Patriots, Stars ready for regional

For one school, it’s never been done before.
The other, it’s been more than a decade.
When the Jay County and South Adams girls golf teams participate in the regional tournaments on Saturday, they will be in unfamiliar territory.
The Patriots, who placed third in the Muncie Central sectional at Crestview Golf Club, are returning to the regional tournament for just the third time in school history and the first since 2000.
South Adams, which also finished third but at the Norwell sectional at Timber Ridge Golf Course in Bluffton, is making an appearance at regional for the first time in program history.
“I feel awfully good about it, especially with the group of girls that we have,” said SAHS coach Seth Sprunger, whose team tees off at 8:54 a.m. Saturday in the East Noble regional at Cobblestone Golf Course in Kendallville. “They have worked really hard. Everybody that I have on my team has been a part of the program for at least two years.
“I feel awfully blessed to have these girls here.”
Jay County, which won a sectional title in 1989 and didn’t make it back to regional until 11 years later, had to lean on its fourth and fifth golfers to edge Winchester for the final qualifying spot.
The top three teams and three individuals from non-qualifying teams advance to regional.
Senior Maddison Baughn, the Patriots’ No. 1 golfer, struggled to a 112, including a dreaded double-digit score on both the 10th and 12th holes. It was her teammates — sophomore Sydney Mathias, juniors Brooke Sanders and Rachel Antrim, and senior Malarie Houck — who carried the Patriots to regional.
Sanders led the Patriots with a 93, and Mathias followed with a 97. Antrim and Houck, both first-year varsity players, had scores of 104 and 105 respectively to make up Jay County’s score of 399.
“That’s why it’s a team sport,” said Gray, whose Patriot squad tees off at 10:04 a.m. in the New Castle regional at Westwood Golf Course. “If one (player) doesn’t have their day, one of the other picks them up. You don’t have to rely on one person to shoot a low number.”
Getting this far, though, came as a surprise to Sprunger, who said he had a tough time controlling his emotions when he found out the Starfires made it through.
“I had honestly privately counted us out after the front nine,” said Sprunger, whose team had a 185 at the turn and finished with a 365. “I was stunned that we would have the capacity to still compete (with) three people in the 50s on the front nine.
“To be honest, I found a place where there wasn’t anybody and let out a little bit of adrenaline there, came back in and was able to coexist with the normal people again.”
Sydney Willis, a South Adams junior and 2013 state qualifier, is happy to have her teammates at the regional tournament this time around.
“I was really excited for all of us,” said Willis, whose score of 78 was the second-best score at the Norwell sectional. “I had hoped to get out by myself, but as a team this is really exciting.”
Willis has been the top Starfire golfer all year, failing to earn match medalist honors just once. Jaci Gorrell, Willis’ classmate, followed her with a 92 at sectional, and seniors Alleigh Wingler and Kelli Lehman joined them in double digits with a 97 and 98 respectively. Amy Schwartz, the third senior on the squad, had a 105.
“We started out a little bit shaky, but the course of that whole day really took shape of what our season was like,” Sprunger said, adding his team began the season with high scores, but gradually improved as the year went on. “I was really proud of them for hanging in and playing as well as they did at the end.”
Saturday’s tournaments bring a host of new challenges for both the Patriots and Starfires. Neither team played on its regional course during the regular season. Jay County practiced at Westwood on Wednesday, and South Adams will play a practice round at Cobblestone tonight.
“We weren’t supposed to keep score,” Mathias said of Wednesday’s practice round. “I think it was good just to see and experience the course before we play at regionals.”
Willis is the only South Adams golfer with experience at Cobblestone, and she said her knowledge of the course will benefit her teammates when they go practice.
Additionally, both teams will be facing off against tough competition.
Jay County is seeded 16th out of the 18 teams competing at its sectional, and South Adams is tied for 10th. Hamilton Southeastern and Yorktown — which are ranked third and sixth respectively — hold the top seed in the Patriots’ regional with sectional scores of 314, and Leo’s 341 is the No. 1 seed in South Adams’ regional.
Seedings are based on sectional scores.
“As I looked down through the regional, that may be the toughest (from) top to bottom,” Gray said of the New Castle regional, which has three teams ranked in the top 10 in the state. “It is really, really good.”
Both Gray and Sprunger aren’t setting expectations too high for regional. Gray said that while he doesn’t have a set number for the team or individuals, he just wants his them to be able to tell him at the end of the rou­­nd they did the best job they could.
And although Sprunger said he would like to finish in the top half, he also took a comedic approach to his outlook.
“If all the girls want to have their personal record on the same day, I’m fine with that,” he said with a smile.