Jay County held off Tribe comeback try

Twenty-five years ago this week, a Tribe comeback attempt failed against the Patriots.

The April 24, 1998, edition of The Commercial Review included coverage of the Jay County High School baseball team’s 3-1 victory over Fort Recovery.

The Indians had scored first in the game, but Jay County responded with a pair of runs in the second inning and held a 2-1 lead most of the way.

Fort Recovery tried to rally in the seventh inning, getting a pair of runners on base in hopes of tying the game. But Collin Bechtol hit a grounder to Josh Ford for the final out of the game.

Shawn Morris got his second win of the season as he tossed his third complete game. He gave up just one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four.

“He wasn’t pitching as hard or as sharp as he was in his first two games,” said JCHS coach Lea Selvey, “but he got the same result.”

After falling behind 2-1, the Patriots got a single from Brad Wendel in the bottom of the second inning. He stole second base and then scored to tie the game on a single by Ford.

Justin Hosier later singled and scored on an Aaron Wilson ground out to give the home team the lead for good.

JCHS extended its lead in the sixth inning when Cyler Ruble was hit by a pitch, stole second base, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on an Andy Miller grounder on which he barely beat the throw to the plate.

Fort Recovery got its only run in the first inning when Bob Heitkamp drove in Keith Evers with a one-out double.

The bulk of the Patriots offense came from the bottom of the order as Wendel, Hoser and Ford — the No. 7, 8 and 9 hitters — combined for three hits, two runs and an RBI.