Jones shuts down Patriot offense

ARCADIA — Alanah Jones was virtually unhittable.

Through four innings, the Patriots made contact with just six of her pitches, but they all went foul.

After five innings, she still hadn’t allowed a hit, and struck out all but one of the possible 15 outs.

When the Patriots finally put the ball in play it was far too late.

Jay County High School’s softball team had a tough time against Jones and the top-ranked Yorktown Tigers on Tuesday in an 8-0, season-ending loss in the Class 3A Sectional 24 quarterfinal game at Hamilton Heights.

“That’s the best pitcher we’ve faced all year,” said first-year JCHS coach Trisha Green, whose team ends its season 17-8. “She was good. She was quick. When you go from slow pitchers to fast pitchers it’s hard to adjust.

“We came out at the end of the game and we were starting to hit her but you can’t come back from eight runs at the end of the game.”

Aside from a six-pitch walk to Rieley Brewster in the top of the first inning, Jones struck out 13 of the first 14 batters she faced, all but three of them were swinging.

With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Haley Gillette reached on an error as Jay County’s first baserunner of the game. But a fly out to center and Jones’ 14th punchout left Gillette standing at first base.

After Jones’ 15th strikeout to start sixth inning, Mady Fraley and Aubrie Schwieterman broke up her no-hit bid with consecutive singles.

Brewster battled with Jones, getting down 0-2 but fighting back to a 2-2 count. She fouled off four pitches, including one over the outfield fence but about 15 feet foul, but bounced into a fielder’s choice, and Renna Schwieterman struck out to end the Patriots’ only real threat of the night.

“We knew she was quick but we weren’t quite sure what we were coming into,” Green said. Jones finished with 18 strikeouts, allowed two hits and one walk. “We had a couple that were trying to bunt, but bunting on a fast pitcher is not easy to do when you’re not used to it anyways.”

Yorktown (23-5), the 2019 state runner-up which meets Hamilton Heights in the sectional semifinal, did just about everything to score runs; doubles to the outfield fence, bunts, groundouts and sacrifice flies.

The Tigers played one run in the second on a Jenna Sylvester RBI groundout, and added two in the third on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch. In the fourth, an error kicked off a stretch of three straight scoring plays as Yorktown led 6-0 after the fourth inning.

Another error and a bunt single brought home two more runs in the fifth for Yorktown.

“They’re a good, solid team,” Green said. Ainsley Phillips, Lexi Morris, Katelyn Knott and Jones each had two hits. “They were able to get some bunts down and throw us off.

“We got a little rattled, but we know how to handle the bunts. I think they just placed them well or hit them a little further than some of the girls were expecting.”

Tuesday marked the end of the JCHS career for four starters: Maddy Rinker, Aubrie Schwieterman, Gillette and Brewster.

Brewster, Schwieterman and Gillette ended the season first, second and fourth in batting, and Brewster smashed a team-best 12 home runs. She also had 37 runs, 35 RBIs, 11 doubles, all of which led the team.

Schwieterman, however, will continue to play softball at Indiana Wesleyan.

“They’re all leaders,” Green said. “They’re great players. They’re the glue to the team right now. I’m proud of them.”