Out with the 'Ole (05/24/05)

HARTFORD CITY — There was blood, and there was sweat. The tears will have to wait.

There were hugs all around Monday night as the Jay County Patriots avenged a couple of losses by topping the Mississinewa Indians 5-3 in the opening round of softball sectional play at Blackford Monday.

The game marked the first sectional victory for Jay County since a 3-2 win over Huntington North in the opening round in 2001.

“I’m so proud of them,” said JCHS coach Jack Wood, whose team was eliminated by Mississinewa 2-1 in last year’s opening round and lost 5-0 to the Indians to open this season. “This is what we’ve been looking for all year — this type of ball game. This is what these girls are capable of.”

Junior shortstop Chelsea DeBoy, among others, provided the blood when she dove to try to make a catch in the second inning. She opened up a gash a couple of inches long on her forearm but stayed in the game, even catching a fly ball to end the inning.

The Patriots (9-16) had to sweat out the fifth inning when Mississinewa had its best chance to even the score. With two outs and a runner on first base Whitney Blake hit a low line drive back up the middle, which Jay County pitcher Brittany Logue snagged for what should have been the third out.

However, the home plate umpire ruled that it was a trap, putting the tying run on base. That brought No. 3 hitter Samantha Blake to the plate, but Logue got her to pop out to first baseman Miranda Betz to end the threat.

Mississinewa (8-13) managed an unearned run on a single by Samantha Justus with two outs in the seventh, but Logue retired Whitney Blake one batter later to complete the Patriot victory.

“It’s awesome,” said Logue, who allowed just one earned run. “We played well together as a team. We put everything together, and we can do it again.”

Jay County will get that chance tonight when it plays the Elwood Panthers in semifinal action at 5 p.m. Elwood earned its semifinal berth by winning the first sectional game at Blackford Monday, 5-0 over the eighth-ranked host Bruins.

Logue allowed seven hits and had runners on base against her in five of the seven innings, but never allowed Mississinewa to put together a rally. She did not allow a walk, and took care of one-third of the outs herself with a put-out, two strikeouts and four assists.

“What an outstanding pitching performance by Brittany,” said Wood. “She held her composure. She had them grounding out. She was in front of the hitters all night. She pitched her game.”

And she pitched with the lead all the way after getting a pair of runs in the first inning.

Each of the first seven Patriot batters reached base in the first as Saffron Redwine opened with an infield single off the glove of shortstop Samantha Blake and Amber Champ followed with a walk.

Redwine went down for the first out of a fielder’s choice grounder from Trisha Champ, but Jay County got on the board when DeBoy stepped to the plate.

The junior shortstop ripped a single to right field, bringing the first Champ around to score. Miranda Betz then loaded the bases with an infield single to bring Andrea Current to the plate.

Current, a senior, hit a ground ball to second baseman Lacey Murgaw, who chose to try to cut down Trisha Champ at the plate. But Rookie beat the throw home for a 2-0 advantage.

Mississinewa never got any closer than that two-run deficit.

“We just didn’t hit our way back in,” said Mississinewa coach Steve Miller. “We got behind early and just couldn’t string enough hits together to get back in the game.”

Mississinewa got a run in the third to pull within one, but Jay County got on the board twice in the fourth thanks to a crazy rundown involving Redwine and Amber Champ.

They were on first and second respectively with two outs when Trisha Champ knocked a single to right field. Redwine tried to go home, but stopped short because of a good throw to the plate by right fielder Ashley Lowe.

Redwine then headed back to third, but Amber Champ was already there. Alertly, Amber Champ headed back toward second and got in a rundown allowing Redwine to score. Then, with the run already across the plate, she slid in safely to third base. The effort paid off two-fold as Amber Champ scored on the next play, and error by Brittany Hunt on a grounder from DeBoy.

The Patriots’ other run came in the fifth when Andrea Current reached on an error and scored on a ground-out by Redwine.

Trisha Champ and Locke, neither of whom played in the season-opener against the Indians, accounted for three of Jay County’s seven hits. Champ was 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base.

“She’s a spark plug,” said Wood of Champ. “We had a couple new faces and they produced.”

Amber Champ added a single and two runs, Redwine singled, scored once and drove in a run and DeBoy had a single and an RBI.

Megan Habiby took the defeat as she lasted just four innings. She allowed four runs — two earned — on six hits and three walks.

Justus entered in the fifth and allowed just one unearned run on one hit in the final three innings, but the Indians could not rally.[[In-content Ad]]