Jay drops 2nd in ACAC

Heritage had four hits in the first five innings. Only one run scored during that stretch.

Mallory Winner kept Jay County in the game but she couldn’t hold out forever, as the floodgates opened for a six-run sixth inning.

The big inning was too much for the Jay County High School softball team to handle as its offense was snuffed out by Allen County Athletic Conference rival Heritage 7-1 Thursday.

Heritage (12-6, 4-1 ACAC) came out swinging the bats in the sixth inning, when Kendall Zelt reached base on an error and scored on a double by Grace Guenthner to open up the inning.

A pop out to Renna Schwieterman at shortstop earned Jay County (16-5, 4-2 ACAC) the first out of the inning, before four straight hits pushed three more runs across the plate.

Another pop out to Schwieterman and a line drive to third baseman Riah Champ ended the inning, but Danica Fuller had a two-run double in between as Heritage took a 7-0 lead.

“They got a couple girls on there and they got some big hits,” JCHS coach Doug Arbuckle said. “They were good all-around team. They’ve got some speed and good power.

“This game is a lot of times controlled by that 43 feet. That’s probably the best pitcher we’ve seen the whole year up to this point.”

The home team struggled to get any offense going in the game. Fuller threw all seven innings for Heritage. The ambidextrous pitcher struck out JCHS batters nine times in the contest, while only giving up three hits and one walk.

“You could tell her mentality on the mound. She’s a bulldog,” said Winner, the only Jay County batter that drew a walk against Fuller. “She’s constantly going and going, just plowing through it. That’s what probably sets her away from everybody else.”

Janae Jacobs was perfect from the plate for JCHS, going 2-for-2 with two singles and scored the only run of the game for Jay County.

Her first hit came in the bottom of the third inning. After the eight hitters in front of her failed to reach base, she sprayed a single right in front of Abriyah James in center field.

She led off the sixth inning for JCHS with a single that dropped in front of Zelt in right field and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Mady Fraley followed with a single of her own, moving Jacobs to third base in the process. Winner drove Jacobs in for the only run of the game on a fielder’s choice to shortstop Libby Cain who allowed the run to score in favor of getting the out at second base.

“I was just going up there with confidence,” Jacobs said. “You’ve just got to believe in yourself. You can’t tell yourself that she’s un-hittable.

“You’ve got bad days and you’ve got good days. You’ve just gotta keep that confidence. Bad days are going to come but you just can’t be shakable.”

Winner, who has been dealing with shoulder and back soreness and had not pitched since May 5, started the game in the circle for Jay County. She gave up one run on four hits through the first five innings before Heritage started to get to her in the fifth for four more runs.

“She’s a warrior,” Arbuckle said. “She’s going to go out there and give you all she’s got whether she’s at 50% or 100%. She’s going to give you all the effort she can. That’s the kind of gal she is.”

Heritage’s only other run came in the first inning when Fuller led the game off with a single and stole second base. Guenthner then smacked a single to score her.

James led Heritage with four hits in the game. Fuller and Guenthner both provided a single, double and two RBIs for Heritage in the ball game. Lydia Schultz also added two RBIs on a single during the six-run sixth inning.

The loss moves Jay County into a tie for third place with Adams Central in the ACAC. Jay County’s only losses in conference come to Heritage and Woodlan who are tied for first place.

Although Jay County lost, Arbuckle thinks that facing Fuller will help his team grow and prepare them for the postseason.

“We faced a really good team and a really good pitcher,” Arbuckle said. “Going forward that’s what we are going to see come tournament time so it’s a good challenge for us.”