DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
If it seems like the Flying Jets haven’t stopped playing baseball all week long, that’s because they haven’t.
Max Byerly made sure there was no more baseball left to play Thursday night when his diving, run-saving catch ended the game and clinched a badly-wanted win for the Jets over South Adams in Monroe, 10-9.
After Adams Central had already walked in a run to make it a one-run game in the top of the seventh, the bases were juiced for Jax Wanner, who could have given the Starfires an improbable victory over their main rivals.
Instead, Jamison Roach got the most important out – the final one – of the game on a 1-1 count.
Thursday’s contest looked to be anything but a one-run game after the first few innings. South Adams could not record an out in the early part of the game and Adams Central built a 5-0 lead in the first, adding another in the second and third. Jax Wanner exited the game without recording an out and was replaced by Kane Sturwold, who went two innings.
Derek Weaver’s entry into the game to pitch turned the momentum of the game in South Adams’ favor. After Wanner and Luke Bauman drew the Stars within two runs, Weaver went the rest of the way for coach Buckingham.
The visitors started the sixth inning down 8-4, but big RBI singles by Haden Meyer and Derek McKean suddenly made the contest a tie ballgame and the rally only reached its end because of a great throw by Reece Hammond to gun down a pinch runner at second base for the third out of the inning.
Cade Van De Weg broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run, two-out single to right, proving eventually to be the winning run.
Ethan Funk ended the game 4-for-4 with a two-run homer in that first-inning rally for Adams Central.
Cade Van De Weg and Max Byerly each had two hits for the Jets.
Wanner, who played just about every position Thursday, was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and four batted in.
Starfire outfielder Sty Pyle walked twice and had a single, then stole two bases and scored three times from the leadoff spot.
The win puts the final ACAC tally for the Jets at 5-1. Bluffton will attempt to win the conference outright against Heritage Tuesday. The Tigers sit at 5-0.
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