Patriots slam FR (05/02/08)

The Indians are still trying to find their way. For the Patriots, the path has generally led to someplace beyond the fence.

Jay County High School's baseball team smacked three more home runs Thursday night as it handed the visiting Fort Recovery Indians a third straight defeat, 14-0 in five innings.

"That's a fun team," said FRHS coach Shane McKibben of the Patriots, who are now 13-1. "A team like that doesn't come around very often. I told coach to enjoy it. That's a special team he's got. ...

"They swing the bats great. They have great pitching. I told my players that's the type of program and type of team we want to be."

Jay County jumped on the Indians (5-7) early as each of the first four runners reached base and scored. Luke Goetz got the Patriots started with an infield single and stolen base, Michael Jobe added a single and Josh Ludy reached base on an error.

The highlight of the game came in the second inning after Colton Lombardo drew a leadoff walk. Senior Nick Pryor, who has a prosthetic right leg from the knee down, smashed his first career home run over the left field fence.

He finished 2-for-3 with a run and three RBIs.

"That's a pretty good deal for him," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey. "I'm tickled for him. He's really stayed with things and worked at it. I'm just very happy for the kid."

Jobe also tripled in the three-run second inning. He went on to blast a three-run home run to left field as part of a six-run third, and then launched a two-run blast to right in the fourth.

The senior also picked up his eighth victory of the year, striking out 10 batters in four innings. He dropped his ERA to 1.04 and now has 73 strikeouts in 47 innings.

At the plate, Jobe went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and four runs.

"What can you say?" said Selvey of his No. 2 hitter, who has 10 home runs this season. "He was begging for that last one to stay in (so he could hit for the cycle)."

In addition to the efforts from Jobe and Pryor, Goetz had two hits, including a double, three runs and a stolen base. Ludy was 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI.

The three-homer game pushed the Patriots' school record total to 34. They have blasted 14 home runs in the last four games.

Starter Curt Heitkamp took the loss as four different pitchers saw action for Fort Recovery. He gave up three runs - two earned - on three hits while striking out two in one inning.

"I'm just disappointed we didn't give them a better game," said McKibben, who also used A.J. Backs, Cody Fiely and Frank Thien on the mound. "We didn't throw strikes. We didn't make any plays behind our pitchers.

"A team like that really shows you what you need to work on. They expose your weaknesses."

The lone hit for the Indians came in their first at bat of the game when Clint Tobe hit a ground ball between shortstop Thomas McCowan and third baseman Billy Wellman. McCowan made the stop deep in the hole, but did not have a chance to throw out Tobe at first.

Even without hits, Fort Recovery managed to get at least one runner on base in every inning. They closest it came to scoring was in the third inning when Heitkamp walked, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. However, Jobe induced a fly ball on the infield from Thien to end the frame.

The margin allowed both teams get essentially clear their benches. Fourteen players saw action for the Indians, and Jay County got 17 players on the field.

"You never know down the road," said Selvey, who used Eric Homan for an inning to close out the win for Jobe and watched Mike Masters get his first varsity hit. "The more times you can get experience, it's going to pay off ...

"There are a lot of different things that when you get a game like this you can look at. You get a chance to evaluate a little bit and get everybody a little playing time."[[In-content Ad]]