Arbuckle blast powers Patriots

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Noah Arbuckle woke up the Patriot bats in a big way.

Then he shut down the sticks for the Jets.

Arbuckle, a Jay County High School junior, broke up a no-hitter with a two-run home run in the home half of the sixth inning, then closed the door on Adams Central as the Patriot baseball team rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Jets on Wednesday at Don E. Selvey Field.

“It just shows how we made it to semi-state last year,” said Arbuckle, who was 0-for-2 leading up to his plate appearance in the sixth inning. “We never give up.”

Adams Central pitcher Kevin Brown, who has committed to University of Saint Francis, got Arbuckle to pop out to right field in the third inning. The Patriot was looking for the same pitch next time around.

Brown granted his wish and sent the 1-1 offering sailing over the left-field fence to score Isaac Moeller — he was hit by a pitch — and Arbuckle to tie the game at two apiece.

“That was the exact same pitch I was looking for,” Arbuckle said. “I hoped he’d throw it again to see if I would get a pop up but I didn’t pop up this time.”

Following Arbuckle’s blast, Michael Schlechty and Wyatt Geesaman hit back-to-back doubles to put the Patriots (12-2, 2-0 Allen County Athletic Conference) in front of the Class 2A No. 9 Jets, 3-2. The homer and consecutive doubles were the only hits for Jay County after they failed to get one through the first 5 1/3 innings.

“I thought we’d get some hits, I just didn’t know they were all going to be extra bases all right in a row,” JCHS coach Lea Selvey said. “Our top of the order is capable of doing that.”

Arbuckle took to the rubber to start the top of the seventh, the third pitcher for Jay County after Geesaman gave up one run through five innings and Brayden Mock surrendered one more in the sixth.

Jalen Hammond flied out to Mock in right field for the first out, and Brown went down on a called third strike. Will Hamilton ripped a pinch-hit double to the gap in left-center field before Arbuckle got Chase Peterson to look at strike three for the save.

“For him to come in and close the door like that, it’s good,” said Selvey said. “I would give Mock some credit. He came in — Wyatt was getting up in pitches — Mock comes in and does the job.”

Mock was the pitcher of record in the home half of the sixth, so he was credited with the win. He allowed three hits and one walk.

Geesaman surrendered five hits, struck out seven and walked two.

“Once again our pitching was outstanding,” Selvey said. “More than anything, proud of a team victory.”

Adams Central (9-5, 2-1 ACAC), which is ranked 10th in Class 2A, got on the board in the top of the first inning on a Brown RBI single that scored Logan Macklin, who also singled. The Jets doubled their lead in the sixth inning as Kane Clark doubled to left field.

Two batters later, Macklin singled to Schlechty in center field, and he cut down Clark at the plate attempting to score. Schlechty’s throw was about 10 feet up the third base line, but JCHS catcher Gabe Faulkner fielded it and dived to tag out Clark.

“They are just relaxed,” Selvey said of the key to the Patriots’ five-game winning streak, including an upset Saturday of Hagerstown, the top-ranked team in Class 2A. “They stay after it and they believe. They have a little bit of swagger in them right now.”