Patriots perfect at home

Whether it was on the field, course, court or track, the Patriots had the advantage at home.
All six Jay County High School varsity teams competed at home Tuesday, and they all walked away with victories.
The Patriot boys golf team stayed perfect on its home course with a 173-205 victory over the Southern Wells Raiders. The softball and baseball teams each played close games, with the former topping the Blackford Bruins 4-2 and the latter knocking off the Monroe Central Golden Bears 4-3.
The girls tennis team shut out the Randolph Southern Rebels. And both track teams picked up victories over Muncie Central (see related story).
Evan Mathias closed strong to lead the JCHS golfers, who improved to 6-1 in dual matches. He parred each of the final three holes on the back nine at Portland Golf Club to earn medalist honors with a 40.
Alex Schmidt turned in the top score for Southern Wells with a 50.
JCHS senior Mitchel Rigby had a run of three pars on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes as he and Adam Alfont each finished with four pars to shoot matching 43s. Austin Wendel completed the team score with a 47.

Steigerwalt leads
Chloe Steigerwalt broke out of her slump to lead the offense for the Jay County softball team.
The sophomore, who had recorded just one hit in the previous five games, powered the Patriots by going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Catherine Dunn added two hits and a run, and Courtney Finnerty singled and drove in two runs.
Jay County (11-8) broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fourth inning and added two more in the fifth. Blackford scored both of its runs in the top of the sixth.
Larissa Boles picked up her fifth victory, striking out five batters.
Both of the runs against her were unearned as she gave up five hits and four walks.

Selvey gets save
Kyle Selvey came through to get the final two outs for the Patriot baseball team in its one-run victory.
Jay County (9-10) trailed 1-0 before scoring three times in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Golden Bears pulled to within one in the top of the seventh inning before Selvey came through with the save.
Chandler Jacks singled and drove in two runs for the Patriots. Selvey added a double and two runs, and Keenan James had a hit and a run.
Landry Inman picked up the win, limiting Monroe Central two two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four batters.

Singles dominate
The Jay County girls tennis team was in control in all three singles matches as it picked up its third win of the season.
Avery Lloyd and Brooke Fraley each dropped just three games at No. 2 and 3 singles respectively as they defeated Kayla Coyle and Hannah Haines by matching scores of 6-1, 6-2. Miranda Reinhart earned her victory for the Patriots (3-8) at No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-3 over Katie Thorne.
Sydney Bost and Shawna Miller also won in straight sets at No. 1 doubles, topping Cailin Reedy and Jordan Fox 6-3, 6-4. Faith Parr and Emily Westgerdes rallied from a first-set loss to beat Macy Melton and Brianna Wigginton 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
In junior varsity action, Julie Valentine turned in an 8-1 victory while McKayla Ronald won 8-3.

JV baseball wins
HARTFORD CITY — While the varsity teams played at home, Jay County’s junior varsity baseball team went on the road Tuesday and topped the Blackford Bruins 7-6.
Zach Pryor hit a home run and finished with two hits, four RBIs and two runs to lead the Patriots. Kyler Carvel was 2-for-3 with two runs, and Lance Ferguson drove in two runs.
Lucas Hendee started and tossed 4 1/3 innings for JCHS. Brandon Muhlenkamp and Austin Beasley each pitched in relief.

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