Patriots hang on to beat Tribe

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It took the Patriots three innings to mount their comeback and build a five-run lead.

With one more out to get, the advantage nearly vanished.

Fort Recovery scored four seventh-inning runs Tuesday — all with two outs — but Kaylee Inman notched her career-high eighth and final strikeout as the Jay County High School softball team hung on to beat the Indians, 12-11.

“I was really impressed, again, with how they did not get down on themselves and they kept it together,” said JCHS coach Amy Hawbaker, whose squad gave up nine runs during the first inning of its season-opening 12-11 loss to Blackford on April 3. “Even being down five runs I knew we were not out of it. I knew our sticks would wake up eventually and we would come back.”

Fort Recovery (2-6), which was looking to post a three-game winning streak after sweeping Van Wert on Saturday, continued the aggressive nature at the plate it showed to build its 7-2 lead after four innings.

“I was really proud of them. We fought back,” said first-year FRHS coach Tammy Post, whose squad was the designated home team after the game was moved from Fort Recovery to JCHS because of poor field conditions. “They haven’t won a lot of games, and since we won those two on Saturday, now they feel like they could win.

“They didn’t give up. They should be proud of themselves. I know some of them are pretty disappointed, but I thought they worked hard.”Jay County (1-1) capitalized on two Fort Recovery errors to plate four runs in the top of the seventh inning, extending its advantage to 12-7 with three outs remaining.

Kaylee Inman, making her first varsity start, struck out Macey Day to start the bottom of the seventh before allowing a hit to Bailee Tebbe. Taylor Griesez bounced out to Inman for the second out, but that didn’t faze the Tribe.

Rachel Thien reached on an error before seniors Emily Hart and Devin Post each smacked RBI singles. A wild pitch gave the Indians runners at second and third, and at the plate stood Hannah Knapke, who during the third inning blasted her first-career home run, a two-run shot which gave Fort Recovery a 4-1 advantage.

Representing the potential game-tying run, Knapke drilled a 2-2 offering from Inman down the left-field line, scoring Hart and Post while reaching second on a throw to the plate.

Inman quickly got a 1-1 count on FRHS sophomore Taylor Thien. Her third pitch was popped up in foul territory near the Tribe’s dugout. Jay County catcher Sam Twigg couldn’t handle the ball cleanly, giving Thien another chance to extend the game. But Inman then got Thien to go down on strikes for the game-ending punchout.

“Any time a pitcher gets two home runs hit off of her she is going to have confidence issues,” Hawbaker said. Post hit a three-run home run to right-center during the fourth inning to extend Fort Recovery’s lead to 7-2. “But I think coming back, she stayed strong. She had eight strikeouts this game. She hit her spots really well.

“Kaylee has always been the one I want on the mound when I need someone that is mentally tough, can stay focused and get the job done.”

Inman allowed 11 runs — six earned — while also issuing four walks.

Post suffered the loss, giving up seven earned runs and four walks while striking out four.

At the plate, Inman had three hits, including a two-run single in the Patriots’ five-run fifth inning that tied the score at 7-all. Gwen Butcher also had three hits as Jay County had a 14-13 edge in that department. Emily Corn had a double and a single while Twigg notched two singles.

Fort Recovery had five players with multi-hit games. Rachel Thien and Post each had three, with Knapke, Tebbe and Hart tallying two apiece. Ten of the Tribe’s 13 hits were from the top four spots in the lineup.

“They have the experience and they’re ready to go,” said Tammy Post, whose team was without senior Audra Metzger, who broke her radius Saturday while sliding into second base. “Just need to get the bottom half going too.”

Defensively, it was errors that were too costly for the home team, despite being on the road.

With a 7-2 lead after the fourth inning, two errors allowed Jay County to send 10 to the plate and score five runs to tie the game. Two more errors in the seventh helped the Patriots tack on four more to extend its 8-7 lead it grabbed one inning earlier.

“That’s kind of the way our season has been going,” Post said. “Slowly it’s getting a little bit better.”