Jay ties HR record (04/28/08)

It's hard to have a flair for the dramatic late in a 16-run game. But the Patriots managed to do it.

A left-handed home run by Michael Jobe got the Jay County High School baseball team's dugout buzzing, and then Thomas McCowan capped a seven-homer day with a record-tying grand slam.

McCowan's slam gave the Patriots 27 home runs for the year as they tied the school record set last season in wins of 17-6 and 23-7 Saturday over the Muncie Southside Rebels.

"Maybe it should have been higher earlier," joked JCHS coach Lea Selvey as his team matched the home run mark less than halfway through the season. "Honestly, this park is a hard park to hit them out of. ... We started hitting some shots today."

After winning the opener in six innings, the Patriots already had the second game well in hand when Jobe decided to make an attempt at switch-hitting. He seemed not to expect much as he strode to the plate, but then sent a rocket over the fence in right-center field.

McCowan's grand slam and record-matching homer came as part of Jay County's 11-run seventh inning.

"The only thing I can say is that is amazing," said Selvey of Jobe's home run. "I mean, he's hit a little bit left-handed before in practice. But that thing was 400 feet. There was no doubt about that sucker. Not only did it go far, but it got there quick."

The Patriots didn't get off to the quickest start against Southside, giving up two unearned runs in the second inning of the opener and trailing 3-1 in the middle of the third inning. But they took the lead in the bottom of the third inning and then hit their first home run of the day as part of an eight-run fourth to take control.

McCowan's single led off the third, and Trey Dunn and Billy Wellman added back-to-back doubles. In the fourth JCHS took advantage of three walks and two hit by pitches before Ludy, who set the single-season school record last year with 12 homers, went deep to start the home run barrage. He also hit a three-run blast in the sixth inning.

Ludy finished the opener 3-for-4 with the pair of home runs, three runs and three RBIs. Wellman had a double, three runs and two RBIs, Luke Goetz had three hits and Jobe scored three times.

Despite battling a sore back, Jobe did most of the work by himself over the course of the first four innings. Only one of the three runs against him was earned, and he recorded 11 of his 12 outs on strikeouts.

He is now 7-0 with a 1.14 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 43 innings.

"Michael did a heck of a job for being sore and stiff and tired," said Selvey. "We really didn't give him much help, so he helped himself."

Ludy added a third home run in the second game to go along with a double, four runs and an RBI. Jobe hit two homers, including the left-handed shot, McCowan smacked the grand slam and Wellman also went deep.

Wellman went 3-for-4 with a double, four runs and two RBIs, Ludy scored four times, and Jobe had two runs and two RBIs. Colton Lombardo was 3-for-5 with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs, and Willie Mayfield had two hits and two RBIs.

Dunn, Wellman and Ludy combined on the hill in the second game, with Wellman picking up his first win of the season. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out three batters. Ludy struck out the side in the seventh to close out the game.

"I'm pleased today about some of the other kids stepping up and doing some pitching," said Selvey of Wellman, Dunn, Ludy and Eric Homan. "Michael had a stiff back, and obviously we're going to need him down the road so there was no need to go with him too far today. The other kids came in and did their job. Wellman, I really was tickled with him. He pretty much just shut the door on them."

Junior varsity

MUNCIE - Jay County had a field day against the Rebels, crushing them 15-1 in six innings and 19-0 in five innings.

The Patriots hit a home run in each win, with Mike Masters going deep in game one and Ben Vance hitting on out of the park in game two. Masters finished the opener with three hits and two runs, and John Pettus had two triples, a double and two runs. Nathaniel Brown went 3-for-4 with two triples and two runs, and Jared Conatser also scored twice.

Masters picked up the win, giving up one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five.

In the second game, Vance was 3-for-3 with a double to go along with his home run. He scored three times.

Ben Walter and Skylar Petty each had three hits and two runs, Brown notched two singles and three runs, and Pettus had a double, a triple and two runs.

Petty tossed a three-hitter for the victory, striking out five batters.

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