Knights silence Jay bats

The Knights’ aggressiveness helped them build their lead.
The Patriots couldn’t string much together offensively.
Jay County High School’s baseball team lost for the first time at home Tuesday in a 5-0 shutout to the Norwell Knights.
“When they scored early … for a while there I thought we could win,” said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, who admitted he had his outfield playing too deep in the first inning and a misplay in left field led to the game’s first run. “I had Ryan (Schlechty) back too far. Maybe a step or two made a difference.”
Norwell’s Brody Myers drew a one-out walk in the first inning then swiped second base to get in scoring position. Colin Schwartz worked JCHS pitcher Chandler Jacks for eight pitches before ripping the ninth offering into left field. The sharp-hit liner went off of Schlechty’s glove as he was charging to make a play, and Ryan Tomlin followed with an RBI single for the only run the visitors needed.
The Knights (5-0), who are ranked sixth in Class 3A, doubled their lead when Bailey Perkins drilled a 1-1 pitch from Jacks over the wall in left field for a solo home run in the fifth inning.
“He is a senior,” Norwell coach Andy McClain said of Perkins. “One of those kids that you root for. He is really strong, a typical Norwell kid, typical Jay County kid too — raw-boned, strong and a go-getter.”
In the home half of the first, Jay County (3-3) got two on with one out when Jacob Geesaman walked and Jacks — he has six hits over his last four games — hit his first of two singles through the left side. But Ethan Myers grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Norwell threatened in the fourth with a runner on third and one out, but a strikeout and groundout put a halt to any chance at extending the lead.
Jacks (0-1) went all seven innings, scattering six hits, walking three and striking out four. He allowed all five runs, three of which were earned. He didn’t make too many mistakes hitting his location, often throwing his curveball to fool hitters and get them out in front. The homer by Perkins, though, was a fastball at his chest.
“He got hit hard three times and all of them were pitches he was trying to leave up,” Selvey said. “The kid pitched a pretty good game. He did his job.”
The deficit doubled in the sixth inning when the Patriots’ defense misplayed a first and third situation. Tomlin was standing on third and Carson Gerber was on first. Gerber broke for second base, enticing Jacks to throw to Peyton Heniser at first base. Heniser chased Gerber down the baseline and threw to Cole Stigleman at second base.
Stigleman threw back to Heniser prompting Tomlin to break for home, and he scored ahead of the throw. Meanwhile, Gerber made it safely to second.
Stigleman, a sophomore, made his season debut after missing the first five games with a toe injury. He was hitless in three at bats.
“Anytime (we) get the lead we always try to add on as much as we can,” McClain said. Carson later scored on an infield error. “We all would like to hit doubles and home runs all the time but that’s not going to happen.
“We put a lot of emphasis on running the bases and doing things the right way.”
Zack Kintz and Tomlin both had two hits for Norwell, with the latter driving in a pair of runs.
Jay County, on the other hand, only had six base runners for the entire game, and when it did get guys on base the clutch hit never came.
Myers reached second with two outs in the fourth inning but was left stranded. Max Moser hit a two-out single through the left side in the fifth but he too was left on the base paths. Geesaman and Jacks hit back-to-back one-out singles in the sixth inning and both of them failed to advance any further.
No Patriot player reached third base.
Norwell starter Quentin Middleton tossed a seven-inning shutout, allowing five hits and one walk. He also struck out a half dozen.
“(He) did a nice job of holding the damage down,” McClain said of Middleton, who is responsible for three of the Knights’ five wins.
Norwell junior Levi Long, who spent the last two seasons as a member of Jay County, was hitless in four at bats against his former team.
“Levi would never let you know but I’m sure it was very difficult,” McClain said. “He’s probably glad it’s over. He has nothing ever to say about Jay County and his time here, and we are fortunate to have him.”