Haines helps Jay top Stars

GENEVA — Collin Haines has another career-low score.

Haines, a Jay County High School senior, was two strokes over par on Thursday, leading the Patriot boys golf team to a 199-213 win against South Adams at Wabash Valley Golf Club.

Haines finished with 38, one stroke better than his previous career best.

Griffin Mann was second for Jay County with 51. Auston Rittenhouse was third on the team with 54, and Devin Harris totaled 56 to complete the team total.

Joey Hall also competed for Jay County, but his 62 did not qualify for the team total.

David Muselman shot 46 to pace South Adams. Eli Hamrick and Korbin Dunnuck tied for second on the squad with 55, and Blaine Harruff fired a 57 as the No. 4 score.

Spencer Fear finished with 61.



Schlechty powers Patriots

MONROEVILLE — Michael Schlechty had a career-high six RBIs on Thursday, powering the Jay County baseball team to a 13-9 victory over the host Heritage Patriots.

Jay County (12-5, 5-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) scored twice in the top of the first inning, and both teams pushed across five runs in the fourth. The visiting Patriots pushed the score to 11-5 after five, only to see the margin shrink to two again at the end of the sixth.

Jay County added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.

Schlechty hit a triple and a double and walked once as he accounted for nearly as many runs as Heritage. Noah Arbuckle was 4-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs, and Payton Heniser also had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Isaac Moeller also chipped in with two RBIs.

Wyatt Geesaman earned the win, allowing five runs — all unearned — on two hits in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three.

Gaven Hare and Moeller also pitched in relief.

Jay blanks Bruins

Jay County’s girls tennis team shut out the Blackford Bruins on Thursday, 5-0.

Shelby McClain earned a 6-0, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles, while Klarisa Hemmelgarn got a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles.

Katy Hamilton completed the singles sweep at No. 3 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory. 

Emily Reier and Besty Muhlenkamp won their No. 2 doubles contest 6-2, 7-5. At No. 1 doubles, Audrey Dirksen and Kayla Dirksen dropped the first set 7-5 before rallying to win the match by taking the next two sets 6-3, 6-1.

The Patriots’ junior varsity team also won, 3-1.

Dawn Minnich and Sarah Muhlenkamp got singles victories by 8-0, and 4-8 margins respectively.

Elyse Bost and Kaitlyn Ruiz teamed for an 8-2 doubles win.

Janae Kirby and Kristy Alig dropped their doubles match 8-4.



Jay softball falls

MONROEVILLE — An eight-run fourth inning wasn’t enough as the Jay County softball team lost to Heritage on Thursday, 14-13.

Jay County (6-6, 3-3 Allen County Athletic Conference) fell behind 7-4 after the first inning before taking a 12-7 lead in the top of the fourth. Heritage responded with five runs to tie the game, and it outscored Jay County 2-1 in the sixth to get the win.

Aubrie Schwieterman had three doubles, a single and two RBIs for JCHS. Kensey Litton had a triple, a single and an RBI while Chloe Trissel contributed three singles. 

Kady Finnerty and Maggie Pryor both collected two singles, as Sam Twigg, Hannah Phillips and Emily Corn also had singles.



JV softball tops Heritage

Jay County’s junior varsity softball team earned a 16-12 win against Heritage on Thursday.

Rieley Brewster was a home run shy of the cycle for Jay County, which led 6-2 after two innings and 8-4 after four. The host Patriots scored four times in each of the fifth and sixth frames to hold off the visitors.

Natalie Miles contributed two doubles, a single and two RBIs to the winning effort. Abbi Kuss collected two singles, a walk and three runs, while Maddy Rinker notched three singles and three runs.

Lexi Ferguson tallied four RBIs on a double and single.



Patriot JV wins

The Jay County junior varsity baseball team defeated Heritage on Thursday, 15-5.

Jay County scored 11 straight runs to open the game and was out front 12-2 after three innings.

RJ Lennartz and Logan McGinnis led the Jay County offense with two hits apiece. Reid Claycomb, Cameron Henry, Brayden Sprunger, Blake Caldwell and Matthew Minnich helped the cause with one hit apiece.