10 for 10th

It wasn't supposed to take 10 runs to win.

With the defending conference champions hosting a team poised to knock them off, many were expecting a low-scoring affair.

It was anything but. The first inning, which took more than an hour, proved such.

The Starfires got the only lead it really needed in the first inning and made sure the reigning champs had to play from behind.

The Patriots never recovered.

South Adams High School’s baseball team struck for 10 runs in the first inning, added 10 more for good measure and pushed its winning streak to double digits in knocking off the Jay County Patriots 20-8 in five innings Tuesday at Don E. Selvey Field.

“It’s one of those games you just don’t feel like you have enough runs,” said SAHS coach Brad Buckingham, whose team is ranked second in Class 2A. “Give all the credit in the world to Jay County. I’ve got my best out there (on the mound) and they’re hitting shots.

“To get away with a win like this, it feels good.”

Jay County coach Lea Selvey, whose team is the defending Allen County Athletic Conference champion, was proud of the Patriots for not giving up despite being so far behind before they even stepped to the plate.

“We just put ourselves in a hole,” said Selvey. The Patriots dip to 7-4 on the year and 2-1 in ACAC play. “We scored five (in the first inning). It could have been more, but that’s a big hole to climb. Then you’ve got to hold them there, and we didn’t. Then we have to come back again.

“You can only do that so much.”

Joe Stuber, a South Adams senior, highlighted the scoring onslaught in the first inning. Batting in the No. 3 spot, he had a sacrifice fly in his first at bat, then ripped a bases-clearing triple later in the inning as the Starfires (14-1, 3-0 ACAC) sent 14 players to the plate.

Keagan Yoder and Nic Stuber both drew walks with the bases loaded, and Grant Besser got hit by a pitch with the bases juiced.

The walk to Nic Stuber marked the end of the day for Jay County starter Wyatt Geesaman, and brother Joe’s triple came off reliever Gaven Hare.

The Patriots responded quickly, scoring five runs in the home half of the first. Max Moser hit an RBI single, and Ethan Myers followed with an RBI double.

Michael Schlechty ripped a two-run double to right field, and Mitchel Frasher also drove in a run.

Much like Geesaman, South Adams starter Collin Shaffer didn’t make it out of the first inning. Besser entered with two outs and bases loaded and prevented further damage.

“Threw strikes,” said Besser, who tossed the final 4 1/3 innings, struck out 10 and walked three while giving up three earned runs on five hits. “Have some confidence through it all. Trust my teammates out there.

“They started out hot just like we did. Just got to grind through it.”

South Adams only managed two hits in the first inning, but tallied eight more over the final four frames.

Besser, who was 3-for-3, blasted a three-run home run in the top of the third as he finished with four RBIs.

“When he gets confident he’s good,” Buckingham said. “He helps us go.”

Shaffer fed off Besser, as he stroked a two-run blast to left center, making it 15-7 in the top of the third inning following Noah Arbuckle’s two-run double in the home half of the second.

“Shaffer is another guy … he’s starting to see different pitches in the zone,” Buckingham said. Shaffer and Besser lead the team with three home runs apiece. “He’s had good plate discipline.”

Isaiah Baumgartner, Grady Sprunger and the Stubers collected RBIs in the Starfires’ four-run fourth inning, and Besser scored the 20th run for South Adams on an error in the top of the fifth.

Moser led the Patriots offensively. He was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and three runs. Myers had a pair of doubles, and Cole Stigleman tallied a double and a single.

“I still believe in this team,” Selvey said. “There’s a lot of expectations. I think sometimes we show up ready to play but we adapt after the game starts. We have to be ready to go.

“That’s two games we’ve got off to a bad start and couldn’t recover from. It happens. It’s baseball. We’ll be all right.”

At 3-0, South Adams is the lone undefeated team remaining in the ACAC. The Starfires host Southern Wells on Thursday before a May 8 game at Woodlan. The final game of their conference schedule is a meeting with county rival Adams Central on May 10 in Berne.

“I think we believe now we can get the (championship) this year,” Besser said.