Brown breaks through

The Patriots have had no shortage of offense through the early part of the year.

There has also been a wide diversity of output, ranging from four-year letter winners, to freshmen. All but one of the everyday starters had produced three or more hits and two or more RBIs.

In the fifth game the final freshman starter joined the offensive parade with her teammates.

Chloe Brown logged her first hit and RBI to help the Jay County High School softball team to a 15-1 victory over St. Henry on Monday.

Prior to Monday’s win, Brown, a freshman third baseman, was 0-for-10 at the plate. She had only reached base three times to that point with one walk and two errors. Her first at bat of the day resulted in a groundout to third baseman Breonna McCoy. In the second plate appearance, she finally poked on through the middle for her first base hit of the year.

“It felt really great,” Brown said. “I made sure to (focus on) seeing the ball more clearly today than other days. … I definitely got the barrel on the ball today.”

    JCHS catcher Jaelynn Lykins receives a low pitch that struck out a St. Henry hitter during Monday’s 15-1 victory. Lykins put together a strong day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs on a solo home run and a single, while also hitting a leadoff double. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
  

Brown’s third at bat she drove in her first run of the season. With runners on first and third and one out, she hit a ground ball to Olivia Gast at shortstop, who chose to throw the ball home to try and get the lead runner. Hallie Schwieterman made it into home standing up to check off the RBI for Brown.

Brown mentioned that despite the slow start, she’s kept her confidence up due to coach Doug Arbuckle keeping faith in her and not removing her from the lineup in the first five games, even as the flex player.

“It’s definitely boosted me up a lot to know that coach has more confidence in you,” Brown said.

All nine of the batters in the Jay County (5-0) lineup played a role. Eight of the nine drove in one or more runs, smacked a hit and scored one run or more.

Jaelynn Lykins led the Patriots in hits, going 3-for-3 with a single in the second inning, a solo home run to deep right center field in the third and a double to leadoff the fourth.

Mallory Winner drove in and scored the most runs with three apiece. A single to right field plated a pair in the second inning, while a single up the middle pushed Natalie May, Lykins’ pinch runner, home in the fourth. Winner crossed the plate herself in the first, second and third innings.

“That’s key for us to get to where we want to be, to have production all the way through the lineup,” Arbuckle said. “Not just (Brown), but a lot of them, they continue to gain confidence each game.”

The Patriots had the easiest time scoring in the second inning, when they put up seven runs. They had seven hits in the inning, including four consecutive singles. Jay County also had crooked numbers in the first and third innings, scoring three and four runs, respectively.

Carley Trinidad went the distance in the circle to notch her second win of the year. She surrendered one unearned run on three hits and two walks. 

“She was able to hit her spots for the most part, move the ball around and miss barrels,” Arbuckle said. “She had six strikeouts and that’s key in a five-inning game, she had six of the 15 outs.”

The sole run for St. Henry (3-6) came in the second inning as McCoy led off with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, third on an error and home on Gast’s single to center field.

The Patriots have started the season 5-0 and have beaten teams in five innings by the mercy rule four times. They have now outscored opponents 64-6 and haven’t given up more than three runs in a game.

“It’s just a tribute to them and what they’ve accomplished so far,” Arbuckle said. “In early March, they worked at it and bought into what we wanted to do and going through with the practices and once the games started, it showed on the field. It’s a good group of girls and they all want to play together and accomplish great things. We’re off to a good start.”

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Jay County softball vs. St. Henry (4/14/2025)