Wellman leads Jay County

The 2008 senior class walked away with a laundry list of school records.

It seems Billy Wellman may want to grab a few for himself.

After a solid opener, the senior drove in half of the Jay County High School baseball team's runs Wednesday night in a 12-2, six-inning win over the visiting Winchester Golden Falcons.

The victory was similar to the Patriots' win Saturday over Northeastern, Winchester's rival in the Tri-Eastern Conference. In both games the Patriots scored in every inning, and took advantage of walks to help end the game early.

"It's a win," said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team plays its first road game Saturday at Mississinewa. "We got some timely hitting, and we ran the bases (well). ... The next game, it's going to get a little tougher, which is good."

The Patriots (2-0) were up 6-0 when Trey Dunn reached base on an error to start the fourth inning. Designated hitter Mike Masters followed with a walk.

Wellman, who already had two hits and three RBIs, made the Golden Falcons pay for those mistakes.

The shortstop drove a pitch from Winchester reliever Elijah Jones over the left-field fence for a three-run home run. It was his first of the 2009 season after finishing second in the state to teammate Michael Jobe with 13 last season.

Wellman added a walk in the fifth inning to finish his day 3-for-3 with a run and six RBIs. In just two games he is hitting .857 with three runs and eight RBIs.

"Wellman had a day," said Selvey. "He's hitting the ball well. He'll probably get his first start on the mound Saturday. I hope he stays hot."

The home run keyed Jay County's second four-run inning of the game. It added a run in the fifth inning for an 11-2 lead, and then got three consecutive walks followed by a single from Michael Daniels to end the game in sixth.

Dunn, who missed the season opener because of a trip involving a college scholarship, singled, stole a base and scored three times. Daniels had two runs and a stolen base to go along with the game-ending RBI, and Tyler Freyburgher drove in two runs and stole a base.

In addition to the Patriots' eight hits - all were singles except Wellman's homer - they also took advantage of nine walks. They stole five bases, scored on two sacrifice flies and made Winchester pay for miscues, as six of their runs were unearned.

"Last year's group, we did just sit around and wait to hit and gave a lot of (green lights) 3-0, because I knew we were going to score. This group here ... has got a little bit of quickness. We can put some pressure on teams," said Selvey, who called for the hit-and-run several times in the win. "I like to do that. I enjoy watching that kind of (baseball) just as much as I do the home runs, although I don't ever turn the home runs down."

Dunn and Mike Masters combined on a two-hitter, with Dunn working the first three innings. He gave up the only runs - one of which was unearned - in the third inning.

After tossing a one-two-three fifth inning against Northeastern, Masters held the Golden Falcons scoreless for three more to keep his ERA at 0.00.

"He's done a nice job," said Selvey of Masters. "He's sneaky quick. His ball moves just a little bit. I think you'll see a little bit more from that knuckle ball ... It's kind of hanging a little bit right now, but if it starts to get a little bit warmer it might be fun to watch ...

"Trey we went a little longer with (than expected). I wanted to let him go as long as he could."

The pair of pitchers was backed up by some good defensive plays, including Daniels tracking down a flying ball in right field to retire Ryan Miley for the first out of the game. Jon Pettus made a couple of nice catches in the outfield, and right fielder Nathaniel Brown alertly backed up first base on an overthrow in the fourth inning and caught Winchester's Ben Brown trying to take second base on the error.

"I saw some pretty good defense out of us ... the hustle play where Brownie went down there and did his job," said Selvey. "The defense has been solid."

[[In-content Ad]]