Patriots split games at Richmond

RICHMOND — A big first inning carried the Patriots to the championship game. They just couldn’t find enough offense to win again.
The Jay County High School softball team finished as the runner-up in tournament action Saturday, topping Eaton 8-2 in the opening round before falling 3-2 to Richmond in the championship game.
The Patriots (3-5) pulled even twice in the title game with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but Richmond scored the game-winner in the seventh.
Catherine Dunn made her first appearance of the season for JCHS as she returned from a knee injury to go 3-for-4 with a double and three runs in the opener. Katlin Petro and Katie Aker each had two hits and two RBIs.
Rachelle Jackson got the win as she struck out five batters. She gave up two runs — one earned — on six hits.
Back wins a pair
FORT WAYNE — Tyler Back won both throwing events to lead the Jay County boys track team Saturday at the North Side Relays.
The Patriots finished ninth out of 14 teams as they scored 53 points. Wayne won with 120 points with North Central (108) second and Bishop Dwenger (107) third.
Back, a state-qualifier in the shot put last season, was named the meet’s outstanding field-event athlete. He won the A shot put at 49 feet, 1¼ inches and the B discus at 115 feet, 1 inch.
Zane Shreve turned in a pair of third-place finishes in the A 300-meter hurdles in 42.27 seconds and the B high jump at 6 feet even. Andrew Eley was the runner-up in the A discus at 135 feet, 2 inches.

Baseball swept
CONNERSVILLE — Jay County couldn’t keep up with its former Olympic Athletic Conference rival Saturday, falling 7-3 and 3-0 to the Connersville Spartans.
Errors hurt the Patriots (2-4) in the opener as all but one of Connersville’s runs were unearned. Landry Inman took the loss, giving up seven hits and a walk in six innings. Kyle Selvey had two hits, including a double, and two runs, Inman finished with three RBIs and Tanner Reynolds had two RBIs and a run.
Jason Houston suffered the loss in game two as he allowed three runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five batters. Jay County managed just two hits, a double by Selvey and a single from Wesley Hibbard.

Cheerleaders chosen
The Patriot cheerleading squad for the 2013-14 school year was named Saturday following a tryout session.
Leading the Jay County squad will be seniors Ericka Reynolds, Cydney Huey, Olivia Cash, Charis Beitler, Rachel Vogler and Brea Burcham. Also returning are juniors Morgan Brown, Chelsea Russell, Carli Ostrowski, Alexis Murrell and Bryttani Knight, and sophomores, Sierra Trobridge, Menausha VanSkyock, Mallory Marshall and Madison Miller.
Newcomers to the squad will be freshmen Kayla Ferguson, Lauren Teagle, Alexus Liette, Whitney Lowe, Giannina Perod, Leearah Eldridge, Kylie Ring and Samantha Link.
The defending Indiana State Fair competition champions will compete as a single squad again this year.

JV baseball falls
Jay County’s junior varsity baseball team fell 9-1 and 5-4 Saturday to the visiting Connersville Spartans.
The Patriots (2-4) had the lead in the opener before giving up nine unanswered runs. They were up 2-0 and 3-2 in the second game, but Connersville grabbed the lead with a three-run fourth inning and held on for the victory.
Lucas Hendee suffered the game-one loss, giving up five runs on two hits and eight walks in 3 2/3 innings. Austin Beasley allowed five runs on five hits and one walk as he took the defeat in the second game.
Andrew McShane went 3-for-4 with two runs in game two, and Jake Carpenter and Beasley each had two hits. Nate Brackman and Beasley had one hit apiece in the opener, and Mitchell Kunkler scored the only Patriot run.


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