Jay takes first loss to Woodlan, draws Delta in sectional opener

WOODBURN — The Patriots put together a strong start to the season with 10 consecutive wins.

It was an Allen County Athletic Conference team that finally picked them off.

The Jay County High School softball team split a pair of games on Saturday against the Class 2A No. 8 Woodlan Warriors and drew the host Delta Eagles on Sunday for the Class 3A IHSAA 24 sectional opener.

The Patriots fell to Woodlan 5-4 in 10 innings. In the non-conference matchup that followed, Jay County took down the Warriors 5-0.

Lexi Metzger hit a key double for Woodlan (16-2, 3-0 ACAC) that tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning. After two innings of no scoring, WHS walked Jay County off on a single by Addison Klotz.

Mallory Winner took the loss after pitching all 9 ⅓ innings.

Jaelynn Lykins and Carley Trinidad led the effort in game No. 2. Lykins plated three runs with a single and a double. Trinidad drove in a pair of runners as well on a single while tossing all five innings and only allowing two hits.

JCHS (11-1, 1-1 ACAC)  will face Delta (4-10) in the second opening round game of the sectional. A win would earn the Patriots a date with Hamilton Heights (10-6), which made it to the semi-state last season after going through a different sectional, in the semifinal.

The defending sectional champion, No. 7 Yorktown (10-2), is favored to reach the championship game from the top half of the bracket. It will have to go through New Castle (6-4) and Connersville (12-6), a regional competitor last year, to get there.

Indians draw Arrows

The Fort Recovery softball team earned a No. 5 seed in the OHSAA Division VI Southwest 2 District tournament on Sunday.

The Indians (9-6) will open with the sectional championship game at 5 p.m. May 15 as they host eighth-seeded Preble Shawnee (2-7).

A victory would earn the Tribe a trip to the district semifinal against the winner of No. 2 seed Tri-County North (11-8) and 12th-seeded Troy Christian (1-13). The game will take place on May 20 at 5 p.m. at a location to be named later.

Should Fort Recovery make it to May 23’s district championship game, it would be likely to see either third-seeded Riverside (12-9) or fourth-seeded Houston (14-4). The No. 6 seed, Northeastern (10-11), is also in the mix for a bid to the district championship.

Griffin leads

WINCHESTER — Jay County’s boys golf team shot a 347 at the Winchester Invitational on Saturday at Winchester Golf Club.

The Patriots continued to improve on their 18-hole matches, shaving 23 strokes from the South Adams Invitational and shooting 63 strokes better than the Yorktown Invitational.

Tucker Griffin led the way for JCHS with a round of 79, coming in seven over par.

Cody DeHoff and Isaac Homan both had their best 18-hole performances of the year as they each carded 88s.

Griffin Byrum rounded out the team score with a 92, while Dominick Bright’s 106 didn’t play into the final result.

Another record

NEW BREMEN, Ohio — Anna Roessner broke another one of her records as the Fort Recovery track team competed at the Cardinal Invite hosted by New Bremen on Friday.

The girls team took 11th place out of 14 scoring teams with 24 points. Coldwater won with 111.5 points. 

The FRHS boys team didn’t manage to score any points at the meet. Marion Local topped the 12-team field with 115.5 points.

Roessner broke her own school record in the 200-meter dash by sprinting to a time of 24.34 seconds. She was more than a second faster than Coldwater’s Claire Bertke (25.75) in second place.

The Tribe had three more top-five finishes on the day. Karlie Niekamp finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 117 feet even. The 4x200 relay team of Roessner, Madison Heitkamp, Alivia Brunswick and Aubrey Shuttleworth also finished fourth with a time of 1 minute, 50.26 seconds.

Riley Heitkamp placed fifth in the 3,200 run with a time of 13:13.59. 

The only other top-10 finish came from Madison Heitkamp in the 100 hurdles (ninth – 17.68).

The boys team didn’t have any athletes place above 10th.

Other top-12 finishes for Fort Recovery came from:

•Carson Fullenkamp in the shot put (10th) and discus (12th)

•Kennedy Muhlenkamp in the 800 run (10th)

•Troy Post in the long jump (12th)

•Madison Heitkamp in the 300 hurdles (12th)

Pats take first

NEW CASTLE — Jordyn Hutzler put together a strong day in the throws to help the Jay County girls track team to first place at the New Castle Invite on Friday, while the boys slipped to second place.

The girls topped the four-team field with 111 points, beating out host New Castle by nine.

The boys team finished second with 73 points, while Wapahani topped the five-team meet with 94.

Hutzler brought home a pair of victories for Jay County in the shot put (33 feet, 9 inches) and the discus (102 feet, 5 ½ inches).

The girls won three more events as well. Brooklynn Byrum claimed the top spot in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5 minutes, 45.36 seconds, while Jenna Dues sprinted to the top spot in the 100 dash in 13.39. The 4x400 relay team also placed first with a time of 4:27.42.

The girls team placed second in six events.

A time of 10:14.95 earned Dash Thacker the top spot in the 3,200 run. He was the only boy to place first. Adam Alig added a pair of runner-up finishes in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, while Peyton Yowell earned second in the pole vault.