Patriots roll past Eagles

MUNCIE — The Patriots only needed five batters to come to the plate to take a 4-0 lead on the Eagles. While they slowed down a little, five more runs in the fourth inning ended the game early.

The Class 3A No. 10 Jay County High School softball team cruised through the IHSAA Sectional 24 opener with an 11-0 win over the host Delta Eagles on Tuesday.

The win earned the Patriots (20-2) a date with the Hamilton Heights Huskies in Wednesday’s semifinal.

The JCHS bats were alive right away as Brenna Ruble led off with an infield single. She stole second base and took third on an error before Morgan Missicano drove her in with a single.

Missicano also stole before Jaelynn Lykins, Jozey Shimp and Mallory Winner ripped off back-to-back-to-back doubles to go up 4-0 on Delta (8-16). A final run came in on a Carley Trinidad groundout.

The Patriots put up one run on a Lykins home run in the second inning and five more in the fourth. The final runs scored on a Lykins double, a two-run home run by Shimp and a Dakota Chowning groundout.

Lykins led Jay County with four RBIs and Shimp followed with three.

Winner earned the victory in the circle after giving up just one hit over four innings of work.

Season ended

NOBLESVILLE — The Jay County girls tennis team’s season came to a close on Tuesday as they fell to the No. 16 Delta Eagles 5-0 at the IHSAA Regional 14 opener hosted by Noblesville.

With the win, Delta advanced to face No. 4 Westfield in the regional championship on Wednesday.

Brenna Bailey fell for the first time all season at the No. 1 singles position to Elizabeth Bamidele. Bailey had not lost a set on the year prior to Bamidele’s 6-1 win in the first set. The JCHS senior quickly responded with a 7-5 victory, but couldn't complete the comeback in the third as she fell 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. Bailey finished the season with a 15-1 record.

Between the other four positions, Jay County (9-8) only managed to win two games combined.

One of those games came from Meredith Dirksen in the No. 2 singles position as she fell 6-0, 6-1 to Brylee Beckley.

Lilly Johnson claimed the other game in the No. 3 singles match that she lost to Olivia Marshall 6-0, 6-1.

The JCHS doubles teams were swept 6-0, 6-0. Faith Faulkner and Raylah Newton dropped the No. 1 doubles match to Kate Manor and Kelsey Vest, while Gretchen Link and Sophia Sprunger fell to Alexa Bratton and Rowan Hinds.

Griffin leads

DECATUR and WINCHESTER — Tucker Griffin led the way for the Jay County boys golf team at the Allen County Athletic Conference meet on Saturday at Crosscreek Golf Course and shot the low in Tuesday’s match against Randolph Southern, in which the Rebels only had three golfers and didn’t qualify for a team score.

The Patriots shot a 340 to finish fifth at the ACAC meet, while Bluffton claimed the conference title.

Griffin led the Patriots with a score of 87. Isaac Homan followed with a 93, while Cody DeHoff and Dawson Goldsworthy each carded 95s to round out the team scoring. Griffin Byrum’s 97 didn’t affect the final.

Griffin took home match medalist honors on Tuesday with a round of 38 that included three birdies, a par and five bogeys.

DeHoff shot a 41 with a highlight on hole No. 2 as he eagled the par-5.

Byrum and Goldsworthy put up scores of 43 and 44. Had RSHS fielded a full team, Jay County’s team score would have been 166.

Homan also shot a 48 on the day.

Cavanaugh powers

Masonic Lodge and PG14 picked up a pair of wins in Portland Junior League Willie Mays baseball on Tuesday.

The offense flowed for Masonic Lodge as it beat Southern Thunder 19-6.

Emerson Cavanaugh led the way with four RBIs on two singles and a home run. Brantey Robinson also sent a ball out the park in the game. Khoden Bentz and Easton Steed followed Cavanaugh’s efforts with three RBIs apiece on three doubles and one triple combined.

Calvin Minch went 2-for-2 for Southern Thunder with two runs scored and an RBI.

PG14 beat Lions Club 6-4. Corbin Brown, Liam Ridenour and Trey Hirschy all drove in a run for PG14. Brown hit a triple, while Ridenour and Hirschy pushed runs across the plate with singles.

Hunter Hamilton and Kasen Rowles led Lions Club with RBI singles.

Local 1620 splits

Local 1620 split a pair of Portland Junior League Sandy Koufax baseball games on Tuesday, beating Optimist 8-5 and falling to Loys 12-7.

The Local 1620’s victory, Alex Huntsman, Conner Richman and Koltyn Garringer all had two RBIs. Huntsman drove in his runs on a home run and a single, Richman had a double and a single and Garringer had two base hits.

Rayden Sollars led Optimist’s efforts with a home run and a single to drive three runs in.

Loys was led by Cooper Reynolds, who drove in three runs with a double. Sam Wiggins also had a strong performance with two RBIs on two singles. He also earned the win by pitching four innings and striking out 10 batters.

Offense dominates

Williams Auto Parts collected 22 hits against Patriot Auto in a 15-5 victory during Portland Junior League Rookie baseball play on Tuesday.

Carson Dailey and Thobe Keller led the way for Williams Auto Parts by going 4-for-4 from the plate. The duo combined for three RBIs and two runs scored.

Brett Huntsman, Boone Locke and Zander Williams all followed with three hits apiece. Huntsman provided a third of the scoring as he drove in five runs on a home run, a triple and a single.

Cage Reynolds and Ricky Heitkamp had the strongest performances for Patriot Auto. Reynolds slashed a pair of doubles, driving in one run and scoring two himself. Heitkamp had a single and a triple, leading to one run scored.