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Greencastle pounds Cloverdale in five innings
From the opening pitch, Monday night proved to be a night to forget if you were a Cloverdale Clover. Struggles at the plate, coupled with multiple fielding errors, helped Greencastle defeat the Clovers 14-0 in five innings.
GHS pitcher Kyle Nobles dominated the Clovers, tossing a no-hitter while striking out 11 batters. He struck out eight straight batters over a three-inning stretch. Nobles also helped his own cause by going 2-for-4 at the plate including a double.
"Kyle pitched real well," GHS assistant coach Troy Remsburg said. "It's been awhile since he's pitched that many innings. He's had arm problems that have been bothering him, but he was back to his old self tonight. He had fun tonight."
Greencastle scored two runs in the first inning but erupted for seven in the second. Graham Shuee and Blake Robinson connected on doubles for the Tiger Cubs in the inning. Greencastle collected five doubles on the night.
The frustration continues to mount for Cloverdale in the '08 campaign. With construction on their home field for the entire season, they have had to adjust on the fly and try to find ways to stay competitive.
"I think not having a field has really slowed our progress down," Cloverdale head coach Tim Savini said. "Not being able to work on game situations, even with not having the field, I don't feel like we should be making some of the mistakes we're making.
"It's just frustrating. A lot of the same mistakes we were making at the beginning of the year, we're still making. We're swinging at balls, we're taking strikes and we're not making routine plays. It's just frustrating and it's not a lack of effort on the boys' part, we're just not progressing and learning like we should be," he commented.
Cloverdale went three up and three down at the plate until the fifth inning. Nobles walked Justin Burdette and Jeff Dale to start the fifth but struck out the next two batters, Bryce Tomlinson and Lee Secrest. The game ended when Nolan Dorsett smacked a ball back to the Nobles who tossed to first for the out.
"I think we played good on Saturday, but we got ourselves in a hole and couldn't come back," Remsburg said. "Today, we did some things we needed to do all year. We're starting to get there. We're a young team.
"I think we hit the ball pretty well tonight. (Link) Lovins pitched pretty well tonight. Slower than what we're used to, but they adjusted well. That's something we've struggled with all year is adjusting to slower pitchers and curve balls. They did better tonight at that. I give them credit for that," Remsburg commented.
With just two weeks before sectional play begins, both Greencastle and Cloverdale are looking to build some momentum entering tournament play.
"There's no place to go but up," Savini explained. "We have two weeks left; the coaching staff isn't going to quit. We're not going to quit coaching; we're not going to quit trying to make these kids better. I'm sure it's tough for the kids. I don't think we have the type of kid that going to pack it up and quit. The kids will keep working.
"Like I said, it's not a lack of effort, but we're not learning quickly enough I guess," he concluded.
Remsburg believes that the GHS squad is finally becoming the team their capable of being.
"They're starting to play together as a team right now coach Greenlee said that too. We started out slow and now we're getting stronger as we go," he said.
Greencastle and the Clovers will do battle again tonight with a 5 p.m. start.
At Greencastle
Cloverdale 000 00 -- 0 0 7
Greencastle 274 1x -- 14 13 2
WP -- Nobles
LP -- Lovins
2B -- Nobles, Bartrum, Robinson, Remsburg, Shuee.
Next game -- Greencastle and the Clovers will do battle again tonight with a 5 p.m. start.