South Adams rallies past Woodlan, 14-8

BLUFFTON — The first three innings belonged to the Warriors.
The final four went in favor of the Starfires.
South Adams’ softball team erased an 8-4 deficit after three innings by scoring 10 straight runs in a 14-8 victory over the Woodlan Warriors in the opening-round game of the Class 2A Sectional 36 tournament at Bluffton.
South Adams (12-12) advances to the semifinal against the host Tigers. Bluffton defeated Canterbury 21-0 in its first-round game.
Woodlan scored six runs in the third inning thanks to a pair of errors by South Adams, but the Starfires bounced back to score two in the fourth and take a 10-8 lead with four runs in the fifth.
South Adams added four insurance runs in the fifth to pad its lead.
Alaina Johnston was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles. She drove in two runs, scored four times and walked once. Lauren Smith added two singles and drove in four runs.
Morgan Alberson, who recorded the pitching win, hit her second career home run. She allowed eight runs — three earned — on eight hits while walking two and striking out one in seven innings.

Jay golfers third, SA fifth
FORT WAYNE — The Jay County boys golf team placed third Saturday in the Allen County Athletic Conference meet at Brookwood Golf Club.
The Patriots had a team score of 365, a mere three strokes behind Bluffton for second. Leo, the No. 11 team in the state, won the team title with a conference record 293. South Adams shot 398 for fifth.
Jay Houck turned in a round of 87 to lead Jay County. He was eighth overall to earn first-team all-conference honors.
Graham Haines followed with a 91, finishing 13th to earn honorable mention.
Kyler Hudson and Nick Hayden shot 93 and 94 respectively to round out the team score for the Patriots. Collin Haines also competed, turning in a round of 97.
Jacob Rife paced the Starfires with a 91, earning all-ACAC honorable mention with a 12th place finish.
David Muselman (93), Chris Beitler (105) and Marcus Teeter (109) also contributed to the SAHS team score. Nick Wurster shot 112 as the SAHS No. 5 golfer.

JC 1-1 at invite
RICHMOND — Jay County’s baseball team went 1-1 Saturday in the Richmond Invitational.
New Haven scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning to defeat the Patriots in game one, and Jay County bounced back for 18 hits in a 16-10 victory against the host Red Devils.
Against the Bulldogs, Jay County (11-13) nabbed a 2-0 lead in the fifth on an RBI double from Andy Kohler.
New Haven tied the game with two in the seventh, and took the lead in the eighth for the win.
A seven-run fourth inning gave Richmond an 8-4 lead, but the Patriots scored three in the fifth, six in the sixth and three in the seventh for the win.
Tanner Reynolds launched his first home run of the season as part of the three-run seventh. He finished the day with four hits and four RBIs.
Chandler Jacks and Andy Kohler each had five hits, with Jacks driving in four runs and Kohler tallying three RBIs.

Stars, Knights split
BERNE — After a 16-5 loss in game one, the South Adams baseball team rallied late in the second game to earn a doubleheader split with the Northeastern Knights on Saturday.
Jayden Dull hit a three-run double, breaking a 2-2 tie and helping South Adams to five runs in the sixth inning and a 7-3 victory in the nightcap.
In the first game, the Starfires (13-13) used a five-run third to tie the game at five apiece, but the Knights scored four in the fourth and added five in the fifth to break the game open, 14-5. Both teams added a run in the sixth, and South Adams wasn’t able to get out of its deep hole.
Kyle Cox and Skylar Schoch paced the Starfire offence on the day. Cox finished with five hits — four in the first game alone — and scored once. Schoch added four hits and scored twice.