Big 1st hurts JC in finale

FORT WAYNE - With one swing of the bat, Nikki Wilson put the undefeated Spartans in control. Samantha Aguilar's two swings made team history.

The Jay County High School softball team fell behind 3-0 on Wilson's home run in the first inning and couldn't mount a comeback Friday in a 10-0 loss to Class 4A No. 2 host Homestead in the sectional championship.

"That changes everything. When you can get out early, it changes their strategy," said Homestead coach Tom Clagg, whose team needed nine innings to edge Jay County 2-1 in the 2008 sectional title game. "They can't bunt as much, and they're not going to steal as much. They can't push the envelope quite so far when you get down by five in the first inning."

Melissa Harber walked to open the game, and then Jena Hamrick was hit by a pitch. That set the stage for Wilson, who crushed a three-run home run.

A fourth straight batter, Mallory Harber, reached base with a single before the Patriots recorded their first out of the game. The respite was short-lived, as Aguilar blasted the first of her two home runs in the game to give Homestead a 5-0 lead.

"We got off to a bad start," said JCHS coach Doug Arbuckle, whose team finished at 10-7. "(Pitcher Tiffany Davis) was shaken up in the first inning.

"I was real proud of them though; for the next four or five innings we hung tough and didn't quit.

"They easily could have given in, but that's not our character. I was real proud to see that."

Following the five-run first inning, the Patriots allowed a single run in the second and then held Homestead scoreless for the next four. The Spartans broke through again in the seventh, posting a four-run inning capped by Augilar's second two-run homer of the game.

Aguilar finished 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs, and Wilson also drove in four runs. Hamrick added two hits and two runs.

"That is huge," said Clagg of Aguilar's two home runs. "We had eight kids on this team who hit a home run, but nobody in Homestead school history has ever hit two home runs in one game. That's a first."

While the Spartan offense had big innings to open and close the game, Jacqui Mathies kept the Patriots' line-up off balance. She scatted six hits over seven innings, allowing a runner to reach first base just once.

Mathies finished with seven strike outs and did not walk a batter.

"She does not try to blow that fastball by," said Claff. "She's got a good fastball, but for what we want to accomplish you can't live off of that. Good teams will ... eventually catch up with it. ... She's got three or four pitches she uses."

Freshman Danielle Wellman recorded two of the Patriots' hits with a single to left field in the first inning and a single to right in the third. Pazia Speed, Kendra Younger, Selena McKibben and Kendra Younger added one hit apiece.

"D has been real consistent all year. She's only struck out one time," said Arbuckle. "She just had some good at bats. I was really happy to see that out of her, and I expect great things out of her in the future."

The key to the four scoreless defensive innings for the Patriots was a rare pair of double plays.

In the fourth inning Harber hit a ground ball to Jessica Piercey, and the JCHS second baseman tagged out Hillary Kartman before tossing to first to end the inning.

After Hamrick waled in the fifth, Wilson hit a ground ball to shortstop Brittany Mann. Mann tossed to Piercey for the first out. Piercey they made an attempt to throw to first despite the fact that Hamrick was blocking her path. The throw went off-line, but Hamrick was called for interference on the play.

"Jess Pericey was involved in both plays, and I thought she had an excellent game in the field," said Arbuckle of the senior. "I was real excited to see that from her."

The loss ended an odd season for the Patriots, who missed half of their 28 scheduled regular-season games because of weather cancellations. Still, they won double-digit games for the third straight season and reached the sectional finale for the second consecutive year.

"It was really hard to get some consistency. But I felt like the girls got it together towards the end and were playing some good ball," said Arbuckle. "Even a few of the losses we had ... we played some good games. I was real proud of the girls. They never give up, and they played with a lot of heart."[[In-content Ad]]