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Greencastle wins county championship
Suddenly down two runs in what was previously a pitchers' duel, the Greencastle baseball team didn't panic Thursday evening.
Showing the fight their coach has come to expect, the Tiger Cubs clawed out three runs in the bottom of the fifth and held on for a 4-3 victory over North Putnam in the Putnam County Tournament title game.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, Greencastle gave it back and then some with a pair of errors in the top of the fourth, giving the Cougars a 3-1 lead.
Unfazed, the Tiger Cubs returned to the plate, tying the game with run-scoring singles from Noah Cook and Tanner Nicholson before Nicholson scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball.
It was the kind of performance GHS coach Troy Remsburg has come to expect.
"They've been like that all year. They don't get flustered when they get down a couple runs, which is great, " Remsburg said. "I've had teams in the past where we've gotten down a couple of runs and we just shut down. But this team does not."
Tiger Cub starter Trey Scanland and Cougar starter Bobby Scheele were locked in early, with no runs scored through three-and-a-half innings.
GHS drew first blood in the fourth, with a bunt single from Kaleb Fleming and a walk from Nicholson. Scanland then drove in Fleming, giving himself a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars answered in the top of the fifth, putting two men on with a single from Hayden Rudes and an error off the bat of Scheele.
Two runs then scored on a bunt from Jacob Berry, when the throw from Scanland caromed off the glove of catcher Ichiro Mozawa. Rudes scored in a collision play and courtesy runner Max Haste followed after the ball got away.
The Cougars added another one batter later, when Jackson Kendall drove in Berry with a single.
The three runs spelled the end of the night on the mound for Scanland, but reliever Brandon Workman stopped the scoring.
The Tiger Cubs, whose coach says they "love to battle" came right back.
A pair of walks to Workman and Levi Lewis chased starter Scheele, and an error on a pickoff throw to second put men at second and third with no outs.
Cook drove in Workman, and Nicholson followed two batters later to drive in Lewis. Late in the inning, with the bases loaded, Nicholson scored the game winner on a wild pitch.
"They love to battle," Remsburg said. "They never give up."
From there, Workman shut the door. The Cougars scattered four hits over his 2-2/3 innings of work, but could not dent the plate.
The win wraps up a week in which the Tiger Cubs also claimed the WCC title on Monday.
"It gives them more confidence going into sectionals," Remsburg said. "We've had a few struggling games earlier this year and with the county and the conference all just kind of working backwards of what it normally does this week, it made them believe what they can do.
"We've got a pretty young team. For them to be patient with themselves, be patient at the bat and make the plays in the field gives them the confidence to battle in sectionals and be ready to win."
Greencastle travels to Danville on May 27 to take on Indian Creek in the opening round of their Class 3A sectional at 6 p.m. The host Cougars take on Cascade at 6 p.m. May 27 in the opener of their 2A sectional.
At Greencastle
Putnam County Tournament
Championship Game
NP 000 030 0 -- 3 8 1
GHS 000 130 0 -- 4 5 2
Scheele, Haste (5) and Berry; Scanland, Workman (5) and Mozawa.
W: Workman. L: Haste.