Jay rebounds vs. Generals (04/24/03)

PORTLAND — The Patriots didn’t let Tuesday’s debacle turn into a losing streak.

Following a 10-0 loss at Norwell, the No. 4 Jay County baseball team got back to a familiar formula for success. It fell behind early, chipped away at the lead and then called on Josh Jellison from the bullpen to seal a 7-5 victory over Fort Wayne Wayne Wednesday.

“We bounced back pretty good when we needed to from last night’s loss,” said Jay County catcher Nick Timmerman, who went 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored. “That’s what we were trying to do, just get back to winning.”

As they did in two of their victories a week ago, the Patriots (8-1) found themselves in a quick hole after Craig Nyborg blasted a three-run home run just inside the left field foul pole in the first inning. They cut the lead to one run before starter Matt Champ found himself in trouble again.

Champ gave up a two-out walk to Justin Parker, a double to Nyborg and started a 2-0 count to Brandon Lee before Jay County coach Lea Selvey called on Mike Smith. Smith couldn’t keep from loading the bases with a walk to Lee, but struck out Trent Peconge for the third out.

Smith ended up in a similar spot after a scoreless fourth inning, allowing an infield single to Drew Light before hitting Parker with a pitch. Then came Jellison.

Selvey called on the senior, who looked to have the first out on a grounder to third baseman Cameron Hummel. Instead, Hummel bobbled the ball and the bases were loaded with no outs for the Generals (2-3).

Jellison promptly got Lee to look at a called third strike, and Hummel redeemed himself by forcing out Light at the plate on a fielders’ choice by Peconge. Chance Underwood flied out to center field with the bases still loaded, and Jellison escaped the jam.

He did allow a pair of runs in the seventh inning, but by that time the Patriots had pushed ahead and had enough insurance runs to hold on for the win. Jellison earned the W — his fourth of the year — allowing two runs on three hits in three innings.

He struck out three and did not give up a walk.

“I didn’t think we played very sharp tonight,” said Selvey. “We still got the win, so give the kids credit.

“We just got the job done at the right time.”

Wayne was hurt by six errors as well as a couple of routine fly balls which fell to the ground untouched.

“The way we have to play is we have to make those plays,” said Wayne coach Tim Gaskill. “We don’t have dominant pitching and we’re not going to score 10 runs per game.”

The first such error came in the first inning when left fielder Jake Sherin dropped a fly ball from Heath Williams. Williams stole second and scored on an infield single by Nick Timmerman.

Jay County scored again when Jellison led of the second inning with a double to center field and scored on a two-out single to left by Hummel.

After Smith and Jellison pitched the Patriots out of a couple of jams, the offense came alive in the bottom of the fifth.

Hummel led off the inning with a single, and No. 3 hitter Adam Homan laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Timmerman followed with an RBI triple to right-center field to tie the game at 3-3.

Another Wayne error put Chris Myers on base as Timmerman scored to give Jay County the lead. Myers would later come around on a single to left field from Jellsion.

Williams walked to start the sixth inning and Hummel was hit in the helmet by a pitch. Both scored on RBIs from Homan and Myers to give the Patriots the extra runs they needed.

Hummel supported Timmerman’s offensive effort, going 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base. Jellison was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

Williams scored twice and stole two bases, and Myers had a pair of RBIs.

“I just wanted to get back to hitting again,” said Timmerman. “I’ve been working on it. I just went into the game with a whole bunch of confidence.”

Jay County did the little things right during its final two at bats.

Trent Bailey had a great at bat in the fifth inning, fouling off a pitch that was at least a foot inside to save Chris Myers on a hit-and-run and fouling off several more before eventually ripping a long single down the left field line. Timmerman similarly protected Hummel in the sixth inning, flailing at a bad pitch for a third strike only to reach first as the ball sailed to the back stop.

“There were some little things that did happen,” said Selvey, adding Homan to the list. “Adam had the sacrifice bunt, then he gets a sacrifice fly. The kid just plays ball. A lot of the things like that go unnoticed.”

The Patriots will play another big conference double-header at home this weekend. They host Huntington North Saturday at 10 a.m.

“It’s big,” said Timmerman of the showdown with the Vikings. “If we get wins, we’ll be sitting good for our conference. We’re ready for Saturday.”[[In-content Ad]]