Jay's streak hits 10 games

Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review

All Rights Reserved.

A bunt single and an error gave the Patriots the lead.

A blast to left field added insurance runs.

Some flashing of the leather kept the advantage intact.

Mitchel Frasher forced an errant throw with a bunt single to plate the go-ahead run, Michael Schlechty hit his second home run of the season and the former caught almost everything that came his way as the Jay County High School baseball team pushed its winning streak to 10 games Monday with an 11-3 victory over the Delta Eagles.

“We’ve had a couple innings like that where guys would come through,” said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, whose team moves to 13-3.

“They hit the gaps a lot,” said Delta coach Seth Paul, whose team defeated Jay County in the sectional final last year on its way to a regional title. “(They) put good swings on a lot of pitches. We were behind in the count a lot. Our pitchers got behind so they sat on good fastballs.

“I’ve known Lea (Selvey) a long time. He’s always had good-hitting teams.”

With the game tied at three apiece, Payton Heniser led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single and reached second on a wild pitch. Frasher then put down a bunt on a pitch high in the strike zone. Delta third baseman Aiden Hinds charged the ball and rushed his throw to first baseman Adam Haynes. Frasher beat out the errant throw anyway, and Heniser scored as the ball trickled into foul territory in right field to chase Eagle starter Andrew Shafer from the game.

Later in the inning, Jacob Geesaman hit an RBI single, and Ethan Myers grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring up Schlechty.

The sophomore, who had been thrown out at the plate the previous inning, blasted the first pitch he saw from Ryan Fox over the fence in left field for his second home run of the season.

“That was a huge shot and I think that let the air out of their sails,” Selvey said.

It was a three-run home run that put the Patriots ahead, 9-3.

Paul admitted Fox missed his target.

“He got one up and the kid didn’t miss,” he said. “Turned (into) a three-run home run. We always say we don’t have enough offense to combat a three-run home run.”

Schlechty added single in the first inning as he and Geesaman (three singles) each had multi-hit games.

In the top of the fifth inning, it was Frasher’s time to use his glove. The left fielder made a catch on a liner off the bat of Jake Van Pelt for the first out before diving in foul territory to sit down Wes Woodin. Two pitches later, third baseman Max Moser tracked down a foul ball near the bullpen to end the inning.

Frasher showed his range to make two more catches in the top of the seventh inning.

“Mitchel Frasher was just unbelievable out there,” Selvey said. “He struggled on one of them, I believe. After that he was a vacuum out there. He is fun to watch.

“Some other guys came out and made some great plays.”

Paul said, “If he misses a couple of those, it could be a completely different ball game.”

Moser, who hit his first career home run in a doubleheader Saturday at Hagerstown, lined an RBI single down left field in the bottom of the sixth inning to score courtesy runner Caleb Webster, and Moser crossed the dish for the final run of the game a couple batters later.

“I think today was a big day for us, to prove to us we don’t have an easy out and we play defense,” Selvey said. “We put pressure on you running.”

Paul said knowing the aggressive nature of the Patriots, his Delta team was going to have to scrap for everything it could get.

Arizona State commit Adisyn Coffee hit a one-out single in the third inning, starting a string of four straight hits for the Eagles. Charlie May and Woodin both had RBI hits, and Hinds drove in a run on a ground out to put the Delta out front 3-2 after Jay County plated a pair of runs in the first inning.

“We knew we had to challenge early,” Paul said. “Sometimes that led ot a hit here, a hit there.”

Ryan Schlechty got the win for the Patriots. He allowed here earned runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking three.