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Eagles fall to Edgewood
ELLETTSVILLE-- The South Putnam Eagle softball team traveled to Edgewood on Thursday night to play in a WIC cross-divisional game. The Eagles left their luck at home though as they had runners in scoring position five of seven innings, but were only able to manage one run in a 9-1 loss.
The bad karma started early. In the first inning the Eagles had two runners on and Edgewood dropped a soft pop-up, but confusion over the infield fly rule led to a double play and Edgewood got out of the inning without allowing a run.
Edgewood's powerful offense got the Mustangs off to a good start. They piled up nine hits, including two home runs, in the first two innings to jump out to an 8-0 lead.
"Edgewood is a ranked team in (class) 3A and they are a really good team. They got runners on in the first two innings and got key hits, while we didn't get those hits," South Putnam first-year head coach Jamie Steffy said.
The Eagle run of bad luck reared its head again in the top of the fourth. With two runners on, Edgewood's second basemen, Gracie Parrish made a diving stop on a Logan Hawkins hard-hit ball and rolled over to tag second to end the inning. For the second time in three innings the Eagles couldn't put a runner across from scoring position.
"This is the first time this year we were not able to come up with key hits. We hit the ball hard, but just right at somebody." Steffy said of his team now 3-2-1 on the season.
The Eagle defense settled in after those first two innings and held the Mustangs to just one run over the last four innings. Sydney Jackman and Jaylen Hughbanks only allowed four hits over those last four innings. The defense was solid according to coach Steffy.
"After the second inning we settled in. We played solid defensively, but just couldn't get the hits we needed," Steffy said.
Needing a spark, Mackenzi Myers, tried to give it to the Eagles in the fifth inning. The senior hit a deep fly ball to center. The Mustang center fielder couldn't come up with ball as she crashed into the fence. Myers rounded the bases with an apparent inside-the-park home run, but after much discussion, Myers was sent back to second base as the played was ruled a ground-rule double. The Eagles still couldn't push a run across.
South finally picked up a run in the sixth inning as Grace Carr had an RBI double to plate Drew Bratcher, but the key hit still wasn't there. Steffy was pleased with his team's effort and attitude after the game. "This team is really good at buying in to the team concept. Our players didn't get down, we kept hitting. We just have to get ready to play a tough Cloverdale team in our county tournament on Saturday," Steffy said.
Myers and Carr led the way offensively for the Eagles by each getting two hits on the night. One of Myers' hits was a double, Bratcher also doubled for South Putnam. Lily Stein added a triple on the night.
South Putnam 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -- 1
Edgewood 3 5 0 0 1 0 x -- 9
WP -- Bland (E)
LP -- Myers (SP)
2B - Myers, Bratcher
3B - Stein