Tiger beating (05/01/07)

YORKTOWN - There were seasons not too long ago when the Patriots didn't win seven games in an entire year. They closed April by winning seven in a row.

Jay County scored seven runs in the first two innings and kept the Yorktown Tigers at arms-length throughout Monday's 11-6 victory.

The Patriots racked up nine of their 15 hits in the first two innings, and seven different players finished with two or more in the win.

"We were attacking. We were aggressive," said JCHS coach Jack Wood of his team's hot start. "We were worried about the long bus ride over here. The girls were kind of antsy and we didn't know how we'd come out. It didn't take us long in the first inning to show we were ready to play ball."

The Patriots (9-3), who finished four straight seasons from 2002 through 2005 with single-digit wins, suffered their last loss April 18 to Huntington North.

Yorktown made the mistake of allowing Kaelee Keller on base by way of an error to lead off the game, and Jay County was off to the races. Keller stole second - the first of her three steals in the game - and Trisha Champ ripped an RBI double two batters later.

Pazia Speed followed with a single, and she and Champ both scored when Morgan Locke reached base on an error. Lindsey Wellman's two-out, RBI single to right field capped the four-run frame.

Keller singled and stole second again to open the second inning, and Champ drove her in with a single.

Speed, Locke, Amber Edmundson and Ashley Bunch all added hits as the Patriots built their 7-0 lead.

"What hurt us was errors," said Yorktown coach Holly Luzadder, whose team's six miscues led to eight unearned runs. "That's what killed us. We're a better ball team than that.

"They worked hard coming back, but we kept making errors."

The Tigers (7-7) got back to within three runs on a couple of occasions, but Jay County scored two insurance runs to pad its lead on a key play in the top of the seventh.

With Shae Keller on second and Speed on first by way of a walk and a single respectively, Wood called for a little trickery. Locke faked a bunt, drawing third baseman Heather Niccum toward the plate.

With Keller and Speed both off and running on the pitch, Locke pulled her bat back. Shortstop Kystal Harper attempted to beat Keller to third, but the throw from catcher Nicole Niccum skipped into left field and allowed both Keller and Speed to come around to score.

"We haven't had a lot of practice time, but we had a day last week where we worked on ... a lot of our bunt situations," said Wood. "If the batter can sell that fake bunt, it's pretty tough for the shortstop to beat one of our speedy girls to third."

Champ totaled two hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Kaelee Keller had two hits and two runs to go with her three steals. Speed had a team-high three hits and scored twice.

Locke smashed a fourth-inning triple to go with her single in the second. She reached base in each of her first four at bats, and scored all four times.

"Morgan is just consistent. She comes ready to play every game," said Wood. "What a great right fielder she's turned into this year - the arm, the softball mentality. And you know she's going to be a tough at bat. She's not going to go down without a fight, and she's really hitting the ball right now."

Edmundson and Wellman each had two hits and two RBIs, and Bunch also had a pair of hits.

Shae Keller followed up her no-hitter Saturday with another victory as only two of the six runs against her were earned. She gave up eight hits and three walks while striking out six.

Megan Ramey survived just 11/3 innings for Yorktown, giving up six runs - one earned - on six hits and a walk.

Amy Harvey led the Tigers with two hits, one run and one RBI, and Alyssa Landis went 2-for-3 with a double and a run.[[In-content Ad]]