Jay Co. whips Tigers

BLUFFTON — The Patriots needed a bounce-back win.



The Tigers were the victims.



Cole Stigleman hit the first home run of his career and Michael Schlechty also went deep as the Jay County High School baseball team whipped the Bluffton Tigers on Thursday, 14-0, in five innings.



The win, which came two days after losing 20-8 to South Adams, improves Jay County’s record to 8-4 on the year and 3-1 in Allen County Athletic Conference play.



Stigleman hit a leadoff home run to begin the game, and Jay County scored three times in the top of the first inning. The Patriots added five more runs in each of the next two innings, before adding the final dagger in the fourth.



Schlechty’s blast was a two-run shot to put JCHS ahead 12-0.



Ryan Schlechty led the Patriots with four hits, while Noah Arbuckle and Stigleman had three hits each. Michael Schlechty and Max Moser both had a pair of hits and three RBIs. Ethan Myers and Arbuckle had two RBIs each.



Arbuckle pitched all five innings, allowing four hits and one walk with six strikeouts. He moved to 3-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to 1.96.







Jay tramples Tigers



BLUFFTON — Jay County’s softball team scored eight or more runs three times Thursday in a 28-13 trampling of the Bluffton Tigers.



Jay County (4-5, 2-2 Allen County Athletic Conference) fell behind 6-1 after the first inning and was tied with Bluffton 9-9 after the second. The Patriots tacked on another nine runs in the fourth for an 18-11 advantage, and they were out front 20-12 before plating another eight runs in the top of the seventh.



Sam Twigg was 5-for-6 with two doubles, and Chloe Trissel followed with a double and two singles. Kady Finnerty knocked a solo home run and a double, as Hannah Phillips and Kensey Litton had three and two hits respectively.



Kailee Denney pushed her record pitching to 2-0.







Patriots third



Jay County’s boys golf team was third Thursday in a three-team match with Bellmont and Bluffton on senior night.



Bellmont shot 160 to win, finishing ahead of Bluffton by 26 strokes. Jay County finished with 205.



Collin Haines, one of two seniors, led the Patriots with a 4-over par 39. Griffin Mann was second on the team with 49, and senior Auston Rittenhouse was third with 54.



Tait Longsworth rounded out the team score with 59.



Joey Hall also competed, and his 64 did not factor into the team score.







Miles leads Jay



Natalie Miles led the Jay County junior varsity softball team to a 10-8 victory against the Bluffton Tigers on Thursday.



The Patriots (4-1) led 10-4 heading into the final inning before holding off a Bluffton rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.



Miles was 2-for-3 with a home run, a single, two RBIs and three runs. Justice Day had a double, two singles and an RBI, aand Lexie Ferguson contributed a double and two RBIs.



Trinity Current had a double while Maddy Rinker, Brittany Mullens and Rieley Brewster all had singles.







Trio helps in victory



Three players combined to go 12-for-12 Thursday, aiding Flamespray Machine Service to an 18-4 win over Pak-A-Sak in Portland Junior League’s Rookie baseball division.



Porter Clamme, Nick Snow and Gavin Byrum all went 4-for-4. Byrum and Snow both had three doubles while Clamme had one two-bagger. Maverick Reier drove in four runs for Flamespray.



Braden O’Brien had a triple and a single for Pak-A-Sak, which also got a double from Cooper Reynolds and two singles each from Alex Miller and Caleb Sibray.