Jay County and Bluffton are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2015, but likely not for long. The Patriots will welcome the Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Jay County barely beat South Adams the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Patriots' pitcher stepped up to hand the Starfires an 11-0 shutout on Tuesday. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since May 14, 2019, but that streak is no more.
Not much got past Zedrian Vazquez, who gave up just a hit and racked up seven Ks to keep South Adams off the board. Vazquez has become a key player for Jay County: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most two hits, but 3-7 otherwise.
Leighton Brown
| 05/06/25 @ South Adams | 4 |
| 04/28/25 vs Monroe Central | 1 |
| 04/12/25 @ Mississinewa | 1 |
| 05/24/24 vs New Castle | 1 |
| 05/16/24 vs Bellmont | 1 |
On the hitting side, Leighton Brown was incredible, getting on base in all five of his plate appearances with four RBI and one run. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Joesph Geesaman was another key player, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs.
Jay County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .585. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bluffton). They put the hurt on Adams Central with a sharp 19-0 victory on Tuesday. Considering the Tigers have won seven matchups by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Griffin Morgan was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. He has been consistent: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with six RBI and one double.
In other batting news, Xzavier Driscoll and Abram Gehrett did most of the damage at the plate: Driscoll went a perfect 1-for-1 with two stolen bases and three runs, while Gehrett went 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Zane Betz, who earned two RBI and three runs.
Bluffton has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Jay County, their victory bumped their record up to 5-8.
