Cougars use 11-run sixth to get 2-0 with win over Greencastle

North Putnam senior Morgan Hensley ducks under a pitch in the third inning on Tuesday. Hensley hit a key double in the bottom of the sixth to score the go-ahead run. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

ROACHDALE -- In honor of the weather feeling more like football season, the North Putnam has won a pair of baseball games by football scores.

The host Cougars beat Greencastle for the second straight day on Tuesday, 14-9.

NPHS beat Greencastle on Monday night 22-14.

"I'm optimistic because what this team has is, it's got some athletes on it," NPHS coach Phil Webster said. "We're athletic, but are we mentally athletic? Are we mentally tough? Can we make this play at this particular point?"

The Cougars got the win on Tuesday despite committing 10 errors.

While the offense has been there, the defensive lapses made this into a game where neither coach was happy.

"We struggle immensely (on defense)," Webster said. "The interesting thing about baseball is, you don't win baseball games, you lose them. If I were to say to the kids, 'How did you do today?' and they were 3-for-3 but made four errors, they would say they had a good day.

"What we have to convince these kids is that we've got to play defense. That's our philosophy, and all they want to do is hit."

Greencastle opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first off North Putnam senior Kyler Badten.

Badten made pitches, but the Cougars couldn't pick the ball up behind him, allowing Tanner Nicholson to score on an error, then Cole Pohlar on a pass ball. Badten took care of damage himself, striking out two in the inning.

He got into more trouble in the second, again because of errors, but he struck out the side.

Badten finished with 10 strikeouts and earned the save in 6-plus innings.

The Cougars got on the scoreboard in the second, but couldn't sustain a rally off Greencastle starter Seth Brown.

Brown struck out six in five innings.

The sloppy game progressed slowly until the sixth inning. The Tiger Cubs knocked Badten out and scored four runs in the top of the inning. Junior Jordan Nauert came on in relief and picked up a strikeout.

NPHS trailed 9-3 with just two innings left before its offense exploded in the bottom of the sixth.

Eight straight batters scored runs in the 11-run inning, working through three different Greencas-tle pitchers.

Freshman Kyler Jeter, senior Michael Herr-mann and Badten each scored twice in the inning.

Sixteen batters came to the plate, but the Cougars had just four hits. A mixture of walks, errors and hit batsmen doomed the Tiger Cubs fate.

By the end of the inning the team seemed defeated.

"We gave that one away," Greencastle coach Troy Remsburg said. "A couple simple plays and that's still 9-4. We didn't make any simple plays tonight and that's what killed us."

Badten returned for the ninth and struck out two more, allowing Nauert to earn the win.

Senior Jake Haste finished 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two RBI.

North Putnam (2-0) will return to action Thursday when the team hosts Turkey Run at 4:30 p.m.

Greencastle plays at Brown County on Saturday at 11 a.m.

At North Putnam
Greencastle 220 014 0 -- 9
North Putnam 012 00(11) X -- 14