Perfect at home (04/19/07)

It would be hard to ask for much more.

The Patriots haven't been perfect - note the four unearned runs they allowed Wednesday - but they have gotten the job done.

With a 7-5 victory over the Wayne Generals, Jay County's baseball team is 3-0 at home heading into Saturday's Olympic Athletic Conference opener against the Anderson Highland Scots. Their only loss came on the road Tuesday to unbeaten Norwell, the third-ranked team in Class 3A.

"I was glad to see us come back tonight," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey after his team finished playing for the third night in a row following an opening two weeks plagued by postponements and cancellations. "That's what I like about baseball, you can come back the next day. In football you have to wait a week, and in basketball sometimes you have to wait a week, but many times in baseball you can just come back the next day ... you've got to have a short memory.

"We had a couple of miscues that gave them some runs, but I think when it came down to crunch time the kids made some nice plays ... When they scored we always answered right back."

Wednesday's game was loaded with errors early as the first four Wayne runs and first three Patriot runs were all unearned. But even when the Generals stopped making mistakes in the field, Jay County was able to put runs on the board.

The Patriots (3-1) tied the game with their first earned run in the fourth inning, then took control thanks to a pair of doubles in the bottom of the fifth.

Catcher Josh Ludy got the spurt started with a one-out double to left-center field, and clean-up man Thomas McCowan followed with his second walk of the game. Then senior Andy Hughes came up big, ripping another double to left-center field to bring Ludy home.

With runners on second and third, Tony McCowan delivered a two-run single to center for a 7-4 JCHS lead.

Wayne (0-2) got its only earned run of the game off of Patriot starter Michael Jobe in the sixth, but the junior got the final two of his 10 strikeouts in the seventh to finish off the victory.

"We struck out seven times (last night) and didn't really have good at bats our first time out," said Generals coach Tim Gaskill. "Tonight (Jobe) started out really well, he pitched well ... I thought later on we battled, but when they needed the hit they got it. When we needed the hit, we didn't.

"I like the way our kids battled. But hey, (Jobe) did a really good job. He made the pitches when he needed to."

Jobe, who is now 2-0 with 15 strikeouts and a 0.58 ERA, had most of the Wayne batters baffled early. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced, and gave up only three hits in the game.

"It kind of puts the other team back on their heels a little bit," said Selvey of Jobe's early run of strikeouts. "We faced that last night (against Norwell). It does play with your mind, and sometimes it plays with your mind in the field too."

Jay County had a 3-0 lead early, but Wayne tied the score in the third inning and pushed ahead in the fourth thanks to three errors. The Patriots tied the game again after to back-to-back hits from Rhett Retter and Casey Waters to start the fourth inning, and then reclaimed the lead for good in the fifth.

Tony McCowan finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run to lead JCHS, and Jobe had a hit, a run, an RBI and two stolen bases.

Justin Walker took the loss for the Generals, giving up seven runs - four earned - on seven hits and three walks.

"The big issue is the fact that we can't make errors and let our pitchers go out there and have to throw extra pitches," said Gaskill. "Tonight (Walker) was in the 90s and he probably should have been in the high 70s, maybe 80 pitches."

Landon Smith had a double for Wayne, and Eric Taylor singled and scored a run.[[In-content Ad]]