JC stumbles in loss

FORT WAYNE — The Generals got their offense going from the start.
It took the Patriots more than half the game to put something together.
Jay County High School’s baseball team recorded its first hit in the fifth inning and couldn’t gain momentum in a 7-1 loss to the Wayne Generals in the Class 4A Sectional 6 semifinal on Saturday at Homestead.
The Generals then lost to the host Spartans 8-2 in the title game. Both the semifinal and championship games were delayed because of rain
“That has been the bugaboo of us all year — when we didn’t win or we lost some games we shouldn’t have — we had runners in scoring position,” said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team has not won a sectional championship since 2007, when it was a Class 3A school. The Patriots drop to Class 3A next season. “It’s not a lack of trying, but it’s a lack from over-trying.”
Jay County (11-14) had runners on first and second in each of the second and fourth innings. Wayne pitcher Brian Howell struck out Mitchell Kunkler to end the threat in the second. After issuing back-to-back one-out walks to Tanner Reynolds and Chandler Jacks in the fourth, Howell induced two fly outs to prevent any damage.
The Patriots missed their chances with runners on base, but they also had trouble getting people on in the first place.
“They’re trying to hit the three or five-run homer and there’s nobody on,” Selvey said. “From that aspect its frustrating.”
But at the same time, Howell pitched well. The senior right-hander got Patriot hitters to swing at balls thrown outside of the strike zone. Three of those pitches produced strikeouts.
“Brian has had good pitches all year, it’s just a matter of him throwing strikes,” said Wayne coach Todd Roberts. The Generals lost to Jay County 11-1 in their regular season meeting April 17 in Portland. “It is also a matter of him having the right mental state to play hard in a game and know how important the situation is.
“He came in today with the idea of throwing strikes. He didn’t let tough situations get to him and he battled through situations with runners on base. He did not give up.”
Howell gave up one earned run on four hits. He struck out six and walked four in 6 2/3 innings.
Offensively, the Generals (5-24) were hot from the start. Tay Tay Moore and Deyonne Hunter drew walks in the first inning — Hunter’s was with two outs — and Jerry Mullins ripped a pitch from Jake Myers into right-center field for a two-run double.
Bryson McKee had an RBI single in the second inning to put Wayne up 3-0, and he also had a two-run single in the third as part of the Generals’ four-run frame.
McKee finished with three RBIs on two hits, and Elija Mason tallied three singles and scored twice. Jacob Fisher also had an RBI single in the inning, during which the Patriots committed a pair of errors.
Hunter hit a pop fly about 20 feet up the first base line to lead off the inning. Myers and Jay County catcher Jacob Geesaman both tried to play the ball without calling one another off.
Myers caught the ball, but the two collided, dislodging it from his glove. During the next at bat, Myers tried to pick off Hunter at first, but his throw got by Kunkler, letting Hunter advance to third.
“Any time that you can put the ball in play, you’re putting pressure on the other team to make a play,” Roberts said. “If someone gives you an extra chance to make a play like that you have to capitalize. Fortunately our guys (Saturday) were able to capitalize on those situations.”
Kunkler hit a single up the middle to lead off the top of the fifth inning, breaking up Howell’s no-hit bid. Kunkler advanced to third on a passed ball and a fielder’s choice, but he was left stranded.
Jay County left six runners in scoring position.
The Patriots scored their only run of the game in the seventh inning.
Kunkler notched his second hit of the game and scored on Levi Stant’s two-out RBI single up the middle. Then with runners on first and second and a 1-1 count to Levi Long, the game was delayed because of lightning.
After a 64-minute delay, Long drew a walk off reliever Braxton Riley to load the bases, and Reynolds popped out to the first baseman in foul territory to end the game.
“I still think we’re the better team,” Selvey said, “but the better team doesn’t always win in baseball.”