Indians move to Division VI for basketball

Expansion will push the Tribe hoopers into a lower division. The bowlers and tankers will stay where they are.

The OHSAA announced the preliminary winter sports divisions on Monday afternoon.

The announcement mainly affected the Fort Recovery High School basketball teams as the OHSAA expanded from just four divisions to seven. The largest 64 schools get placed in Division I, the next 64 in Division II and the rest are pooled together and split evenly among the other five divisions.

Both Indians basketball teams will compete in Division VI for the coming athletic seasons. Other Midwest Athletic Conference teams competing in Division VI include Coldwater, Marion Local, New Bremen, Parkway and St. Henry. Minster will be in Division VI for girls basketball, but falls to Division VII for boys.

Boys and girls bowling will remain in Division II for the time being, as well as boys and girls swim staying put in Division II.

JC bats stay hot

NEW CASTLE — A trio of five-run innings was too much for the New Castle Trojans on Monday afternoon, giving the Jay County softball team a 19-0 victory in only five innings.

The Patriots (9-4) got offensive contribution from nearly every player in their starting lineup, and all but one substitution.

Morgan Missicano and Hallie Schwieterman did the most work on the basepaths. Missicano led the team with four hits, also scoring three times and driving in a run. Schwieterman stepped on home four times after walking three times and getting one hit. She also had two RBIs.

Carley Tinidad and Mallory Winner drove in the most runs, combining for seven of the team’s 19 RBIs. Trinidad also picked up the win, striking out five batters and allowing two hits over the full five innings.

Jay County scored five runs on the Trojans (4-14) in the first, fourth and fifth innings, while putting up two in both the second and third.

FR gets momentum

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians will roll into Tuesday’s sectional opener with a win, as the Fort Recovery softball team held on for a 7-4 victory over the Franklin Monroe Jets on Monday.

The Indians (10-12) got on the board early with good base running from Emma Will and Kayla Heitkamp in the first two innings.

A three-run fourth inning that included a two-RBI triple from Ava Grisez gave Fort Recovery control over the Jets (7-20).

Insurance runs came on a Will’s single and Ella Schoen’s double in the fifth inning.

Franklin Monroe finally put some pressure on starter Britney Tebbe in the top of the sixth inning, resulting in four runs. Tebbe still got the win after surrendering eight hits and three earned runs through 5 ⅔ innings.

Jenna Homan got the save, only allowing one hit and one walk over the final 1 ⅓ innings.

Evers leads

ARCANUM — Reece Evers put out his best performance of the year on the mound as he shut out the Arcanum Trojans for a 2-0 Fort Recovery baseball victory on Monday.

Evers went the distance on the bump for the Indians (8-8). He only gave up three hits and four walks, while striking out three batters.

Despite throwing 92 pitches, he didn’t give up a single run.

He also helped his own cause on the base paths, scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth inning.

Arcanum (10-8) gave up the first run in the second inning. An error allowed Caden Grisez to reach second base to start off the inning. Two batters later, Riggs Tobe delivered the single needed to score Grisez.

Junior high falls

SELMA — The Jay County Junior High School golf team fell to Selma 141-163 on Monday at Cardinal Hills Golf Course.

Despite the loss, Karson Hines earned match medalist honors by shooting the low score of 36. His best scores came on the third and fourth hole, shooting a bogey on each.

Tobe Swartzentruber followed Hines with 38 strokes, and even birdied hole No. 6.

The final two team scores came from Camden Buckland and Bailey Towell with a 44 and 46, respectively.

Crystal Swartzentruber’s 48 did not affect the team score.

Kason Sims’ score also didn’t affect the team score, despite shooting a 40, because he played in the sixth position.