Starfire tandem reach state

MARION — Drew LeFever is going back to state.
He’ll have a teammate accompanying him.
LeFever, a South Adams High School senior, and junior Bailey McIntire both earned state berths based on their performances Thursday in the IHSAA Boys Track and Field Regional at Indiana Wesleyan University.
LeFever, who was a 2015 state qualifier in the shot put, will return in the same event. He finished fourth Thursday with a distance of 52 feet, 1.75 inches.
McIntire was fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 3 minutes, 19.97 seconds, also earning a spot in the state finals.
The top three places in each event automatically earn bids to the state finals, and the next best performances from the eight regional meets are selected to fill a field of 27 participants.
LeFever also scored in the discus, throwing 153 feet, 10 inches, to finish sixth. McIntire finished 10th in the 3,200 in 10:03.8.
McIntire anchored the 4x800 relay team of Wyatt Miller, David Steffen and McGerran Clouser to finish eighth in 8:20.19.
South Adams scored 14 points to finish 15th out of 35 scoring teams. Carroll claimed the team title with 105.5 points. Northrop was a distant second with 63 and Bluffton was third with 60.

Stars reach semi
MONROE — A pair of home runs powered the South Adams baseball team to a 7-3 victory Thursday over the Churubusco Eagles in the opening round of the Class 2A Sectional 36 tournament at Adams Central.
The Starfires advance to the semifinal against the host Jets at 5:30 p.m. tonight. The winner meets either Bluffton or Fort Wayne Canterbury in the championship game at noon Monday.
Jayden Dull hit a two-run home run as part of a five-run second inning for South Adams (16-12). Joe Stuber also had a solo shot in the fourth.
Churubusco scored three runs in the top of the sixth to make it 7-3, but couldn’t get any more.
Dull added a double and a single and finished with two RBIs. He also scored twice. Corbin Blomeke added a double, and Mark Clary had a single as they scored five unearned runs.
Grant Besser got the win, allowing three earned runs on seven hits in seven innings. He also walked three and struck out seven.

Haines leads JC
Collin Haines paced the Jay County golf team to a 168-237 victory against the Adams Central Jets in its final home meet of the season at Portland Golf Club.
Haines, a sophomore, shot a 2-over par 37 to earn match medalist honors. Junior Kyler Hudson was second on the team with a 42, and senior Graham Haines followed with a 44.
Junior Jay Houck shot a 45 to complete the Patriots’ team score.
Nick Hayden also competed, and he finished with 49.

Four make all-ACAC
Four local athletes were named to the All-Allen County Athletic Conference teams on Thursday for girls tennis.
South Adams senior Brittany Potts was named first-team at No. 3 singles. Her classmates, doubles partners Kylea Pierce and Riley Liechty were also given first-team honors at No. 2 doubles.
Jay County’s Kyra Braun was a second-team honoree at No. 1 singles.

Barnett’s wins 15-5
Barnett’s Auto Parts earned a 15-5 victory Thursday against Ponderosa Steakhouse in Portland Junior League’s Rookie baseball division.
Cavan Hartzell hit for the cycle, scored four times and drove in two runs to lead Barnett’s. Sylas Wenk also added a home run, a double and two singles while scoring four times. Boston Barnett chipped in with two doubles and five RBIs, and Skyler Esparza had a double, two singles and three RBIs.
Gavin Byrum hit a home run, scored twice and tallied two RBIs for Ponderosa. Chase Ninde added a double, a single and an RBI, with Nick Snow and Gavin Tow tallying to singles apiece.

All Circuit tops Williams
In PJL’s Rookie baseball league, All Circuit Electrical edged Williams Auto Parts on Thursday, 11-9.
Drew Schemenaur was 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs to lead All Circuit, which got three hits and two runs from Grant Wendel. Jayden Harrell chipped in with a double and two RBIs.
Joe Geesaman paced Williams with three hits, a double and two runs, Max Klopfenstein had three hits and scored twice, while Wes Wenning tallied two hits, two runs and an RBI.