History repeats itself

YORKTOWN — Max Upchurch ended the Patriots’ season in 2023 with a single up the middle to lift the Trojans to a 4-3 victory.

Upchurch is no longer with the Trojans after graduating in 2023, but the team’s magic didn’t leave with him.

Down four runs going into the bottom of the eighth inning, they started to rally and loaded the bases with a walk and two hits.

Another walk, a sacrifice fly and a single seemed to crush the Patriots as the game got tied up.

Then Gavin Frazier delivered the kill shot.

The Patriots fell to the bad side of history once again.

For the second year in a row, the Jay County High School baseball team suffered a walk off loss to the New Castle Trojans in the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 24 semifinal at Yorktown. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but excessive lightning resulted in the game being delayed to Saturday.

“It’s really hard (to swallow),” JCHS coach Todd Farr said. “We had several opportunities to close that game out and get it done and we didn’t.

“Give those guys a lot of credit for sticking in it and battling. Our guys battled, we just couldn’t close it out.”

The win gave New Castle the opportunity to play Delta in Monday’s championship game.

In the top of the eighth inning, Sam Myers smashed a three-run home run to deep right field to give Jay County a 12-9 advantage.

It just couldn’t hold on.

Jackson Edwards recorded the first out of the inning by sitting Coy Akins down with a strikeout looking. Edwards then walked Garren Mefford before Cormac Stilwell’s line drive to left and Carson Bane’s infield single.

Farr went to his bullpen, calling on A.J. Myers to take over with the winning run at the plate. He worked a full count against Landon Semler, but slipped up to walk in the first run.

Arrington Murray hit a sacrifice fly to Cody Rowles in center field to score the second run, and moved the Trojans (6-20) to their final out.

Brayden Hancock smacked a single to left field to tie the game at 12-12 with runners on first and third and two outs.

Frazier looked at the first pitch, a strike, to go down 0-1 in the count. He didn’t let it go any further, hitting a screaming ground ball past the outstretched arm of Parker Nichols at third base to drive in the winning run and walk off Jay County (13-12).

“When you play 25 games against the competition and the schedule we play, you show up in the tournament knowing how to compete against good teams,” said New Castle coach Jody Gray. “Jay County (gave) us just pesky baseball. A well coached team with good execution.

“When you have a team that is willing to do that for eight innings, you have to rely on what the past has taught you. We’ve been here before so we just stayed strong and consistent.”

Jay County had a chance to end the game in the seventh inning as well, but a pair of mistakes and some timely hitting helped New Castle tie the game.

Mefford flew out to begin the inning before Robert Fox pinch hit and smashed a double to the left field wall.

Kade Sommers then struck out both Bane and Semler, but both reached base on dropped third strikes that weren’t converted, the first a low throw from Drew Schemenaur and the second popping of the heel of Ryne Goldsowrthy’s glove.

The strikeouts would have ended the game, but rather allowed two runs to score.

“It’s very difficult to win games like that,” Farr said. “Drew is a really, really good catcher and he’s going to continue to be a really good catcher. He just made a couple of mistakes and that’s all.”

Three batters later, Frazier hit the single that tied the game off of Edwards.

Frazier finished 3-for-5 with two of the biggest RBIs for the Trojans.

“He’s been a leader within this program for the last two or three years,” Gray said. “In big moments, he knows how to step up and put balls on lines where they need to go. He understands baseball with that IQ.”

Ryne Goldsworthy was a highlight of the Patriots’ offense in the loss. He finished 4-for-5 with a game-high five RBIs. He drove in two runs with a single in the first, two more in the sixth and a final one in the seventh. Goldsworthy’s sixth-inning single tied the game and he later claimed the lead for JCHS by taking advantage of a pair of mistakes by Mefford behind the plate.

Joe Geesaman, Schemenaur and Edwards also hit well in the loss, combining for 10 hits.

“We had a lot of hits,” Farr said. “They battled today and put us in a position to win a ballgame several times over today. We just couldn’t execute it to get it done.”