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Eagles having breakout season
Cubs hoping for similar successes
A popular axiom to test the toughness of any team or individual is that “it’s not how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up.”
South Putnam started the high school baseball season by winning its first six games, before being knocked off in the first round of the Putnam County tournament by North Putnam on Saturday.
The Eagles then suffered a 13-2 setback to Monrovia on Monday, before getting back up off the ground to record a pair of wins over Greencastle earlier this week — already eclipsing last year’s win total with an 8-2 mark.
“I am so proud of the way our team has performed thus far this season,” South Putnam coach Brady Rhodes said after his team’s 5-2 win over the Tiger Cubs on Tuesday. “We are just playing great baseball right now and our guys are doing it as a team. Our chemistry is great and we are playing the mental side of the game with impressive focus for the age of our team.”
The Eagles had defeated North Putnam twice during the first full week of the season.
“Putting two wins up against two county schools is a great accomplishment for our program,” Rhodes said. “Doing it the way these young men have with focus and sportsmanship makes it all the more sweet. I’m just really pleased at this point in the season.”
On Tuesday, the Eagles got three runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the top of the fifth.
Greencastle rallied late with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t come all the way back.
“I was very pleased with the team’s effort,” Rhodes said. “It was a big positive for us to bounce back from our recent loss with a big win against a quality county opponent. I was particularly pleased with the effort on the mound from Kody Britton, who held the Tiger Cubs scoreless through 5 2/3 innings.
“It’s says a lot about the mental toughness of our ball club to be able to battle through a couple tough losses and come out on top in a big conference game like this.”
Greencastle’s Ben Wells was pleased with the overall play of his team, and thought the Tiger Cubs dug a big hole for themselves by allowing three first-inning runs.
“Overall we played a pretty decent game, but we continue to keep digging holes for ourselves early,” he said. “Defensively we made a lot of plays for our pitchers. We made a few errors but we did a good job of not letting them come back and hurt us. Offensively we hit the ball pretty hard all day. There were three or four times we crushed it but it was just right at someone.”
The Tiger Cubs were able to get baserunners, leaving 10 of them stranded, and Wells hopes the timely hits will start coming soon.
“Sooner or later we are going to start catching some breaks and those will start falling in,” he said. “We made a couple of bad base running mistakes, and we just could not come up with clutch hits when we needed them.”
Aiden LeBlanc had a single and two RBI for the Eagles, while Britton and Lance Bush each added a single and an RBI and Kyle Hall scored two runs.
Jackie Scanland had a double, triple and two RBI to pace Greencastle at the plate, while Gus Manion added a single and an RBI.
Wednesday’s game was the fifth in six days for both teams and saw the Eagles get four in the second to take command early and five more in the fourth to break the game open. They ended the contest on the 10-run rule with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“I have to commend the pitching performance by Hunter Croan and Dylan Crum,” Rhodes said. “Both of them came in against a county rival and pitched a great game. Additionally, Lance Bush continues to be a force at the plate as a freshman.”
Bush is one of many young Eagles helping carry the Eagles, ripping a home run and two singles with two RBI and two runs scored.
Dylan Wood had a double and four RBI, while Jackson Wood and Britton each had a single and an RBI.
Wells, in his first year as Greencastle’s head coach is patiently awaiting the time when his team will have its breakout.
“Although the scores aren’t coming out the way we want them, I am actually very pleased with how our team is playing for the most part,” he said. “We have been solid defensively, and have been making consistent contact. Where we are really hurting ourselves is not coming up with big hits in timely situations.”
Wells’ team is one of many who find a shortage of pitching with so many games in such a short period of time.
“We are relying on a lot of young guys, and we have quite a few with some injuries that they are dealing with,” he said. “Hopefully as the season progresses their arms will come around and we can develop some consistent rotations. Mainly, guys are really staying positive and playing hard and playing the game the right way for the entirety of the game which is what makes me and the coaching staff very happy.”
Tuesday
South Putnam 300 020 00 — 5 5 0
Greencastle 000 000 2 — 2 6 3
WP — Britton.
Wednesday
Greencastle 002 100 — 3
South Putnam 042 502 — 13
WP — Croan.