A new hero

Riah Champ leads the Patriots in batting average, on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs and runs scored. Two of her six home runs ended games early by the mercy rule. She has been the best hitter for the Patriots overall.

Thursday, the Patriots had a different heroine.

Sophomore Jozey Shimp’s two-run home run lifted the Jay County High School softball team past Adams Central 2-1 in their first Allen County Athletic Conference game of the season on Thursday.

Adams Central’s Addie Baker had kept the Patriots (13-1, 1-0 ACAC) at bay the entire game. The Patriots only had one runner reach second base on three hits through the first five innings — something Champ wasn’t too fond of.

Down one run heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, Champ tried to rally her teammates.

“I feel like someone had to start it. We had no runs, no one was hitting,” Champ said. “What did I do? I took my little Gatorade bottle and I went to every bat and I smacked it.”

At first, the gesture didn’t seem to have an effect, as Jaelynn Lykins struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt and was subsequently tagged out by catcher Athena Schwartz.

However, Champ maintained the same energy in her at bat and followed the strikeout with a double down the third base line. The hit brought Shimp to the plate with a runner in scoring position.

In her first two at bats, Shimp got down in the count early. In this at bat, she got ahead, watching ball one pass by. She then sent the following pitch over the center field fence to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.

“I think I was just looking for that pitch,” Shimp said. “I didn't have two strikes on me. I was more confident than that first at bat.

“I was so excited. I knew we just needed the win and had to do what needed to be done.”

The Patriots would hold onto the lead thanks to Mallory Winner inducing three ground balls from the Jets in the top of the seventh inning.

“I'm super happy that my team is progressing and we're getting better as the season is moving on,” Winner said. “I know as I'm standing out there on that mound that whatever happens with that batter, I have eight girls to back me up.”

Winner picked up her 11th win of the season, only giving up four hits and one unearned run while striking out two batters.

What Winner lacked in strikeouts, she made up for in groundouts. She forced the Jets to hit the ball into the ground 11 times for outs, as well as inducing three line outs to Champ and Schwieterman.

“Mallory is going to get balls in play for the most part. A lot of ground balls because she likes throwing that drop curve and keeps it down in the zone,” coach Doug Arbuckle said. “It's very important that our defense plays behind her and they did an excellent job today.”

The Jets’ (10-2, 2-1 ACAC) only run came in the top of the sixth inning. Jenna Cook led off with a double that squeezed past Champ at third and down the line. Winner forced a fly out to right field and a line out to Schwieterman at shortstop, keeping Cook at second. In the fourth at bat of the inning, Schwartz hit a high fly ball to right field that Janae Jacobs misplayed, allowing the run to score. The inning ended when Megan Byerly grounded out to second base.

Outside of the sixth inning, Baker kept the Patriots off balance all night at the plate. She recorded nine strikeouts in the losing effort.

“She changes speeds and changes eye levels,” Arbuckle said. “She had us off balance.

“She's a good pitcher. They're not 10-1 before tonight for the heck of it. That's a good ball team.”

The Patriots moved to 1-0 in ACAC play with their win over the Jets. Arbuckle likes the direction the team is heading in with the next three games also being against conference opponents.

“That's a great win for the girls. A conference win. Get us started on the right track,” Arbuckle said. “That's the type of ball game that you're going to have come tournament time. The girls kept their heads in it and battled through some things when we needed to.”