Patriots knock off two conference foes

The Patriots won eight events.
They scored more than the Warriors and Raiders combined.
Jay County High School’s girls track team picked up two more victories Tuesday in a three-team meet with the Woodlan Warriors and Southern Wells Raiders.
The Patriots totaled 79.5 points. Woodlan was second with 41, and Southern Wells was third with 35.5.
Woodlan’s boys totaled 73 points for the victory. Jay County was second with 43, and Southern Wells third with 40 points.
Seven girls each won an individual event and two of them helped on a winning relay.
Kendra Muhlenkamp was first in the 1,600-meter run with her time of 5 minutes, 44 seconds. Megan Wellman won the 3,200 run in 12:36, and they joined Kellie Fortkamp and Gabby Kunkler for a victory in the 4x800 relay in 11:08.
Also earning victories were Emma Laux (400 dash – 1:02), Britlyn Dues (300 hurdles – 48.97), Erika Kunkler (800 run – 2:38), Lucy Laux (long jump – 14 feet, 5 inches) and Audrey Shreve (high jump – 4 feet, 10 inches).
Aaron Neal and Andrew Trewyn were the lone winners for the JCHS boys. Neal had the furthest distance in the long jump, 19 feet, 10 inches, and Trewyn won the high jump, clearing an even 6 feet.

Stars rough up Jay
Keirstyn Grimm led the offense and Augsburger was solid pitching as the South Adams softball team defeated Jay County on Tuesday, 11-2.
South Adams (9-4, 2-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) jumped on the board early with five runs in the first inning. It pushed the advantage to 6-0 with a run in the second before Jay County (0-10, 0-3 ACAC) scored twice during the fourth.
The Starfires tacked on two more runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings, and added one more in the seventh for the lopsided victory.
Grimm had three hits and scored three times. Casi Evans had a pair of singles to go with her two runs, and Tori Raugh had a double and two RBIs.
Augsburger struck out 14 patriots in five innings. She gave up four hits, two runs — one earned — and walked one.
Gabby Hart paced the Patriots with a two-run double in the fourth inning. Chloe Trissel, Sam Twigg and Katie Carpenter each added hits.
McKayla Norris took the loss for the Patriots. She gave up 10 runs — nine earned — on eight hits with nine strikeouts and six walks.

JC golf 5-0
Jay County’s boys golf team moved to 5-0 in the Allen County Athletic Conference by finishing first Tuesday in a match against Heritage and Woodlan at Portland Golf Club.
The host Patriots totaled 168 strokes, 17 ahead of runner-up Heritage. Woodlan was third with a team score of 195.
Junior Jay Houck led the Patriots with a 38, tying his season low. Kyler Hudson was second on the team with a 40, and Collin Haines was third with a 44. Nick Hayden shot a season-best 46 to complete the Patriots’ team score.
Graham Haines, the lone senior playing on senior night, also competed and he shot a 48.

Jay tennis falls
Jay County’s girls tennis team lost to Muncie Central on Tuesday, 4-1.
Senior Kyra Braun earned the only win for the Patriots at No. 1 singles. She won her match 6-2, 6-3.
At No. 2 singles, Shelby McClain won the first set 6-0 before dropping the second 6-4. She was behind 5-0 in the third and final set before having to retire because of an injury.
Megan Johnson, the Patriots’ No. 3 singles player, rallied from a 6-1 loss in the first set to win the second 6-2. She dropped the third 6-0.
At No. 1 doubles, Abby Reier and Abby Saxman lost 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. Audrey Dirksen and Kayla Dirksen dropped their No. 2 doubles match 6-1, 6-1.
The Patriots’ junior varsity team also lost, 5-0.

SA, JC tie
The South Adams softball team erased a seven-run deficit in the sixth inning Tuesday, as the Starfires tied with Jay County 10-10 after six innings.
The game was suspended because of darkness.
South Adams jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the first inning, but a four-run second gave Jay County the advantage. The Starfires cut the deficit to 4-2 before the Patriots tacked on three runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings.
But the Starfires continued to fight, rallying to score seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before the game was suspended.
Shelby Caldwell was 4-for-4 with a triple, a double, two singles and two RBIs. Kailee Denney had a double and a single, scored twice and drove in two runs.