Jay rolls over Falcons in opener

PORTLAND — Forced to wait an extra day, the Jay County baseball team was more than ready to get its season started Wednesday.

Mike Smith faced the minimum through three innings on the way to a two-hitter, and the first four Patriot batters scored to open the season in a 9-0 victory over the Winchester Golden Falcons.

“It’s a good win, a good way to start the season off,” said Smith, who went the distance for the win. “I threw the ball pretty well, but it’s kind of cold. I just had to make sure I had a good grip on the ball and hit my spots.”

Smith did a fine job of placing his pitches, walking just one batter on the night while striking out six. He also allowed only two balls out of the infield, one of which was fielded in shallow center field by shortstop Heath Williams.

For their part, the Jay County batters gave Smith a nice cushion with Williams and Cameron Hummel opening the season with walks. The pair were on first and second base after just eight pitches.

A double steal put them on second and third before Adam Homan appeared to make the first out of the season on a strikeout. Instead, catcher Kyle Lewis dropped the ball and Homan scampered to first base.

As Lewis tried unsuccessfully to complete the out with a throw to first baseman Jon Hart, Williams shot home with the first run of the season.

Nick Timmerman delivered another run with a single to right field, and he and Homan moved up to second and third base respectively on a passed ball. Chris Myers followed with a walk, loading the bases for designated hitter Trent Bailey.

He took advantage of the situation, ripping a two-run single to right field for a 4-0 lead. The Patriots scored all of their four runs in the inning before the Golden Falcons were able to record an out.

“It helps (to get run support early),” said Smith. “It gives you some confidence. Every pitch doesn’t mean quite as much.”

“Smitty I thought pitched well,” said Jay County coach Lea Selvey. “The hardest hit ball ended up being a double play.

“I’m pleased. Smitty threw strikes and did his job.”

Smith did allow base runners in each of the next two innings, but his defense helped him. It recorded a double play in the second, and Timmerman caught Lewis straying off first base in the third to get him in a rundown.

In the meantime, the Patriots just kept adding more runs.

They got one in the second after a leadoff walk and a stolen base by Williams followed by an RBI single by Hummel.

Bailey singled to open the third inning and scored on the only extra-base hit of the game, a double by Chad Keen. Keen would later come around to score on an sacrifice fly to center by Matt Champ.

Hummel and Timmerman scored the final two runs in the fourth inning on a Chris Myers double, and Smith cruised to the shutout win.

Jay County racked up eight hits on the night, but did even more damage once they were on the base paths. They totaled a whopping 10 stolen bases, half of which came from Hummel.

“That’s one of our strengths,” said Selvey, who noted his only disappointment was not being able to manufacture a 10th run in the fifth inning to end the game early. “If we can get out and run, we’re going to score runs.”

Hummel, Timmerman and Williams (three stolen bases) each scored twice in the game. Sophomores Bailey and Keen accounted for half of the team’s four hits, and Bailey and Myers each drove in a pair of runs.

Adam Cotter took the loss for Winchester, being yanked after giving up four runs in the first inning. Tyson Laudenbacher allowed five runs — four earned — in the next four innings, and Drew Burge pitched a scoreless sixth.

Hart and Lewis had the only hits for the Golden Falcons.

Jay County will play its first road game Friday, crossing the border to play Fort Recovery at 4:30 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]