Jellison carries Patriots to 20th win (05/28/03)

PORTLAND — Luckily for the Jay County Patriot baseball team, when starting pitcher Josh Jellison is on the hill, a pair of runs will get the job done.

After leaving base runners in scoring position in every inning, Jay County (20-4) pushed two runs across in the home half of the fifth, and Jellison held off a late rally by Monroe Central en route to a tight 2-1 victory Tuesday.

“I’d like to think we can get a little bit more than two runs,” Patriot coach Lea Selvey said. “No matter who we play in the (sectional tournament), we’re going to have to score more than two or three runs to beat them.”

Golden Bears’ starting pitcher James Brannan kept the Patriots in check for most of the game. While Jay County’s offense hit the ball hard and often, Brannan kept finding a way to get out of trouble.

“That’s his fourth good outing in a row,” Monroe Central coach Jud Moulton said of his starter. “Our guys have reached a point where they’re not surprised if he pitches well. We feel like when he’s on the mound we can compete with anybody.”

Through four complete innings Jay County had stranded six runners in scoring position, but finally got a break in the fifth. Heath Williams led off with a bunt single, but was caught in a rundown after rounding the second base bag too far on Cameron Hummel’s infield single.

Adam Homan followed, blasting a Brannan pitch deep into right field, over the head of Monroe Central right fielder Noah Whitehead. The ball landed on the warning track, scoring Hummel and giving Homan an RBI double.

A pair of defense mistakes by the Golden Bears (12-12) in the same inning would prove costly, as Brannan tossed a pick-off attempt into center field, allowing Homan to advance to third. Two pitches later Brannan uncorked a wild pitch past catcher Stephen Lacey, allowing Homan to score an important insurance run.

For the game, the Patriots’ 1-2-3 hitters were 6-for-9 from the plate and from the cleanup hitter on down Jay County batters were 1-for-15. The top of the lineup was aided by Hummel’s 3-for-3 performance from the plate, which included a double off the wall in left, two infield singles and a pair of stolen bases.

“As the season has gone on, it’s a little harder to get that two-out base hit,” Selvey said. “Pitchers are a little more sharp now than they were earlier in the year. But we’re still a pretty confident team right now.”

After being shut down for the majority of the game, the Golden Bears started to cause trouble for Jellison in the seventh. Jellison walked two of the first three batters he faced in the final frame, and after he got David Lindsay to fly out to right, the Golden Bears had two on with two out.

Kyle Heath lined a RBI single into left field which tightened the score to 2-1, and put Jacob Moore in scoring position. But Jellison — who had worked ahead in the count all day — got leadoff man Bryan Dodd to chase a 0-2 breaking ball.

Dodd popped the ball foul behind the plate, and the Patriots’ Nick Timmerman made a tough catch as he fell to the ground, sealing the Jay County victory.

Jellison’s dominance on the mound continued, as he worked seven innings, scattered four hits, struck out eight and walked three. He is now 11-2, two wins away from tying the school record.

Jay County players and fans held their breath for a moment in the top of the fifth, when a line drive by Bryan Dodd shot right back up the middle off Jellison’s pitching hand. His hand was bruised following the game, but it didn’t appear it would cause him to miss any action.

“He’s definitely one of the better (pitchers) we’ve faced,” Moulton said of Jellison. “He’s got a really good game plan; he works ahead and he’s got a great defense behind him. I like his approach.”

Selvey is confident in his team’s ability to win one run games with good pitching and a solid defense.

“Now I feel very confident that our kids are going to make the play, and they don’t crack under pressure,” he said. “They’re a pretty composed group ... I think today we were a lot more composed and more confident.”[[In-content Ad]]