Early deficit doomed Jay

A semifinal win over Yorktown gave the Patriots a chance at their third regional title in four years. An early deficit kept them from reaching that goal.

The June 12, 1995, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of the regional baseball tournament at Anderson, where the Jay County High School baseball team fell 9-6 to the host Indians in the title game.

Anderson, a team that was just 12-17 heading into the day, jumped on JCHS (18-11) for five runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Patriots could not overcome that early deficit.

“We just got ourselves in a hole quickly and never recovered,” said Lea Selvey, Jay County’s coach then and now. “The chances were there … in the first game (a 9-4 win over Yorktown) we came through with two-out hitting and in the championship game we didn’t.”

Starting pitcher John Bailey of the Patriots made it through just a third of an inning, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk. Reliever Josh Pogue allowed another four runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Jay County fought back, cutting its deficit to two — 6-4 — with a three-run third inning. But the Indians’ two runs in the fifth extended their advantage. They stayed in control the rest of the way despite two scoreless innings of relief from Josh McAbee, who had gone the distance in the semifinal game.

Anderson’s six hits were helped by seven walks and seven Patriot errors.

Offensively, Jim Ferrell paced JCHS with his three hits, two RBIs and one run. McAbee, who went 2-for-4, was the only other Patriot to record multiple hits.