Patriots halt skid

Rain has played havoc with the Patriots' season.

They went nearly two weeks without playing a game. And before Tuesday they had not played on their home field since April 25.

The Jay County High School baseball team made the most of its return to Don E. Selvey Field, stopping a four-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory over the Monroe Central Golden Bears.

"It really felt good," said Selvey, whose team's last victory came in the first half of a conference double-header against Anderson Highland 17 days earlier. "We did some things; we gambled a little bit on the bases with hit-and-runs and stuff like that.

"(Not playing was) so tough, because this group needed to keep building and building and building and building. We took almost two weeks off before we played Northrop (Saturday). That's tough."

The Patriots (5-8) made life difficult for Monroe Central Tuesday, jumping on top thanks to a two-run home run from Billy Wellman in the first inning. The Golden Bears evened the score in the top of the second, but singles by Mike Masters and Michael Daniels keyed a four-run bottom of the second for Jay County.

Another three runs for the Patriots came in the fifth inning when Wellman led off with a double. Willie Mayfield reached base on an error, and singles by Masters and Jon Pettus each drove in a run.

Masters went 3-for-3 with two runs, and Wellman had a stolen base to go along with his two runs and two extra-base hits.

Wellman also had an impressive pitching effort, as the only two Monroe Central runs were unearned. He struck out 13 batters in six innings while giving up just five hits and a walk.

"Billy threw well," said Selvey, whose team is about two weeks away from the sectional tournament. "He's extremely important. I think that we can knock off somebody if he can get himself going and feeling good."

Freshman Andy Haffner tossed the final inning for the Patriots, striking out two batters.[[In-content Ad]]