Tiger Cubs beat Eagles in county softball matchup

Eagles' Brooke Cundiff took the loss against the Greenastle on Monday. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

Sometimes, a bit of a helping hand is all a team needs to finally make a breakthrough.

Greencastle's softball squad had chances in the first four innings to score but needed an assist from South Putnam to finally push runs home in the sixth and seventh innings for a 6-4 win.

Tiger Cub head coach Dave Keller said that the game was sliding toward a repeat of other results but the squad kept plugging away and got their rewards.

"This one felt like it was going to go the same way the last two weeks have gone for us," Keller said. "Friday at Riverton Parke, we batted through our lineup four times and scored one run.

"We left 13 people on base and started thinking, 'Here we go again.' But we kept looking at the scoreboard and thought we had a couple of innings left and once we got that first run, we capitalized on the opportunity."

South Putnam head coach Roshia Sullivan felt that the squad was in a good position to get the victory but one moment in the game halted everything.

"I thought we came out strong," Sullivan said. "We let one bad play or bad call turn into multiple errors that hurt us at the end."

The hosts opened the scoring after Brooke Cundiff led off the bottom of the first with a triple and came in two batters later on Katie Hewitt's double.

Neither side capitalized on opportunities in the second or third innings after both squads had runners in scoring position, leaving the score at 1-0 until the fourth inning.

Makenzi Myers singled and swiped a pair of bases before scoring on Katie McHugh's sac fly.

Myers returned an inning later with a double that drove in Hewitt after the shortstop was hit by a pitch to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead entering the sixth inning.

Kenlee Johnson singled and later scored on a passed ball from Cundiff. Grace Paul, Regan Keller and Skyler Hensley all singled to follow, with Hensley's hit getting Paul home to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Having looked shaky in the sixth inning, the Eagle defense imploded in the seventh inning after an opening error helped Delanie Stoltey to reach base.

Courtney Adams walked and Danielle Thomas reached on an error. A double whammy of a passed ball and throwing error allowed Stoltey and Adams to score to give Greencastle a 4-3 lead.

Johnson laid down a bunt that scored Thomas and a single by Hensley later in the inning gave the Tiger Cubs some breathing space and a 6-3 lead to protect going into the bottom of the inning.

Sullivan said the Eagles needed to mentally overcome that sequence but didn't have the time to do so.

"It's important that we let that play go and buckle down from there on out," Sullivan said. "If we can't, we saw what can happen by turning one call into four errors.

"I think we could have taken the game if we get past that play. We just couldn't let it go even though we had the last at-bat and had a chance to make something happen."

Hewitt scored in the bottom of the inning but the emotional toll of the prior two innings weighed too much on the hosts and a rally never materialized, allowing Greencastle to take the first game of the series.

Keller said that getting any win was important and to do so over South Putnam was special in its own right.

"The girls needed to feel a win again," Keller said. "Whether it was good, ugly, with few hits or a lot of hits, they needed to win again.

"Brooke (Cundiff) pitched a good game for South Putnam and is a great hitter. We haven't beaten them in a long time, so that's good for us.

"They have a good batting lineup, especially batters one through five," Keller added. "We kept their bottom half in check but they're scary at the top of the order."

After rain washed out Tuesday's game at Greencastle, the sides will meet Wednesday and Keller said it was another chance to move in the right direction toward the end of the season.

"We've had some rough times the last eight to 10 days but we keep telling them it will pay off if they just keep fighting," Keller said. "Maybe this is what we needed.

"The valleys have been low at times but that makes reaching the peak all the more fun. We're not at the peak yet but we took a big step toward that and I'm proud for the girls tonight."

Greencastle next hosts South Putnam Wednesday.

At South Putnam

WP -- Hensley

LP -- Cundiff

3B -- Cundiff (SP)

2B -- Adams, Hensley (G); Hewitt, Myers (SP)