Momentum flipped

The Patriots squandered two opportunities to put a run on the board. In the second opportunity, they had bases loaded with only one out, but back-to-back strikeouts ended their chance at a score.

They immediately got into trouble, as the Trojans flipped the momentum in their favor to load the bases. But just as swiftly as the Patriots’ opportunity passed them by, A.J. Myers shut down the Trojans and swung the momentum back the way of the Patriots.

After holding the New Castle Trojans scoreless in the top of the fifth inning, Jay County High School’s baseball team broke through to score a pair of runs en route to a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

The Patriots (2-4) have had a rocky start to the season dropping two of their first five games via walk offs. They got their first win against Mississinewa on Saturday after losing to the Indians in one of those walk offs.

They are hoping that the win over the potential sectional opponent will help them turn a page.

“It’s about building confidence with these guys and getting that monkey off your back,” said JCHS coach Todd Farr. “I told the guys in the huddle that it’s only going to get harder from here on out. There’s a chance we will play them again and that’ll be a whole different ball game.

“So, glad we got the win. There were some positives tonight, but also a lot of things we still have to work on.”

Entering the fifth inning in a scoreless ball game, New Castle (1-5) turned any momentum the Patriots had gained by shutting down a pair of opportunities with runners in scoring position.

Following a pair of consecutive strikeouts from Cormack Stilwell that left the bases stranded, Jayden Sticco led off the fifth inning with a double to deep center field. JCHS pitcher Joe Geesaman — he had a quality start, throwing 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball with only two hits — induced a groundout to second base before walking Aarin Murray to end his night on the mound.

Myers trotted in from right field to relieve Geesaman, and walked his first batter to load the bases. Stilwell worked a 2-1 count before sending a ground ball to Wyatt Foster at second base. Foster fielded the ball and flipped it to shortstop Carter Fugiett for the out at second, who then in turn fired it to first for an inning-ending double play to keep the game tied at 0-0.

“I really rely on my defense,” Myers said. “I’ve got all these guys out there behind me that can make plays. I just have to go out there and throw strikes so they can make plays.”

JCHS senior A.J. Myers fires in a pitch during the fifth inning against New Castle Tuesday. Myers avoided letting any runs score in the frame, despite the bases being loaded and went on to earn the win in 2 ⅔ innings of work. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Jay County took advantage of the tides turning back in their favor as Aiden Phillips and Kade Sommers led off the bottom half with back-to-back walks. Leighton Brown also reached base on an error by Murray at shortstop to load the bases again, this time with no outs.

Foster got called out on a squeeze attempt for the first out, but JCHS got a run on the board as Fugiett’s fly ball to center field was deep enough for Phillips to tag up and score.

Looking to extend the Patriots’ lead, Grant Wendel came to the plate. As he battled with Gannon Harris, the weather started to take a turn with rain coming down. Yet, Wendel had just enough visibility to poke a ball into right center field, scoring Brady Jetmore — he was running in place of Sommers — and giving Jay County a 2-0 advantage.

“I ended up getting two strikes on me so I’m like, ‘Alright, here we go,’” said Wendel, who came into the game for Gavin Byrum after getting hit by a pitch in the mouth in the second inning. “So I’m protecting and the rain starts coming down and I can’t see. I’m wiping my eyes about every 10 seconds. I just really had to fight through and give everything I had to make sure to help my team.”

The Patriots added one more run in the sixth when Geesaman stole home while Rylee Sollars got in a rundown between first and second base.

Myers got into one final jam in the top of the seventh as an error and two walks loaded the bases. The Jay County senior got Brayden Hancock to fly out to Garrett Bennett in right field, pushing New Castle’s first run across the plate while also pushing them to their final out. Two pitches later, Stilwell hit the ball on the ground to Wendel, who retired the side and gave the Patriots their second win.

The Trojans made multiple opportunities to make a run and take advantage of momentum, but every time Jay County had an answer to keep the game under its control.

“We’ve talked multiple times about staying off the scoreboard and just focusing on doing your job and giving a great effort,” Farr said. “When you do those things, good things tend to happen. This game can flip on you like it's nothing and be cruel. So, you’ve got to keep a level head to be in ball games like this late in the year so good on the guys.”