Surging Pats stun No. 1 Bruins (05/13/04)

PORTLAND — Number what?

The Patriots were a day late to hand the Blackford baseball team its first loss with the number “one” attached to its name. But, they were more than happy to give it a second.

Jay County scored twice in the fifth inning and twice in the sixth for its fourth straight victory as it defeated the Class 3A No. 1 Bruins 8-5.

The win lifted the Patriots to 9-6 after they had toiled below the .500 mark for about a month. A third straight 20-win season — which seemed unattainable a week ago — is now within the realm of possibility as they have 12 regular-season games and the tournament left to play.

And, they just defeated the assumed sectional favorites.

“It’s a turning point,” said senior first baseman Nathan Miller, who ended the game by catching a pop up off the bat of Jarrod Gephardt for the final out of the seventh inning. “We believe in ourselves.”

“We’re finally starting to hit the ball,” said senior catcher Mike Alberson. “We have confidence.”

Blackford was 17-1 heading into the week and tied with Sullivan (19-2) for first place with 61 ratings points in the Indiana Baseball Coaches Association poll.

The Bruins lost to the Eastbrook Panthers Tuesday before falling to 17-3 with the defeat at Jay County.

“We’ve lost three out of four,” said Blackford coach Chris Landis. “We got to 16-0, and the kids have lost their focus.”

Selvey said it was the first win for the Patriots over a top-ranked team since the inception of class baseball.

“We’re coming (along),” he said, delivering the understatement of the night. “We just beat the No. 1 team in the state. You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror an say ‘Hey, we can play with anybody.’”

Jay County will have a chance to beat a ranked team in back-to-back contests when it hosts Class 2A No. 4 Northeastern (14-4) today at 4:30 p.m.

The Patriots had an early lead Wednesday, but Blackford pushed ahead with a couple of home runs and held a 5-4 advantage after four frames.

Heath Williams led off the fifth inning with a double to left field for Jay County, and Trent Bailey sacrificed him to third with a bunt. Williams scored the tying run when he just beat the throw home after a Chad Keen ground ball, sliding around catcher Sam Bonvillian and barely reaching the plate.

Mike Smith followed with a single, and Keen scored the go-ahead run on a two-out error by shortstop Michael Dalton on a grounder from Adam Brandt.

Mike Alberson, who hit a solo home run in the second inning, and Eric Somers added runs in the sixth inning, and Keen slammed the door on the Bruins in the seventh.

“Some of our kids are coming through,” said Selvey, pointing out the efforts of Somers and John Retter.

And, he added, “The story tonight was (Trent) Bailey. He had two innings (pitched) coming into tonight. He’s been chomping at the bit.”

Bailey had served as the sacrificial lamb in several of Jay County’s difficult games during the last two seasons.

The junior gave up seven runs on seven hits in just one inning earlier this year in a 14-1 loss to Wapahani, which was then ranked No. 8 in Class 2A.

When the Patriots were 7-0 and ranked fourth in the state last year Bailey took their first loss as he was shelled by eventual state champion Norwell in a 10-0 defeat. He later took the loss in an 11-5 defeat to Bellmont.

He gave up 14 runs — 11 earned — in a combined 72/3 innings in those two 2003 games.

But, he didn’t allow his outing against Blackford to follow that pattern.

Bailey kept his team in the game and the Bruin batters off balance as he tossed mostly curveballs for five strong innings. He earned his first win of the year, allowing five runs on five hits while striking out five and walking four to drop his ERA 25 points.

He also hit a solo home run in the first inning, finishing 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.

“It’s about time I had some good luck against these tough teams,” said Bailey, who hadn’t pitched much this year because of some shoulder problems. “My curveball was working well. I threw that probably about 75 percent of the team. They were having trouble with it.”

Keen tossed two scoreless innings in relief, striking out four of the first five batters he faced as he earned his first save of the year.

Bailey’s homer started a two-run first inning for the Patriots, as Mike Smith later hit a two-out double and scored on an RBI single by Retter.

Blackford jumped in front with a couple of two-run home runs by A.J. Coffee and Jason Nantz in the second inning. Alberson answered with his bomb in the bottom of the second, and the teams traded runs in the fourth before Jay County pulled ahead for good.

Coffee took the defeat, allowing six runs — five earned — on eight hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked one.

“They’re going to have to do it,” said Landis of what his team needs to do to pull out of its current slump. “They got themselves to 16-0, and they’ve got to get themselves out of it now.”[[In-content Ad]]