JCHS blanks Wayne

It was another shutout for the Patriots Wednesday. And this time, they were on the right side of the scoreboard.

After suffering a pair of 10-0 losses Saturday to Connersville, the Jay County High School baseball team bounced back Wednesday to blank the visiting Wayne Generals 9-0.

"It was good to bounce back and win after Saturday," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team is now 3-2. "The kids came back with a little enthusiasm today. It was a little slow at first, and then they got a little hop in their step."

It started in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a little help from Wayne.

Colton Lombardo led off the inning with a walk off of starting pitcher Bryant Newgent and stole second base, and Willie Mayfield followed with a single to left field. A Mike Masters walk loaded the bases.

Two batters later Jon Pettus slapped an RBI single to left field to bring home Lombardo. Back-to-back errors by the Generals brought Mayfield and Masters to the plate for a 3-0 lead.

The same part of the order came through again in the third inning after Phil Powell led off with a double off the fence in right field. Lombardo followed with an infield single.

Lombardo stole second base, and Powell scored when catcher Andy Berghoff's throw skipped into center field. Mayfield added an RBI single down the left-field line to score Lombardo.

Mike Masters fell into a two-strike count with Mayfield on base, but it was a situation the Patriots had worked on all week.

The junior adjusted his swing and slapped a home run just over the fence in right field.

"The biggest thing we've been working on the last couple days is just shortening up with two strikes and putting the ball in play. We've been going down swinging so many times with two strikes and a runner in scoring position," said Selvey, whose team had just three strikeouts against the Generals. "Connersville did an excellent job of (hitting with two strikes). I think our kids maybe saw that. ... I'm glad to see they did it and had a little success."

Jay County scored its final two runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Billy Wellman's RBI triple to right-center field.

Lombardo, Mayfield and Masters powered the Patriots from the No. 5, 6 and 7 sports in the order. Each scored twice, Mayfield had two hits, Masters drove in two runs and Lombardo stole two bases.

"It's good to see them hitting again," said Selvey. "I thought we hit the ball fairly well in the second game at Connersville and just had nothing to show for it. ... All those kids have the capability of getting on and hitting."

In addition to the offense, Mayfield flashed some impressive defense behind Wellman.

With leadoff man Ryan Green on base after being hit by a pitch to start the game, Mayfield snagged a line drive off the bat of Jason Durnell. He quickly turned around and tagged Green before he could get back to the base for an unassisted double play.

Mayfield made another big play to start the third inning, coming up with a diving stop in the hole between first and second on a sharply-hit grounder from Jay McClintock. He tossed to Wellman covering first for the out.

Freshman catcher Andre Duke made the key play of the fifth inning after shortstop Michael Daniels tracked down a ball in the hole only to have his throw sail high over Mayfield. Duke hustled down the first-base line, picked up the errant throw and tossed to Nathaniel Brown to catch Wes Springer trying to advance to second base.

"He caught really well tonight. ... He did a nice job," said Selvey. "Right there, that's one of those things that you're just supposed to do. Kids sometimes forget to do it, but he did it and you saw how it paid off."

Wellman was impressive in picking up his first win of the season. He gave up just two infield hits - one each by Green and Springer - as the Generals got the ball to the outfield only twice.

The senior faced the minimum over the final four innings, and retired the last eight batters he faced. He struck out nine and did not allow a walk.

"Billy pitched outstanding," said Selvey. "The two hits were not real great hits. If we're going to go anywhere, we've got to have Bill throw like that. And he's capable. ... I thought he threw real well today."

Newgent took the loss for Wayne, allowing seven runs - six earned - on seven hits and two walks in two-plus innings.[[In-content Ad]]