Patriots can’t pull off upset

The Patriots led the Tigers for nearly three innings. They hung with them for eight total.

They just couldn’t find a way to score late as the game slipped away.

The Jay County High School baseball team lost a nine-inning contest to the Class 2A No. 1 Hagerstown Tigers in the first game of a double header on Saturday. The Patriots also dropped game two by a score of 11-6.

“I thought our guys battled really well,” JCHS coach Todd Farr said. “(Hagerstown is) a really good baseball team. That’s why they’re ranked.

“We were right there. We’ve got to make some plays and clean a couple things up and I think we win that ball game.”

The Patriots (9-9) got a great game out of Zedrian Vazquez on the mound, but a couple of slip ups allowed a run to score in the sixth inning. Through the first five innings, the junior only allowed three baserunners – Cole Tracy on a hit-by-pitch, Ethan Campbell on a single to right field and later on an error.

“He just locates the ball really well and when his offspeed stuff is on, man he’s really good.” Farr said. “He’s tough to battle against and he’s going to keep guys off balance.”

In the sixth, Vazquez got the first batter to fly out to center field. Out of the ninth spot in the lineup, Ben Williams smacked a double to right field and later reached third on a wild pitch. Collin Beaty struck out after a seven-pitch at bat, Tracy pulled through with a hot shot that forced third baseman Parker Nichols to dive on the line to stop. By the time Nichols’ throw reached first base, Tracy reached the bag and Williams scored.

No more runs crossed, but the damage was done as Jay County needed to score in the next two innings to avoid extra innings against Hagerstown (18-1).

The Patriots had opportunities with runners in scoring position both innings, but couldn’t send home the winning run either time. 

JCHS loaded the bases in the sixth with two outs, but the inning ended on a nice stop by Campbell at third base and threw Grant Wendel out. 

In the fifth, Jackson Edwards reached on a single to center and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Schenenaur (the second out of the inning). The Tigers intentionally walked Sam Myers, which paid off as Nichols flew out to first baseman Wyatt Burris.

Edwards came in to relieve Vazquez in the eighth and faced the minimum, but an error by Leighton Brown in left field put the winning run on second base. A subsequent single by Burris scored Kayne Ervin to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Jay County had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom half of the ninth as Cody Rowles and Edwards found themselves on base with a single and an error, respectively. Two outs again put the pressure on Nichols to come through, who has already walked off teams twice this year on April 18 and 27. Nichols delivered a shot to the gap, but Tracy closed in on the ball from center field before diving to make the catch and end the game.

“It was huge,” Hagerstown coach Jay Hale said. “It was a big spot for Cole and really probably boosted his confidence even more. Just couldn’t be more proud of him for laying out and getting a glove on it.

“That could have kept rolling and that could have been the game either way for either team.”

While Jay County couldn’t pull off the upset, Farr liked his team’s ability to compete with the Tigers and helped reinforce the team’s internal views on itself.

“I have a lot of confidence in our guys and I truly believe we’re really good ball players,” Farr said. “I truly believe we can hang with a lot of teams. We just have to be able to execute and finish.”

Williams earned the win for HHS after throwing six innings in relief and not allowing a single run to score.

Jay County’s only run came on a single from Myers in the third inning that put the Patriots up early. Schemenaur walked right before Myers, and Wyatt Foster entered as a courtesy runner. Foster made it from first to third base on an errant throw by Kaagen Kendall in a pickoff attempt.

Game two started off similarly, with the Patriots developing a 3-1 lead over the first three innings.

Hagerstown battled back to reclaim the lead in the fourth with a four-run inning and added another in the fifth.

Seventh-inning RBIs from Ryne Goldsworthy and Garrett Bennett tied the game at six runs apiece to force extra innings again.

After two innings of stalemate, Hagerstown rattled off five runs in the 10th off of six-straight singles, all but one came against Kade Sommers.

Ervin put the Patriots down in short order in the bottom half to seal the deal and earn the win.