Eagles oust Jay in eight (05/23/06)

TIPTON — The Jay County softball team’s season ended the same way it began, with a one-run loss to the Delta Eagles.

Delta ended the Patriots’ best season in recent memory Monday, handing them a 2-1, eight-inning defeat in their opening-round game at the Class 3A Tipton sectional.

Jay County lost its season opener at Delta, 3-2.

In a sectional game in which both pitchers were outstanding and none of the runs were earned, it was simply a matter of which team would make the costly mistake. The Eagles won the waiting game.

“I was kind of getting scared for a little bit there,” said Delta coach Morgan Metzger, whose team trailed 1-0 for much of the game. “We were hitting the ball consistently hard, but just nothing was falling in. We knew finally we would get something.”

It came in the sixth inning, and then again in the eighth.

Eagle catcher Maggie Dely reached base on a Morgan Locke throwing error to start the sixth inning, and pinch runner Rachel Heritage moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single from Ashley Kilmer. With the game still tied at one in the bottom of the eighth, Dely got Delta going again.

This time she hit a pop-up and Patriot first baseman Miranda Betz moved under it several steps in front of the base. Betz lost track of the ball as Dely streaked by toward first base, and it fell to the ground and spun foul. The home plate umpire first called a foul ball, but his field partner ruled the ball had brushed Betz’s glove and was fair.

With Heritage again on first running for Dely, Jay County got a break when Hillary Writtenhouse popped up her sacrifice bunt attempt and catcher Trisha Champ made the catch for the first out. Kilmer followed with a successful sacrifice bunt, moving Heritage to second.

With two down, Emily Nickels hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Amber Champ for what should have been the third out. But the ball got past Champ and into right field, allowing Heritage to come home with the game-winning run.

Although disappointed with the outcome, JCHS coach Jack Wood focused on the positive season. His team’s 13-13 record was the best since a 10-win campaign in 2001.

“I’m very, very proud of them,” said Wood, whose squad will graduate six seniors. “It’s been a great year.

“We were kind of hoping 1-0 would hold up, but in reality Delta is a pretty good ball team and (Kristen) Buckles definitely had a great game. We couldn’t catch up to her. Hat’s off to them.”

Buckles baffled the Patriots for much of the contest, recording a season-high 16 strikeouts. She retired the side just three times, but struck out at least two batters in six out of eight innings.

She was sharp despite some frustration with the umpire’s calls early on.

“That happens every game you play,” said Buckles, adding that she just had to work through it. “It felt good. I was pitching very well today.

“It’s just the end of the season. I start getting a lot more competitive ... just because it’s about to end, and it’s my senior year.”

Wood said he felt his team lacked discipline at the plate, and also missed several opportunities.

Jay County failed at all of its sacrifice bunt attempts while the Eagles had four successful sacrifice bunts, including one in each of the two innings in which they scored a run.

“We didn’t help ourselves any there,” said Wood. “We must have tried to bunt five or six times. We couldn’t get a bunt down, we couldn’t get a bunt fair.

“We chased a lot of bad pitches too. And to her credit she kept it up and there and out there and we chased it. We weren’t very patient at the plate tonight.”

Keller couldn’t match Buckles’ strikeout numbers, but she was equally impressive. She sat down the first seven batters, faced just one more than the minimum through the first five innings and did not allow a runner past first base until the sixth.

She did not walk a batter and gave up just four hits while striking out two.

Jay County’s only run came in the second inning when Kilmer mis-played a Chelsea DeBoy fly ball in right field. DeBoy went all the way to third on the error, and Miranda Betz brought her home with a one-out single to left.[[In-content Ad]]