Stroble's triples sink Starfires

HARTFORD CITY — Fresh off a rise in the rankings, the Starfires got an early lead against the Bruins.

It was gone quickly.

Brandon Stroble’s two-run triple put the host Blackford Bruins out front 2-1, and another run spelled doom for the South Adams High School baseball team in a 3-1 loss on Monday.

The Starfires, who earlier in the day earned the No. 4 ranking in Class 2A from the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association, fell to 10-3 on the year ahead of an Allen County Athletic Conference matchup with Jay County tonight.

South Adams took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning as AJ Dull scored on a wild pitch.

But in the home half of the fourth, Stroble hit the second of his two triples to put Blackford out front 2-1, and Stroble scored on a sacrifice bunt.

Nic Stuber, Nick Miller, Tim Davidson and Alex Gorney all singled for the Stars, who never got a runner to second base after the run-scoring third frame.

Adam Besser took the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits. He struck out four in five innings.



SA JV falls short

BERNE — The South Adams junior varsity softball team erased a five-run deficit after the first inning but was never able to take a lead in an 18-13 loss to the Homestead Spartans on Monday.

The Starfires (6-5) fell behind 7-2 after the first inning and 10-6 after two and a half, but evened the score with four runs in the bottom of the third. Homestead reclaimed the lead, scoring five runs in the top of the fifth, and the Starfires couldn’t quite catch up.

Mallory Hirschy and Savannah Alberson each collected four singles and two RBIs, while Vivian O’Dell had a double, two singles and four RBIs. Taylor Braun doubled and knocked in a run, while Kaelynn Miller and Jayla Conner chipped in two singles apiece as both teams racked up 16 hits.



Chiefs claim trophy

PONETO — The East Jay Middle School boys track team won the Southern Wells Relays on Monday.

East Jay finished with 95 points, edging runner-up South Adams by five points. West Jay had 18 points for sixth place.

Josh Dowlen had one individual win and helped a pair of first-place relays. He had a time of 18.88 seconds to win the 100-meter hurdles.

Dowlen joined Sheldon Minch, Thomas LeMaster and Isaac Kunkler to win the distance medley relay, and the same four also crossed the finish line in first for the 4x400 relay.

West Jay and South Adams results were not provided.



Golfers second

MUNCIE — Jay County’s middle school golf team was second on Monday in a three-team match with Delta and Monroe Central at Delaware Country Club.

Delta won with a score of 167, and Jay County shot 194. Monroe Central fired 228 for third.

Caleb DeRome of Jay County earned match medalist honors by firing a 4-over-par 39. Bretton Basford also contributed to the team score with 50, as did Tyler Manor (52) and Brock DeHoff (53).

Patrick Hemmelgarn and Kenny Carducci shot 54 and 63 respectively, but their scores did not factor into the team total.



First Bank edges Fisher

First Bank of Berne opened the Minor softball season of Portland Junior League by edging Fisher Meats for an 8-7 victory.

Raylin Hummer and Emily Young both had two hits for First Bank of Berne, which also got singles from Alexis Sibray, Rose Carter, Eva Carter and Hannah Hayes.

Erin Aker knocked two hits for Fisher, while Lenzie Tobe and Nevaeh Armstrong both singled as well.



Trio leads Flamespray

Three players went 3-for-3 to lead Flamespray Machine Service to an 18-12 victory over Pak-A-Sak in Portland Junior League’s Rookie baseball division.

Karson Schilling, Grant Fennig and Easton Johnson were all 3-for-3 in the Flamespray win. Mitchell Byrum, Andrew Myers and Roman Clamme had two hits each.

Eli Homan, Tyce Foreman, Cooper Reynolds and Chandler Young collected two hits apiece in the loss for Pak-A-Sak. Cruz Darby was 1-for-2 as well.