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Tiger Cubs pounce on visiting Mounties
The skies above may have looked ominous but a shining week for Greencastle's baseball team wasn't about to be dampened by a little wet weather.
Landon Miller pitched seven strong innings and a six-run burst in the fourth inning was enough for the Tiger Cubs (4-8) to beat visiting Southmont 6-4.
Greencastle head coach Troy Remsburg said that the squad was hampered by its own mistakes but made their opportunities count.
"Other than a few of our running mistakes today, a couple of mental errors in the field and struggling at the plate at times, we did what we needed to do," Remsburg said. "Maybe they had some other things on their minds at times.
"The team just does not give up. We had some running mistakes in the first inning that hurt us. The one at home really took us out of the fourth inning."
While the hosts had promising starts to both the first and second inning, it was the Mounties that took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning.
A walk to Hunter Jones set up an RBI single by Hunter Isenberg two batters later to get the visitors on the scoreboard first.
Southmont put the pressure on the Tiger Cubs in the top half of the fourth inning after a pair of errors allowed the first two batters on base, Jones singled to double the Mounties' advantage.
A single by Derek White increased the lead before Miller coaxed a pair of groundouts to end the top half of the inning.
Having been gifted a pair of errors, Southmont returned the favor by allowing Cole Pohlar and Miller to reach on errors to start the bottom of the inning.
Brandon Gierke scored Pohlar on a single for the first Tiger Cubs' run of the inning and, after Alec Pettit walked to load the bases, Nick Gilliam drove home to with a single to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Brent Mangrum plated two more runs with a single to give the hosts a 5-4 lead. Seth Brown hammered another hit to score Mangrum and with no outs, Greencastle had built a 6-4 lead.
Brown, however, was involved in a close play at home plate later in the inning that saw the left fielder ejected for arguing at home plate.
The incident was one that might have derailed the Tiger Cubs, but Remsburg said the squad handled the adversity well.
"It may not have as much of an effect on the team today as may have on Monday as Brown can't play," Remsburg said. "He was likely to start on Monday, so we'll have to move him back to Tuesday.
"It didn't hurt us mentally as much as it knocked the momentum out of us. We could have scored three more runs that inning.
"It did show that they're going to go to bat for each other," Remsburg added. "If someone can't play, someone else is ready to step up in their place and we're pretty deep as a team."
The runs held up for the hosts as Miller cruised through innings five and six before running into trouble in the seventh.
An error and a hit batter breathed life into Southmont, but the Mounties' attempts at small ball ended in the glove of Miller, who caught one bunt and secured a second out on a sac bunt on back-to-back pitches.
A lazy fly ball to centerfield was caught by Tyler Scott to secure Greencastle's first winning streak of the season and a 3-1 week overall.
Remsburg said that Miller's attitude was as important as he work on the mound.
"Landon pitched good enough to win," Remsburg said. "I asked him about the seventh inning and he said, 'This is mine.' He was hungry and he wanted to win that game and pitched very well."
The Tiger Cubs will have a chance to extend their win streak as they resume West Central Conference play this week against South Putnam before playing Edgewood on Thursday and the Putnam County Tournament Saturday.
Remsburg said the squad had the motivation to make it a big week.
"They're ready for the upcoming week," Remsburg said. "They're ready for South Putnam Monday and Tuesday and they're really hungry for the County Tournament.
"We've heard some comments from others around the county about our play and that's fired these boys up. They're going to be ready for Monday, Tuesday, Edgewood on Thursday and Saturday.
"We're starting to get on a roll and they're starting to come along."
At Greencastle
Southmont.....................010 300 0 -- 4 4 2
Greencastle....................000 600 X -- 6 8 3
WP -- Miller (1-1)
LP -- Jent
2B -- Nicholson
Next Game: Greencastle travels to South Putnam Monday.