Tiger Cubs fall to Mustangs in six innings

Friday, April 10, 2009
Greencastle freshman Sierra Patterson sends a blast to right field during Thursday's contest with Edgewood. Patterson's home run capped a four run fifth inning for the Tiger Cubs.

If only softball games began in the fourth inning. For the second consecutive night, the Tiger Cubs started slow, but found their stride in the waning moments of the game. Greencastle fell to the Edgewood Mustangs 15-5 Wednesday.

Despite the loss, GHS outscored the Mustangs 5-2 after the fourth inning, showing an inkling of what the future holds for the GHS program. In addition to the slow start, the Tiger Cubs committed five errors on the night, but head coach Robin Knapp remains optimistic. She's seeing flashes of what the team is capable of and knows it's just a matter of time.

"I think one of the biggest challenges this season is trying to find that cohesiveness and just getting everyone to play at the same time," Knapp said. "We'll have a great play here, a great play there; but until everyone can kind of contribute back-to-back, it's hard to get those stretches.

"We are seeing some glimpses of their potential and what they can evolve into. We had 20-some-odd warm-up games before sectional, that's how were taking it -- baby steps. It will be fun to see where we're at in a few weeks," she added.

The Tiger Cubs entered the fifth inning trailing 13-1. Senior Cassie Alspaugh got things moving as she smacked a double to the center field wall. Two batters later, freshman Taylor Pruitt collected a double of her own. Alspaugh and Kayla Nobles crossed the plate to make the score 13-3 and the Tiger Cubs needed on run to continue to game.

With Pruitt sitting at second, the showdown came down to fellow freshman Sierra Patterson and Edgewood pitcher Ashley Miller. On Miller's second offering, Patterson turned on the ball and sent a shot careening over the right field fence to give GHS another inning of play.

Unfortunately, the Mustangs added two more runs to take the win.

GHS short stop Taylor Pruitt eyes her throw to first base during Thursday's game against Edgewood.

Knapp continued to reemphasize that the team is on the cusp, but that work still remains. She noted that she wants the nine individuals to become one team. Once that happens, Knapp thinks things will take care of themselves.

Greencastle has suffered three losses in two days, but the Tiger Cubs refuse to focus on the negative. They see what they need to address for future success and made steps in that direction with their talk after the contest.

"We always take away the good parts of the game and what we can take away and build upon. Tonight there was definitely some improvement," Knapp commented. "For them to be down and still produce runs and make the plays, that's definitely an improvement. Like I said, it's a baby step.

"We don't want to take away from our good things, but we just want to always keep our eyes focused on what's ahead," Knapp concluded.

Greencastle will travel to Eminence at 11 a.m. Saturday.

At Greencastle

Edgewood 601 602 -- 15 11 2

Greencastle 000 140 -- 5 5 5

WP -- Ernst

LP -- Downing

HR -- Patterson (GHS)

3B -- Beasley (E)

2B -- Pruitt (GHS), Alspaugh (GHS)

Next game -- Greencastle will travel to Eminence at 11 a.m. Saturday.