NPHS softball team falls to Rox

ROACHDALE--A North Putnam Cougar softball team took on a tough Rockville Rox team and fell short in six innings 14-4.

"We didn't start Sabrina (Surber) tonight," Coach Benny Ault said. "We wanted to see what some of our younger pitchers could do. "

After falling down 10-0 to the Rox in the third inning assistant coach Chase Hiland and head coach Benny Ault called their team over and told them to start working the count and that they had to score to get back in the game.

"It's all mental," Ault said. "When you get down 9-0 in the first inning you have to battle back with one run here and one run there. You have to start executing with runners on. It's hard to win games with runners on second and third with two outs. We have to put a string of hits together and bat one inning at a time.

The message the Cougars' coaches displayed worked on the first batter, Jazzmin Laffin, who singled. She stole second and senior teammate Morgan Albers hit a standing double over the heads of the outfielders that allowed her to score.

Albers scored as well and freshman Mia Runnels also scored in the inning because of a missed pop fly by Rox outfielder Ashton White off the bat of senior TyeAnn Strow.

The Cougars went into the fourth down 10-3, but that was promising after taking the coaches' advice.

Rockville scored four more runs in the final two innings.

Ault was upset with his team because they committed three errors that led to nine runs. He felt without those errors it would have been a much closer outcome.

"We let nine runs score on three errors where we could have gotten out of some innings," Ault said. "That's a thing we've been dealing with all year, letting extra runs score. I think if you take those nine runs away it's a 4-4 or 5-4 ball game. We've just got to fix those things and as young as we are it will come around."

Rockville is a veteran team with nine juniors and seniors and has had a history of making it far in the post season. This was a good experience to learn from.

"Our record doesn't show what we can prove," Ault said. "We lost a double header to Danville and Edgewood. I want to play the better quality teams because it is going to make us better. There an older team and we're a younger team. That's going to play dividends toward the end of the season."

The night was not all frowns for this Cougar team especially for sophomore Bronwyn Spencer. She hit her first career home run in the sixth inning to cut the lead to ten. Coach Ault said it was one of the farthest hit balls that he had seen.

"Anytime you get your first home run, it's huge," Ault said. "That was the hardest hit home run I think I've ever seen. She has the power to do and I keep telling her that she just has to work on it for when the opportunity comes to take advantage of it."

The Cougars' next game will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at Western Boone High School.

"We've just got to keep swinging," Ault said. "If we just put some string of hits together and hitting the basics we'll be okay."

At North Putnam

Rockville 910 013 X--14

North Putnam 003 001 X--4

WP: Lear (R) LP: Tucker (NP)