Tigers spoil Pearson’s return

The Patriots got an important piece of their lineup back, but it wasn’t enough to earn their first conference win.

Right as Jay County got senior Dusty Pearson back on the field, the shallow roster shrunk again with another injury.

The shorthanded Jay County High School baseball team struggled to get its offense going in Thursday’s 12-1 loss to the Allen County Athletic Conference rival Bluffton Tigers.

Last season, Pearson played in 23 games last season, recording the second-highest batting average (.382) and leading the team with 23 RBIs. He has been sidelined to this point with an injury.

“He's a good hitter. He's a good player. He's a good athlete,” JCHS coach Todd Farr said. “He's trying to get back into the groove of things and figure things out. We're going to need him come tournament time.”

Pearson hasn’t had the start to his season that he would have wanted. He had a pinch-hit appearance Wednesday against South Adams when he grounded out, and in his first start Thursday he struck out three times.

“It's better to be back,” Pearson said. “You wish you wouldn't have faced a pitcher like that, but there is no excuses.”

While the Patriots (8-9, 0-4 ACAC) got Pearson back, shortstop Carter Fugiett went down with an injury in the first inning when making a play on a ball hit between shortstop and third base.

“I had a good angle on it and knew I was gonna probably get there,” Fugiett said. “I stretched out and my hamstring felt a pop.”

Jay County only had two players on the bench for substitutions and was forced to use one right away.

On top of the injuries the Patriots have had to deal with, junior Ryne Goldsworthy was dealing with an illness during the day and the game. Despite the illness, he was able to pull through for his team, driving in the Patriots’ only run of the game.

“I just felt sick throughout the day,” Goldsworthy said.”I just pushed through and got through school. Did everything I could, threw up a little bit. Came back and got a hit for our team.”

The run came in the first inning. After the first two batters recorded outs, the Patriots strung together three singles. Sam Myers started things off with a ground ball that snuck through the right side of the infield. Connor Specht then slapped a single that fell just in front of the Tigers’ center fielder, Drew Pressler, who dived in an attempt to catch the ball allowing Myers to advance to third. Goldsworthy then delivered his single to drive in Myers.

Braxton Betancourt hit the next Patriot hitter before striking out a final batter to keep the damage to only one run.

Jay County struggled to get baserunners the rest of the game. Its only other hit came in the fourth inning from Jackson Edwards. Only four other batters reached base, via walks and a hit by pitch.

“Well, we’re not playing very good baseball right now,” Farr said. “We've taken a couple steps back from the weekend where we played really well against good teams but we're not very good right now. I've gotta fix it. That's on me at the end of the day.

“We've got good hitters on this team, we're just not hitting very well right now.”

The Tigers (11-4, 3-1 ACAC) did not suffer from the same struggles, tallying their 12 runs on 10 hits, including a three-run first inning and a five-run fifth inning.

Austin Lewis led the charge for Bluffton, hitting two home runs, including a two-run blast in the first inning.

Myers took the loss, giving up eight runs — five earned — on 10 hits through 4 2/3 of work. He had seven strikeouts.

The Patriots committed four errors while Myers was on the bump, and another four while Cody Rowles worked in relief.

“Most of the runs teams score are on errors,” Myers said. “They aren't really earned. We could win more games. Those errors are holding them back.”

Errors and walks were a big part of the five runs that scored in the fifth inning. Four batters walked in the frame in which there was only one hit, a double from Andrew Onuegbu that plated two. There were also two errors and a passed ball that allowed the other three to score.

“We just didn't make plays, and didn't hit the ball,” Myers said. “We need to try our best to overcome errors and win ball games.”