Starfires smashed

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BERNE — The Starfires were the home team.

The Patriots owned Harry F. Anderson Field.

Jay County High School’s baseball team was aggressive both at the plate and on the base paths Tuesday, defeating the host South Adams Starfires 15-5 in six innings.

“The kids got in there and battled a little bit,” said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team has won four straight games and improves to 7-3 (3-0 Allen County Athletic Conference. “One thing that was good for us, (we) squandered a couple scoring opportunities early but we kept at it.

“We got (Starfire pitcher Grant) Besser, who I think is an excellent pitcher, got his pitch count up there and we got some runs.”

South Adams (7-8, 1-2 ACAC) however is streaking in the other direction. The Starfires have dropped each of their last four games.

“When you have guys on base, obviously those hits mean something different,” said SAHS coach Brad Buckingham, whose team allowed 11 hits. “Grant did a great job getting out of jams early on.

“But when you’re putting two guys on every inning, at some point in time the water is going to break and that is kind of what happened.”

Jay County had the first two batters reach scoring position in the first inning but Besser recorded three straight strikeouts. Besser got out of a jam the following inning too as he tallied three more strikeouts.

“For the most part, he was throwing pretty well,” Buckingham said. “Little misfortune there really hurts you.”

Ryan Schlechty, who led the Patriots with three hits, hit an infield single to start the second inning, and Ethan Myers hit a blooper just out of the reach of SAHS shortstop Braxton Haight.

Max Moser — he had two hits and a team-high three RBIs — hit a two-run single, and later scored on an error. Michael Schlechty walked, and two batters later Payton Heniser launched a two-run home run as the Patriots put up six runs in the frame.

It was the first career home run for Heniser, and Selvey praised both him and Moser for kickstarting the scoring.

“If it’s not those two tonight it’s someone else,” he said. “The whole lineup is able to hit. We get this group going on all cylinders at one time we could be kind of scary offensively.”

South Adams cut the deficit in half in the home half of the frame as Gilbert Lynch scored on a wild pitch and Nic Stuber drove in Jayden Dull and Corbin Blomeke with an RBI single.

But Jay County racked up 16 stolen bases, which helped the Patriots score twice in the fourth inning, three times in the fifth and four in the sixth. Brothers Jacob and Wyatt Geesaman both had RBIs in the four-run sixth.

South Adams, which mustered only four hits — three off starter Gaven Hare — plated a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings but wasn’t able to extend the game.

“If we could have hit a couple balls hard early in the game — especially when Grant was getting out of those jams — tide’s turned a little bit,” Buckingham said. “We didn’t control the running game very well. Then again, the best way to control the running game is to not let them on base.”

Wyatt Geesaman doubled off the fence in the fifth inning to finish with a pair of hits. His brother Jacob, Ethan Myers and Mitchel Frasher each had hits.

Jacob Geesaman and Frasher both swiped three bags for the Patriots, who also got two stolen bases from Schlechty, Myers and Moser.

Marcus Teeter, Joe Stuber and Blomeke also had hits for the Starfires.

Hare (3-1) got the win for the Patriots, tossing five innings and allowing four runs — three earned — on three hits. He struck out eight and walked four. Jake Myers pitched the final inning.

“I was pleased with his effort today,” Selvey said. “He did a nice job.”

South Adams sent six players to the mound, with Besser (2-4) taking the loss. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits, struck out eight and walked three in three innings.