Nussbaum, Stars top Jay

Standing on the mound at Don E. Selvey Field, Starfire senior Justin Nussbaum felt like he was at home in Berne.
It helped him too, that his teammates accepted a bit of pain for the sake of the squad.
Nussbaum tossed another gem Tuesday, and his teammates were hit by pitches twice and walked with bases loaded as the South Adams High School baseball team defeated Jay County, 4-1.
“I think he pitched about as well as he has all year, and he’s pitched pretty well this year,” said SAHS coach Brad Buckingham, whose team moves to 9-7 on the season and 2-1 in Allen County Athletic Conference play. “In the past we’ve called his pitches, but he’s taken ownership of that, working real well with (catcher) Mark (Clary) and making some tough pitches in tough situations.”
Nussbaum, who pushed his record to 2-2, went through the Patriot lineup in order once, but his no-hit bid was broken up in the fourth inning. He went seven complete innings, giving up seven hits and one unearned run. He struck out seven and walked one.
“I just felt real comfortable,” he said. “The entire game I felt like I was home.”
Jay County (6-5, 1-2 ACAC) pushed across the game-tying run in the fourth inning, and South Adams took the lead for good during the top of the fifth. A leadoff single from Clary and back-to-back bunts from Marcus Teeter and Nussbaum loaded the bases for the Starfires, who then absorbed pitches from JCHS starter Jake Myers to retake the lead.
“Probably key to the game, we get two bunts … we don’t handle one,” JCHS coach Lea Selvey said. Myers mishandled Clary’s bunt, and Teeter’s was a dribbler down the third baseline that Max Moser picked up before giving it a chance to roll foul.
“It’s one of those things, you live and learn,” Selvey said.
Joe Stuber was hit high on a pitch that plunked his helmet to score Clary, and Jayden Dull registered an RBI after taking a Myers pitch off his back just above the belt for a 3-1 SAHS advantage.
“We weren’t sharp with moving runners,” said Buckingham, whose team bunted six times. “It is a big part of our game. Tonight we weren’t sharp with that.”
Two batters later, Braxton Haight walked with the bases loaded to bring Nussbaum home and put South Adams on top, 4-1. Still with the bases full and one out, Tyler Sprunger struck out on an attempted squeeze play, and Stuber was tagged out between third base and home plate.
Three of the Starfires’ four hits came during the fifth inning, but Buckingham was still impressed with Myers.
“He is good,” Buckingham said. Myers lasted five innings, allowed four earned runs, hit three batters, walked two and struck out nine. “I would take him in a heartbeat on my staff.”
Jay County had chances later in the game to cut into the deficit but was unable to get the key hit for the second consecutive game.
Andy Kohler and Jacob Geesaman hit back-to-back two-out singles in the home half of the fifth. They got into scoring position but were left stranded. Two innings later, Peyton Heniser and Geesaman —he had two of the Patriots’ seven hits — singled. They, too, got in scoring position and didn’t advance any further.
“We just couldn’t get that one hit,” Selvey said. “It is just unfortunate to have that back-to-back games in conference.”
Dull set the tone early for South Adams, taking Myers deep on a 1-1 pitch for a solo home run in the first inning. Jay County evened the score during the fourth when an errant pickoff throw from Nussbaum let Chandler Jacks and Ethan Myers get into scoring position. Josh Vaughn then hit a two-out single through the left side for the Patriots’ only run.
“I am disappointed in losing, but I know our kids are battling,” said Selvey, whose team travels to Elwood at 5 p.m. tonight. “They are learning. They have to learn to be a little more focused at the plate … we’ll be fine once we figure that out.”