JCHS softball splits

Some miscues in the field and on the bases cost the Patriots a chance for victory in game one.
They made sure the same didn’t happen in their second chance.
Jay County High School’s softball team gave up two runs in the top of the seventh inning early Saturday afternoon, but second baseman Emily Corn recorded the final two outs to preserve a 7-6 Senior Day victory over the Hagerstown Tigers. The home team had fallen 5-3 in game one, in which it gave up two unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning and had two runners thrown out on the basepaths in the bottom of the frame.
Following a rough outing Friday night against Wes-Del, Saturday’s split gave the Patriots four wins in their last six games after an 0-10 start.
“Last night, we’re just going to try to forget about it,” said JCHS coach Amy Hawbaker. “They were not mentally ready to play last night, I think.
“But they have been really pulling things together. … I told them a couple weeks ago, they’re starting to play the way I thought they could play at the beginning of the season. They’re starting to realize it, and they’re starting to build some confidence.
“We do have a lot of young players, and I think gaining experience is a big part of it.”
Both games Saturday came down to the final inning, with the Patriots (4-12) holding a 7-4 lead in game two. Two walks got the offense going for Hagerstown (6-11), and Ashley Strunk ripped a single to get her team to within 7-6.
But Corn snagged a pop up off the bat of Caysey Farmer for the second out of the inning. And after Lexi Eblen was hit by a pitch, Corn cleanly fielded a grounder off the bat of Emilee Thackrey and tossed to senior McKayla Norris at first base for the final out of the game.
Those final two outs were indicative of the resilient play from JCHS throughout the day, as Corn shook off her seventh-inning error from game one to make the two keys plays in the game-two victory.
The Patriots also bounced back after falling behind in both games, including an opener in which eight of the first nine outs came by way of the strikeout.
“It would have been easy to roll over and play dead,” said Hawbaker. “They didn’t do that. They came right back. I was proud of the way they kept their heads up.”
Jay County trailed 2-0 after the top of the first inning in game two, but got singles from Kensey Litton, Kady Finnerty and Gabby Hart to post three runs in the bottom of the frame. Hagerstown tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth, only to have the Patriots immediately respond again as an RBI double by Hart highlighted a three-run frame.
The teams also traded the lead back-and-forth in the opener, in which Norris blasted a solo home run to straight-away center field to break up Lacee Dale’s streak of five strikeouts to start the game. They were tied at 3-3 heading to the seventh inning, when a ground ball trickled away from Corn. Gabby Willis scored on the play to give Hagerstown the lead, and Taylor Kelley came around on a passed ball for a two-run advantage.
Gwen Butcher reached base on an error to open the bottom of the seventh and bring the tying run to the plate. During the next at bat, a pitch to Catera Gierhart squirted away from Kelley, the catcher, but she was able to recover in time to throw out Butcher as she tried to swipe second base.
Litton reached second base with two outs thanks to another Hagerstown error, but she got caught for the final out of the game as she tried to steal third.
Dale struck out the side in the first, second and fifth innings, finishing with 14 Ks in all.
“She did a great job the first game,” said Hagerstown coach Kelsi Stotler. “She was doing really well hitting her spots and hitting her locations. She was on it from the beginning.”
Norris pitched well but took the game-one loss, giving up five runs — three earned — on seven hits. She was also 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in two of her team’s three runs.
Fellow senior Rachel Antrim was able to overcome six walks and two hit batsman in game two to pick up the victory. Both of her strikeouts came in the first inning.
“I was so excited to see them come back and work hard,” said Hawbaker, whose team committed two third-inning errors in the second game but otherwise played strong defense. “Other than that one inning they really picked it up. And Rachel threw a great game. I was really proud of how the seniors, both of them, really came through today on the mound.”