Jay advances over Devils (05/22/07)

TIPTON - Bring on the Bruins.

As the Patriots sat watching the closing innings of the first game of the Class 3A sectional tournament Monday at Tipton, a common sentiment ran through the team. Everyone was hoping for a Blackford win.

They didn't necessarily have any allegiance to the Bruins. They simply wanted another shot at their nearby rivals.

Jay County's softball team will get that chance tonight after warding off the spirited underdog Tipton Blue Devils 2-1 Monday night in its sectional opener.

Blackford, which defeated the Patriots 4-3 May 8, advanced to the semifinal round with a 2-1 win over the Delta Eagles at Tipton. The Bruins are the defending sectional champions, and have won 12 sectional championships since 1992.

"We're going to have to hit the ball. We're going to have to put the ball in play," said JCHS coach Jack Wood, looking forward to the rematch. "Obviously we're going to have to play better defense than what we did the last time we played them. Three or four of their runs were unearned. If we play good defense and hit the ball like we're capable I think it'll be a good ball game."

The Patriots (16-9) scored their only two runs Monday in the sixth inning, breaking a scoreless tie.

No. 9 hitter Brittany Mann opened the decisive frame with a single back up the middle, and leadoff-hitting sophomore Kaelee Keller followed with a single to left field.

Pitcher Shae Keller did the job to help herself, laying down a sacrifice bunt to advance her sister and Mann to second and third. Then it was Trisha Champ's turn.

Tipton starter Devan Alley managed to get two strikes on her, but Champ still smacked a single to right field to push Jay County to a 2-0 lead.

"She thrives under pressure," said Wood of his junior catcher. "You don't mind a hitter like that coming to the plate.

"We didn't get big hits several times when we could have, but Trisha Champ comes through at the end with a big hit to score two runs. And then Shae buckled down in the seventh and shut them down."

Those two runs were all Patriots got, but it was enough as Shae Keller managed to escape her second bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth inning with the lead in tact.

Alley and Sahmantha Matthews drew back-to-back walks off Keller to open the Blue Devil half of the sixth, then Katie Hooker tried for a sacrifice bunt. However, third baseman Amanda Alberson charged the bunt, turned and fired back to shortstop Amber Edmundson covering third base to force out Alley.

Courtney Comer's infield single and an RBI walk to Addy King cut the Jay County advantage in half, but another big defensive play on a bunt attempt halted the Tipton momentum. Brittany Parr's bunt try went straight to Keller on the mound, and she fired home for the force out.

Keller then induced an inning-ending fly ball to second baseman Lindsey Wellman off the bat of Sydnee Wiggingtin.

"We had runners at third base three innings," said Tipton coach Troy Hooker. "We were sitting better than Jay County was. Both teams didn't put the ball in play when they needed it. That's just part of softball, part of the game."

After struggling to get the ball over the plate with three walks in the sixth inning Keller sat the Blue Devils down one-two-three in the seventh, striking out Alley to end the game. The victory pushed the senior's record to 12-6 on the season, which ties her for the single-season school record for wins with current JCHS junior varsity coach Amy (Alberson) Hawbaker.

"She lost her patience maybe in the sixth inning," said Wood of Keller, who also struck out back-to-back batters to get out of a bases-loaded situation in the second inning. "I think she was rushing through things. I think maybe she tried to place the ball in the sixth. In the seventh inning she buckled down and got tough.

"In the seventh inning she came back throwing hard again. She was throwing as hard in the seventh inning as she was in the second and third."

In addition to the pair of excellent defensive plays in the sixth inning, the Patriots also came up big with runners on first and third base in the third inning. When Alley broke for second base, Champ faked a throw in her direction before turning and firing to Alberson at third. The fake caught Angie Leininger in no-man's land, and Alberson put on the tag for the second out of the inning.

"We haven't had a lot of practice time the last two or three weeks, but it's the little things like that that we've tried to work on," said Wood. "Trisha really sold it and picked (Leininger) off."

Champ led the Jay County offense with a 2-for-3 effort to go along with the team's only two RBIs. Mann and Keller each singled and scored a run as the Patriots finished with six hits to Tipton's four.

Comer picked up half of the Blue Devil hits as she finished 2-for-3. Alley took the loss, giving up the two Jay County runs on six hits and a walk while striking out two.

"Our season was pretty rocky," said Hooker, whose team finished at 6-19. "We've been battling all year with a losing season. We're real young. We came out here and told them, 'It's your game'. ... They played well. I was proud of them."[[In-content Ad]]