Slammed by Spartans (06/02/08)

HUNTINGTON - It's really no surprise that a sectional championship game involving the Patriots would end with a grand slam. The stunner was that they didn't hit it.

Ryan Wright eliminated the Class 4A No. 4 Jay County High School baseball team, which hit 65 home runs this year, from tournament play Saturday with a walk-off blast in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Louisville recruit went deep down the right field line to give his Homestead Spartans a 4-0 win over the Patriots in the sectional finale at Huntington University.

Homestead defeated Marion 13-1, No. 9 Huntington North 4-2 Tuesday and the fourth-ranked Patriots to win the sectional title.

"Who else would you want up with the bases loaded and nobody out than Ryan Wright?" said Spartan coach Steve Sotir, whose team advances to play Carroll in Tuesday's regional. "It's just one of those things that worked out for us, and we just knew that he would put the ball in play.

"I just told him, 'Hit the ball out of the infield, and we're going to win the game.' And that's exactly what he did."

The grand slam ended the season for one of the most prolific offensive teams in state history.

While the chase for the home run mark was the one most publicized, the Patriots shattered the state slugging percentage record. They posted a .758 slugging percentage (total bases divided by at bats), clearing the previous mark of .696 set by Bloomfield in 1991 and matched by Covington in 2000 by more the 60 points.

Jay County's 65 home runs rank third in state history behind only Marion with 68 in 1998 and Brownsburg with 66 in 2004.

The previous team record for home runs was 27, set last season.

"It was just phenomenal," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team also set the school record for winning percentage at .893 (25-3). "I'm very proud of them. If you had told me we were going to end the season with three losses, I'd say, 'I'll take that in a heartbeat.' I can't say enough about them. I'm very proud of these kids."

Wright's grand slam will be the hit everyone remembers, but it was Homestead's No. 9 hitter who made his heroics possible.

The Spartans (23-5) had just four hits - all singles - off Jay County starter Billy Wellman in the first six innings before Derek Kinzer led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left-center field.

"When Derek Kinzer came up, his mission was to get on base," said Sotir. "And we were going to do everything we could to get him over."

Playing a strategy they hoped would allow them to intentionally walk Wright for the second straight at bat, the Patirots intentionally walked Homestead leadoff man Bob Glover.

With runners on first and second and no outs, Ryan Trieglaff was charged with laying down a sacrifice bunt. However, he didn't have to because Wellman couldn't find the plate during a four-pitch walk.

That brought Wright to the batter's box with no outs and the bases loaded. Wellman managed to get two strikes on the senior, but couldn't get the strikeout he so desperately needed.

Instead, Wright lofted a high fastball over the 310-foot right field fence at Forest Glen Park.

"We thought at least we would walk (Glover) to maybe set up a double play," said Selvey. "And then even if they'd bunt, that would open up the three hole to walk him and then we wouldn't have to worry about (Wright).

"Basically ... (Wellman) had one mistake. And that kid is going to Louisville. That kid is a heck of a player."

Just as responsible for the Homestead win was pitcher Travis Carsten, who silenced the high-powered Patriot offense.

Carsten sat down the first seven batters he faced before Jay County got its best scoring opportunity in the third inning. Colton Lombardo garnered the team's first hit, ripping a double just inside of third base and into the left-field corner.

Lombardo advanced to third base on a ground out by Nick Pryor, and Luke Goetz walked to put runners on first and third with two outs. But Carsten picked off Goetz to end the inning.

Despite having runners on base in each of the final four innings - including one in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and seventh - the Patriots were never able to push around a run.

Carsten gave up just three hits - Phil Powell singled to center field in the fifth inning, and Goetz singled to right in the sixth - and shut out Jay County for the first time this season. The Patriots had scored in double digits 18 times this year, including five games in a row prior to the sectional championship.

The only other losses for Jay County, which had won 10 straight, this year came 14-11 to Anderson Highland at 7-3 to North Central.

"You just have to tip your hat to him," said Selvey, whose team struck out eight times. "He basically, from everything we knew, relied a lot on his fastball. And he came in here and we got him to go to his second pitch. We heard that he struggled with his curveball at times, but he definitely had it going today and had us off balance."

It was quite a feat for Carsten, because the Patriots racked up a host of school records at the plate this year.

JCHS set new records with 10.5 runs per game, 78 doubles and 148 extra-base hits in addition to the 65 home runs. The previous marks of 8.8 runs per game, 76 doubles and 117 extra-base hits were all set last season. Its No. 4 ranking in the state matched the best in school history.

Both Michael Jobe and Billy Wellman broke the single-season home run record of 12 set by Ludy in 2007. They finished with 17 and 13 respectively, which ranks them No. 1 and 2 in the state this year.

Ludy, who hit 11 home runs, broke his own school records for on base percentage (.683) and batting average (.539). McCowan broke his record for doubles with 19, and Michael Jobe snapped the mark for hits (45 - Mitch Waters, 2002) with 47.

Although the loss ended the Patriots' season much earlier than they had hoped, Selvey put it in perspective.

"It's a tough one to swallow, but ... this is just a game we lost," he said, referencing the death of his father earlier this year. "We could have won it, they could have won it, and they won it. I tip my hat to them. They've got a very good ball club and they beat a very good ball club."[[In-content Ad]]