Calm, confident

It was a rough start to the season for Parker Nichols.

Through the first four games he was 0-for-11.

Things were looking bleak, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at Nichols, who was calm and collected pre-game.

Things were looking bleak, but Nichols wasn’t showing it. He was calm and conversational as the Patriots prepared to take the field Tuesday.

That confidence paid off for Nichols, whose leadoff double sparked a five-run fourth inning that helped push the Jay County High School baseball team to an 11-5 victory over the visiting Eastbrook Panthers.

After the Panthers (0-4) gained an early 3-1 lead, Nichols’ line-drive to left field shifted the momentum to the Patriots and sparked five runs.

“I know I’ve been struggling to start the season,” Nichols said. “I've been talking to coach (Todd) Farr throughout the day. He just keeps telling me to trust myself. … (Nichols’ confidence) skyrocketed. I’ve been frustrated so far but that at bat, it definitely sparked something.”

Nichols came around to score when Ryne Goldsworthy took off to first base on a dropped third strike.

Josh Dowlen then smashed a shot to center field that glanced off the glove of Conner Boyd, allowing Goldsworthy to score. Dowel then came to the plate on a wild pitch during Jackson Edward’s walk, giving the Patriots (3-2) the lead.

Sam Myers added a double of his own to score Edwards before stealing third base. Myers scored the final run of the inning for the Patriots on an error by catcher Cater Daugherty, giving them a 7-3 lead.

“I think we capitalized on a few of their mistakes,” Farr said. “They helped us break that open there a little bit that we didn’t get yesterday. We got a couple timely hits there that helped a little bit today. That helps out quite a bit.”

Jay County was also able to put up a crooked number in the sixth inning. Edwards, Myers and Cody Rowles all had singles and found ways to score on passed balls and an error by third baseman Will Hodson.

The remaining three runs were spread out between the first, third and fifth innings. Myers drove in two of those runs and the other came to the plate on a Hodson error.

Edwards got the start for the Patriots, throwing the first four innings when he struck out seven batters and gave up one earned run on four hits. He also picked up the win.

The first two runs for the Panthers came in the second inning. Boyd reached base on a high pop up that blew around in the air before landing just beyond the infield. A walk to Lincoln Detamore and a passed ball set up Boyd to score on a sacrifice fly by Gipson. Detamore also scored on a pitch that got past catcher Josh Dowlen, who was filling in after freshmen Drew Schemenaur left the game because of arm soreness.

Outside of some initial confusion with signs and those passed balls, Dowlen didn’t have many hiccups behind the plate for the Patriots.

“I feel it went well. I haven’t caught a game probably since eighth grade,” Dowlen said. “I knew I had to do a job and help a teammate out because his arm was hurting — that’s what got me through it. I knew I had done it before. I just had to shake off the dust a little bit and I think it went pretty well today.”

The only other run against Edwards came in the third inning.

“Edwards was a lefty and he was the first lefty we’ve seen,” Eastbrook coach Scott Craw said. “He did a good job of changing speeds.”

Sophomore Zedrian Vazques pitched three innings of relief for the Patriots. He finished with three strikeouts while allowing two hits, two walks and one earned run.

Eli Martin suffered the loss for the Panthers, throwing six innings when he gave up eight runs and eight hits. He also struck out five batters.

The Panthers' top hitter, Cooper Craw, had two hits, one walk and reached base in all four plate appearances.

Myers once again led the Patriots offensively with four hits, one double, three RBIs and two runs.