Regional bound

FARMLAND — Evan Mathias gave a slight fist-pump when he buried a par putt on the 13th hole.
Justen Keller waved after sinking his putt for birdie on No. 17.
They were appropriate reactions for a team in the midst of shooting its best round at its biggest event of the season.
Adam Alfont, Richie Carducci, Dylan Friddle, Keller and Mathias became just the second team in Jay County High School history to advance to the boys golf regional, finishing third Monday with a 337 at the sectional tournament hosted by Monroe Central at Hickory Hills Golf Club. Mathias was the sectional runner-up with a 78.
“It feels really good,” said Keller, a senior, who posted the No. 2 score for the Patriots with an 82.
“We didn’t really have a great season coming into this, but we pulled it off,” added Mathias. “We all just wanted to play well.”
The 337 was by far Jay County’s best 18-hole score of the year, surpassing the 368 they shot at the New Castle Invitational on May 12. They finished seven strokes behind runner-up Delta while Yorktown won the sectional title with a 328.
The Patriots beat out Winchester, a team they lost to by nine strokes in a nine-hole match during the regular season, for the third and final regional berth. The Golden Falcons were fourth at 342 while Union placed fifth with a 347.
Seth Neal of Delta earned medalist honors by four strokes over Mathias as he shot 4-over-par.
“I’m very, very happy,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray. “We came back on that back side and kept our composure. We shot our best nine of the year, and for sure the best 18 that we’ve put together.
“The kids came through. They played well.”
Jay County will return to The Players Club for the third time this season to play in the regional at 8 a.m. on Friday.
After sitting in fifth place with a 178 at the turn Monday, the Patriots came back strong on the back nine.
JCHS racked up 19 pars on the back nine after recording just 10 on the front. Its score of 157 coming home surpassed its best nine-hole mark of the year by nine strokes.
“We just had to keep our heads in it and stay with it,” said Keller.
“They kept grinding,” added Gray. “They just kept going at it.
“(We didn’t want to) let one shot destroy the round. We’ve talked a lot about that.”
Mathias got on a roll after recording a par to close out his front nine. He added five straight pars to open the back nine, getting up-and-down on the 10th, 11th and 13th holes.

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