The Heritage Patriots’ hopes of winning the ACAC title in 2026 came to an end Thursday night at home as the Jay County Patriots wrapped up a perfect conference campaign for a 6-0 record with an 8-2 victory.
Kade Sommers allowed just two unearned runs and five hits and fell one batter short of a complete game. Aiden Phillips was called on to get the final out after Sommers reached his pitch limit in the seventh.
Heritage ace Beau Stoppenhagen put his spectacular ERA on the line in the matchup of the two Patriots, but it was Jay County who sniffed the first runs early. Only a double play turned by the middle infielders kept JC off the board.
Stoppenhagen got two quick outs in the second, but the game turned when he issued four consecutive walks and then paid for it with a Joe Geesaman single that made it 3-0.
Heritage put pressure on Jay in the bottom of the second, moving runners to second and third with two outs, but Sommers got the fly ball he needed to get out of the inning.
The home team should have found a way to score in the bottom of the fourth, but a nice play by Geesaman saw the first baseman step on first and then throw to second for a double play. Sommers walked the next two batters, but again he got out of the jam with a fly ball.
Jay County scored another run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take the margin all the way to eight runs. Max Mirelez kept the inning from being even bigger with a spectacular catch in right field (see below).
Heritage made a valiant effort in their last at-bats to mount some sort of comeback, but the game ended with the bases loaded, clinching the conference for Jay.
Sommers struck out three in earning the victory. He also drove in two runs with a single. Geesaman drove in three runs with a single and a double. Carter Fugiett had two hits and two walks from the leadoff position.
Five different players had one hit for Heritage, with Garrett Oliver picking up the only extra-base hit, a double.
Eli Rauner gave up four runs in two innings of relief. He gave way to Jaxon Feasby, who threw the final two innings of the game without allowing a run.
The second consecutive loss for the Patriots (both in the ACAC) takes their season record to 14-3. They’ll play Northrop on Friday night before they head into the last week of the regular season to prep for sectional.
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