Semi-state bound

DECATUR — Hours earlier, Ryan Schlechty had induced a ground ball to secure a five-run victory.

In each of the previous two innings, he had recorded a strikeout to end bases-loaded threats.

He stood on the mound again, a 2-2 count against Yorktown’s Luke Hill with two outs in the seventh, his team clinging to the slimmest of leads. He fired in a pitch that had the Patriot dugout primed for explosion. “Ball,” signaled the umpire on the junior’s 62nd pitch of the day.

He would need only one more.

Schlechty’s next offering zipped past Hill’s swinging bat and into the glove of catcher Gabe Faulker.

That pitch completed Jay County’s 7-6 victory over the Tigers late Saturday night in the IHSAA Class 3A baseball regional championship game at Bellmont, sending the Patriots to semi-state for the first time in a quarter century.

“It feels amazing,” said Schlechty, who moments after the Hill strikeout was mobbed by his teammates in a dogpile at the front of the mound. “As a kid you always think about what’s going to happen in high school. You always want to go as big as you can, and we’re doing it right now. It feels amazing. I couldn’t describe it any other way.”

The victory sends JCHS (21-5) to the semi-state for just the third time in program history to take on top-ranked Andrean (29-6) at approximately 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Municipal Stadium in Kokomo. That game will follow the class 1A semi-state between Northfield (16-14) and No. 6 Daleville (20-9) that starts at 1 p.m.

Class 3A’s other semi-state contest pits No. 10 Indian Creek (24-5) against No. 3 Silver Creek (24-2) at Ruxer Field in Jasper.

Jay County’s regional day was far from perfect.

The Patriot pitchers allowed 16 walks.

They combined to hit four batters.

They slung a slew of wild pitches.

The defense committed six errors, including five in the title game.

But they also made the most of their opportunities. Their bats came alive for eight runs in the final two innings of their 10-5 regional semifinal victory over No. 8 NorthWood in the afternoon. 

And after producing the go-ahead run without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the fourth inning of the championship game, Schlechty pitched the Patriots to the regional crown.

“I’m very proud of these kids,” said coach Lea Selvey, who was in his fifth season at the helm when Jay County last earned a semi-state berth. “They were very resilient today. I guess that comes from them believing in themselves and believing with each other.

“They just don’t get frustrated. … They just have been through it enough. And they believe.”

The situation looked dire for the Patriots when they allowed three first-inning runs to Yorktown via four walks and an error. They got three back in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a hit, four walks and a hit batsman, only to give up three more in the top of the second when they committed four errors, including three in a row and two on bunts.

But they pulled even again in the bottom of the second when their first two batters were hit with pitches and Schlechty and Max Moser followed with consecutive hits, and the score was still tied when Schlechty drew a walk to start the bottom of the fourth. He advanced to second on a stolen base, and found himself on third with two outs after his twin brother, Michael, hit a grounder to Hill at second base. A pitch from Conner Anderson snuck past Quin Fauquher, allowing Schlechty to hustle home and score easily.

Yorktown had plenty of runners on base, loading them in both the fifth and sixth innings, but could not break through.

In the seventh, Schlechty sat the Tigers down in order.

“We had runners in scoring position every inning … until the seventh,” said Yorktown coach PJ Fauquher, whose team finished at 24-9. “Give Jay County credit. We just couldn’t come up with a base hit, couldn’t come up with a way to get a run across.”

Schlechty went the final 2 2/3 innings of the championship game, holding Yorktown without a hit or a run while striking out three and walking three.

Noah Arbuckle earned the win, giving up three runs — one earned — on three hits while striking out three in three innings of relief of starter Wyatt Geesaman.

Moser led an offense that was mostly quiet as he reached base in all four at bats. He recorded three singles and a walk while scoring once and driving in a run.

Schlechty walked twice and singled to right field in the second inning, scoring all three times he reached base.

No other Jay County player recorded a hit.

The regional championship win was the fifth victory for the Patriots at Bellmont this year — that’s more than half as many games as they won on their own home field — after they topped Mississinewa, Norwell and Heritage in the sectional tournament a week earlier.

The victory Saturday night avenged the loss that ended Jay County’s 2017 season when it fell 10-5 to the host Tigers in the sectional semifinal. It marked the third regional title in the history of the program, and the 14th in school history across all sports. The most recent came from the girls cross country team in 2010, completing a three-peat.

“It’s hard to describe,” said Selvey, whose was at the helm when the team won its previous two regional titles in 1992 and ’93. “I feel so happy. I’ve been there, not too many times, but I’ve been there. They haven’t. … I’m just so happy for our people to experience this.”

Moser, the team’s senior third baseman, couldn’t stop smiling.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “Best feeling I’ve ever had."