an RBI single to right for his third hit of the game.
Alex Dunn stepped to the plate as the potential tying run with no outs, but Jay County was unable to get another hit as King closed out the win for the Panthers. Dunn flied out to right field and then Kyle Selvey hit a ground ball to shortstop Heath Brooksher on which he was called out on a close play at first base.
Lea Selvey disputed the call, but said after the game that “you can’t leave it in the hands of (anyone else).”
King then recorded his ninth strikeout to finish off the win.
“He didn’t have to do anything fancy up there,” said Eastbrook coach Todd Farr. “He just needed to use our defense.
“Josh is a tough-minded kid. He’s going to have control up there. He might have a few that get away, but he’s going to have his mind set that he’s going to bounce back.”
Both teams scored twice in the opening frame, with Tanner Reynolds tying the game for the Patriots when he sent a high fly ball over the right-field fence for the team’s first home run of the season. Reynolds had barely missed a blast a night earlier, doubling off the fence in left field in Jay County’s win over Muncie Central.
Eastbrook scored single runs in the third and fifth innings, one on a ground out by Nathan Shaw and another on a Patriot error. It got two insurance runs in the top of the seventh as Brooksher (double), Alex Campbell (single) and Shaw (single) led off the frame with three straight hits.
Brooksher, who was moved from the leadoff spot to No. 3 in the Panthers’ order, went 1-for-2 with a double and scored four times. Campbell added three hits, a run and an RBI, and Shaw had three hits and two RBIs.
“We made some changes in our lineup at two, three and four,” said Farr. “They hit the ball well for us tonight.
“(Brooksher) had been doing a great job getting on base, but we weren’t getting him across. We weren’t doing anything to help him out.”
Inman was 3-for-3 with an RBI and has gone 6-for-8 in the last three games for Jay County. McCallister went 2-for-3 with a run.
The Patriots had runners on base in every inning except the second, but strikeouts and a base-running mistake in the third inning helped limit them offensively. Eastbrook did not commit an error, while Jay County finished with three and allowed unearned runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
“I give credit to the kids for hanging in there,” said Lea Selvey. “If we’re in the ball game and have chances to win, that’s all I can ask of the kids. We’re going to get some of those and some are going to get away from us. Hopefully we get more than get away from us.”
Kyle Selvey took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk in three-plus innings. He struck out four batters.


[[In-content Ad]]