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Tiger Cubs split county softball matchups
Greencastle defeats NP, falls to Eagles
County rivalry games are always fun to be a part of, and the South Putnam Eagles and the Greencastle Tiger Cubs squared off Thursday night in high school softball and gave the crowd their money's worth as the Eagles defeated the Tiger Cubs 6-4.
The teams had similar stat sheets and played a close game throughout. The Eagles amassed 11 hits, while the Tiger Cubs answered with nine base knocks. The teams combined for just three errors, but the Eagles had a couple of well-placed hits at the right time to pick up the win.
"They hit the holes when they hit it, so they were able to beat us. We struggled hitting tonight, we were hitting it right at them. I thought South played real well defensively," Greencastle coach Tabatha Briones said.
The Eagles jumped on the scoreboard early, as Grace Carr drilled a 2-run single to right to score Logan Hawkins and Drew Bratcher in the top of the first inning. Greencastle chipped away by scoring one in the bottom half of the inning, as Brynn Shuee had an RBI groundout to score Julia Mundy.
Greencastle put together a big three-run inning in the bottom of the second, using a Gracie Foster double, a single, a walk and a hit batsman to score the three runs and take a 4-2 lead.
Skyler Hensley's two-run bloop single put Greencastle ahead.
The Eagles, who have made a habit of coming from behind this year, roared back in the top of the fourth inning.
South used a Tiger Cub error, a walk, a Lily Stein double and two singles in the inning to take a 5-4 lead. Sydney Jackman had an RBI single and Makenzi Carrington added a two-run single.
"I really liked the way we battled. Greencastle came ready to play and I'm real proud of the girls. I liked how we put the ball in play," South Putnam coach Jamie Steffy said.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the seventh on a Katie Hewitt RBI double.
It looked like the Eagles were going to need that run as Greencastle had runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but line drive to center field ended up in a double play giving the Eagles the victory.
Greencastle stranded 10 runners for the game as that key hit just wasn't there during this game.
"We have really worked on not leaving runners on, but didn't do as well tonight. I've got some lineup changes we may make before sectionals on Tuesday," Briones said.
The Tiger Cubs were led by Hensley with three hits, one of them a double, and two RBI. Grace Paul had two doubles for Greencastle.
South's Sydney Jackman had three hits and an RBI, Grace Carr had two singles and two RBI, while Bratcher had a single and a double.
"As banged up as we are, we really did 'play on demand', which is something we talk about. Jaylen Hughbanks never played center field before tonight and we put her in there due to injury. We want to get better and improve every day. I think we are doing that," Steffy said as his team improved to 12-11-1 on the season.
South Putnam 200 300 1 -- 6 11 2
Greencastle 130 000 0 -- 4 9 1
WP -- Jackman. LP -- Hensley. 2B -- Hensley (G), Foster (G), Paul (G) 2, Bratcher (SP), Hewitt (SP)
* Greencastle 10, North Putnam 4 -- Scoring runs in six of seven innings Wednesday in a WIC crossover game, Greencastle cruised to a 10-4 victory over North Putnam for ninth place in the conference.
Seven different Tiger Cubs drove in runs, with Kenlee Johnson collecting three hits, including a double.
Lauren Johnson had a double and an RBI for the Cougars.
Skyler Hensley pitched a complete game for GHS, scattering seven hits and six walks while striking out eight.
Greencastle 321 101 2 -- 10 11 3
North Putnam 001 000 3 -- 4 7 3
WP -- Hensley. LP -- LaPierre. 2B -- Shuee (G), Johnson (G), Johnston (N).
* Cloverdale 7, West Vigo 3 -- Overcoming an early 2-0 deficit, Cloverdale used a five-run fifth to defeat West Vigo 7-3 Thursday night.
Clover coach Jim Spencer was pleased with his team.
"One of our best games of the year on the mound, in the field, and at the plate," Spencer said. "Just a solid all-around performance this entire week by everyone."
Lauren Meek had seven strikeouts while allowing four hits. She also had a pair of singles at the plate.
Kelsey Helterbrand led the attack with a double, a single and two RBI. Kim Winders and Kiley Shedron each had two hits.
West Vigo 200 000 1 -- 3 6 2
Cloverdale 101 050 0 -- 7 12 2
* Middle School results -- Cloverdale Middle School closed the season this week with intra-county wins for both the seventh- and eighth-grade teams.
On Monday, the Clover eighth-grade downed North Putnam 7-2, led by Haley Smith, with a triple, a single and two RBI.
Morgan Goss, Keely Hughes and Kacey Shedron also drove in runs for the Clovers.
On Tuesday, the Clovers traveled to Greencastle where the result was much the same, an 8-2 win for the CMS eighth-grade.
Olivia Johnson led the way with a double, two singles and two batted in. Hughes and Taylor Royse each drove in a pair.
However, the big play came on defense, a 1-3-2-5 triple play. The eighth-grade finished the season 8-1.
The Clover seventh grade closed its 7-2 campaign with a 19-0 win over Greencastle.
Skylynn Lowe led the Clovers with a double, two singles and four RBI.