Jay girls tennis falls to AC

Kyra Braun was two games away from completing a rally after dropping the first set.
Instead, Adams Central’s No. 2 singles player Anna Burkhart won the final three games, holding off the Patriot junior as the Jets swept the Patriots, 5-0.
Braun dropped the first set to Burkhart 6-4, then won the second 7-5. She had a 4-3 lead against Burkhart before falling 6-4 with the other four matches already completed.
At No. 1 singles, JCHS senior Jessica Kerrigan lost to Jenna Lehman 6-4, 6-1. Adams Central’s Dharma Steffen beat Michelle Wellman 6-1, 6-0.
The Patriots’ No. 1 doubles team of Faith Parr and Emily Westgerdes lost to Whitney Peterson and Meghan Manley 6-3, 6-1. Abby Saxman and Abby Reier fell to Jenni Baumer and Lezi Harkless at No. 2 doubles, 6-0, 6-2.
Jay County’s junior varsity team also lost, 5-0.

Tigers top Patriots
Jay County’s softball team couldn’t rally from an early deficit, losing to the Bluffton Tigers 7-3 on Thursday.
Bluffton had a 2-1 lead after the first inning, and scored three in the second for a 5-1 advantage. Jay County (10-9, 3-2 Allen County Athletic Conference) scored two in the top of the fifth, but the Tigers answered with a pair in the bottom of the frame. The Patriots weren’t able to string much offense together in the final two innings in the loss.
Chloe Steigerwalt led the Patriots with three hits and a run, and Courtney Finnerty hit a single and a double, scoring once as well.
Catherine Dunn took the loss pitching by giving up seven runs — six earned — on 11 hits. She had two singles and drove in a run. Gabby Hart and Catera Gierhart also tallied singles for the Patriots.
Jay County travels to Muncie at 5 p.m. tonight to take on the Bearcats.

Stars hang on
PONETO — Maddie Morgan supplied the offense.
Morgan Alberson made sure the Raiders didn’t get production of their own.
Morgan drove in Alaina Johnston twice, and Alberson limited Southern Wells to one unearned run on three hits Thursday as the South Adams softball team defeated the host Raiders, 2-1.
South Adams (19-8, 1-4 ACAC) plated a run in the third inning thanks to a double by Morgan, but Southern Wells answered by tying the game in the fourth. Johnston scored in the fifth on a fielder’s choice to give the Starfires the lead for good.
Lauren Smith had a multi-hit game with a pair of singles. Loren Sparks and Cindy In’t Groen also tallied hits for the Starfires. Alberson struck out five and walked two in the complete-game effort.

SA offense explodes
PONETO — The South Adams baseball team exploded for 17 hits in a 12-5 victory on Thursday against Southern Wells.
South Adams (9-8, 3-2 ACAC) fell behind 2-0 after the first inning, but struck for two runs in the second and three in the third to take a lead it would not relinquish.
The Starfires extended their lead to 7-2 before the Raiders got within two thanks to three runs in the fifth. But South Adams put the game out of reach with a four spot in the sixth and tacked on one more on the seventh for good measure.
Conner Sealscott, Skylar Schoch and Kyle Cox each had three hits for the Stars. Schoch hit a double and a solo home run, with Sealscott and Cox each smacking doubles.
Corbin Blomeke drove in three runs on two hits, and Sealscott also tallied three RBIs. Chandler Ingle and Derek Wanner had two hits each.
Jayden Dull pitched five strong innings to get the win, giving up five runs — three earned — on five hits to get his fourth win of the season.