Hits keep coming for Jay County softball

HAGERSTOWN — The Patriots’ hit parade continued Saturday.

So too, did the winning.

Fifteen hits resulted in 34 total runs as the Jay County High School softball team swept the Hagerstown Tigers. The Patriots (9-8) won the first game 18-2 in five innings, and took game two 16-4.

Jay County, which has three straight victories, has outscored its opponents 60-11 over that span and totaled 53 hits.

A six-run second inning in game one began the Patriots’ offensive onslaught. After three innings, they were out front 8-0 and jumped ahead 14-2 at the end of the fourth frame.

Hagerstown had a lead in game two thanks to a run in the first inning, but Jay County struck for six runs in the third and never looked back. The Patriots tallied two runs in the fourth, three in the sixth and five in the seventh for the lopsided win.

Aubrie Schwieterman, Maggie Pryor and Hailey Gillette finished the day with four hits, while Hannah Phillips and Shelby Caldwell collected three hits each.

Kensey Litton homered and doubled, and Hanna Dillon ripped a pair of doubles.

Kailee Denney pitched the Patriots to the win in the first game, and Justice Day got the win in game two.

Auker wins, Jay eighth

HUNTINGTON — Brody Auker won high jump Saturday as the Jay County boys track team took eighth in the Huntington North Invitational for freshmen and sophomores.

Bellmont scored 114 points to take the team championship, with East Noble (99) second and Mount Vernon (77) third. The Patriots had 35 points for eighth out of 12 teams.

Auker, a sophomore, took the top spot in high jump with his height of 5 feet, 10 inches — 2 inches higher than anyone else.

Freshman Aaron Funkhouser was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.12 seconds.

Others earning top-eight finishes were Jacob Hart (fifth – discus) and Cristian Marentes (seventh – 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles).



Patriot JV split

Jay County’s junior varsity baseball team split a home doubleheader with the Norwell Knights on Saturday.

The Patriots lost the first game 10-8, and rallied for a 4-3 victory in game two in salvaging the split.

Jay County (6-7-1) led 6-3 after the second inning in game one, only to fall behind 8-6 two frames later. It was behind 3-2 in the fifth inning of game two before scoring twice in the home half of the seventh for the walk-off win.

Darius Esparza led the JCHS offense with two doubles, three singles and four RBIs. Caleb Hale and Crosby Heniser collected two hits each, and Heniser scored three times.

Drew Powers, Camdin Harrison, Gavin Myers, Frankie Crump and Hale had two stolen bases apiece.



Homestead gets win

Homestead Bedding earned a 13-2 win against Portland Optimist on Friday in Portland Junior League’s Rookie softball division.

Gabby Petro, Joella Wagner, Stella Skirvin, Kendall Schemenaur and Kali Newell totaled three hits apiece for Homestead. Boo Towell and Ava Peterson chipped in two hits each.

Alieah Cox led Optimist with two hits. Madysen Taylor, Alexa Ridenour, Grace Huelskamp, Allyssa Wendel, Gabi Miller and Karlee Baxter all had one hit.