Patience key in victory

New faces took the field for the Patriots last night as they played their first game of the summer season. Patience at the plate would be the name of the game as Jay County defeated the Muncie Central Bearcats, 9-5.
The Patriots (1-0) lost four seniors, which left some holes in their defense that need to be filled.
“We’re missing a third basemen and a first basemen … summer ball is basically see who can fill in where and who we can replace them with,” Jay County coach Josh Selvey said.
Jay County began the game with only four of the ten players — teams bat an extra batter in summer ball to allow players to gain more experience — with had varsity experience. That lineup struck quickly however, with four in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
Mitch Ferguson led the game off with a walk before advancing to second on a single by Ethan Myers, who was 1-for-2. Josh Vaughn — he was 1-for-2 with a walk — plated both runners with a double over the left fielder’s head. Vaughn later scored on a groundball by Max Moser, and Lance Ferguson scored on a single by Garrett Rodgers to cap off the four-run inning.
Connor Davis started the game on the hill for the Patriots. Davis went two innings earning the win while only allowing two hits and striking out two. Gavin Hare closed the for the Patriots, coming in for the top of the seventh. Hare allowed to runs before getting a strikeout to end the game and secure the victory.
The young blood for the Patriots saw more and more action as the game went on. If they had any nerves they did not show it. The Patriots were patient at the plate drawing eight walks.
“We preached patience at the plate, that’s the kind of thing we got beat on at sectional,” Selvey said. “Our first game back seeing all the patience we had, even when we got out they went deep in the count, both (varsity head coach) Lea (Selvey) and I were happy.”
The Patriots converted those walks into runs. After back-to-back free passes by Moser and Hare in the third inning, Rodgers hit a two-run single to right field. He finished the game 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
The fourth looked much like the third for the Patriots as Myers led off the inning with a walk. Andy Kohler hit a one-hopper to the fence to score Myers from first as Kohler cruised into second with a stand up double.
The Bearcats chipped away at the lead with a run in each the fourth, fifth, and sixth frames to make it 9-3 heading into the top of the seventh. They would attempt a comeback, chaining together three base hits and scoring two runs, but that’s as close as it would get for the visitors.
The Patriots are on the road next week as they play Shenandoah on Tuesday and Alexandria on Thursday. The summer season will come to a close with a home game against the Union City Indians on June 23.