Starfire baseball reaches semifinal

MONROE — The Starfires got sweet, sweet revenge against their conference and county rival.

Joe Stuber provided the offense and Grant Besser shut down the opposition as the South Adams High School baseball team avenged a regular-season loss by beating the host Adams Central Flying Jets 7-1 Thursday in the opening round of the Class 2A Sectional 36 tournament.

South Adams (25-2), which is ranked second in the state and lost to Jets 5-2 May 10, advances to the sectional semifinal at 10 a.m. Saturday against the Canterbury Cavaliers. The Starfires won that regular season matchup, 10-0, on April 10.

Stuber hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning Thursday to get things going for South Adams, which scored a run in each of the next two frames for a 4-1 lead heading to the fourth.

Keagan Yoder drove in James Arnold on a double in the bottom of the sixth inning while Stuber knocked in two more as SAHS plated three insurance runs.

Besser scattered four hits over seven innings. He allowed one unearned run and walked one while striking out a dozen.



Year ends at regional

INDIANAPOLIS — Gavin Randall had his season come to a close Thursday at the IHSAA Boys Track and Field Regional meet at North Central.

Randall, a Jay County junior, finished in a five-way tie for 11th place in high jump with his height of 6 feet, matching Jordan St. Clair (Lawrence North), Nick Johnson (Chatard), Malcom Clark (Cathedral) and Avieon Curry (Lawrence Central).

A pair of Pike Red Devils were first and second, respectively. Junior Lawrence Mitchell won the regional title at 6 feet, 6 inches, and freshman Zavier Simpson was second at 6 feet, 4 inches.



Jay drops finale

The Jay County boys golf team dropped its final home meet of the season on Thursday, losing 199-203 to Adams Central at Portland Golf Club.

Collin Haines, a senior, fired a 4-over par 39 to lead Jay County in the defeat. Devin Harris was second on the team with 49, and Griffin Mann shot 52 for third lowest for the Patriots.

Joey Hall rounded out the team score with a round of 63.

Tait Longsworth competed as an individual, and he shot 58.

Rockets fall in opener

FORT WAYNE — The Portland Rockets fell in their season opener Thursday, losing 13-2 to the Fort Wayne Jackers at Carrington Field.

Portland (0-1) struggled on the mound, as it allowed seven free passes and surrendered a dozen hits. The Rockets only managed four hits.

Chase Ruiz had a double to lead Portland. Chandler Jacks, a 2016 Jay County High School graduate, singled in a run. Dustin Lewis and Chris Miller also had hits for Portland.

The Rockets host Indy Bandits for a pair of games at 1 p.m. Saturday in the home opener at Portland Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field.



Two lead Flamespray

Gavin Byrum and Nick Snow both collected extra-base hits on Thursday as Flamespray Machine Service defeated All-Circuit Electrical 15-2 in Portland Junior League’s Rookie baseball division.

Byrum had a home run, a single and a double, while Snow tallied a triple, a double and a single for Flamespray. Maverick Reier, Grant Fennig and Mitchell Byrum each contributed three singles to the victory.

Shawn Harrell had a homer and a double in the loss for All-Circuit. Logan Wendel and Bryor Garringer both singled.



Dunkirk tops Loy’s

In PJL’s Sandy Koufax action on Thursday, Dunkirk picked up an 8-5 win over Loy’s Realty. 

Drew Powers and Nick Street led Dunkirk by hitting a pair of singles. Ashton Kuss, Peyton James and Riley Foster both singled.

Zack Twigg led Loy’s with two doubles and two RBIs. Sam Dunlavy doubled and drove in a run, as Cam Hoover chipped in two singles and Tanner Hurt added one single.



Pak-A-Sak wins

A balanced effort carried Pak-A-Sak to a 12-4 victory against Pioneer Packaging on Thursday in Portland Junior League’s Rookie baseball division.

Alex Miller, Kadyn Carpenter and Caleb Sibray each singled three times while Kayden Comer chipped in two hits. Brayden O’Brian and Chandler Young tallied two runs apiece.

Rayden Sollars and Samuel Wiggins both had a pair of singles for Pioneer. Wiggins drove in two runs while Sollars had two runs and an RBI. Dillon Jellison, Bentley Comer, Alex Huntsman, Irik Donathan and Beck Hough also singled.