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BASEBALL SECTIONAL: Eagles top Cloverdale 8-1, fall 3-1 to No. 7 Wildca
BAINBRIDGE — South Putnam both started and ended its baseball season with losses to South Vermillion this year.
The Eagles won just six games between a 9-3 loss on April 5 and Thursday evening’s 3-1 defeat to Class 2A’s No. 7-ranked team — but the improvement the team showed has coach Brady Rhodes excited about his program’s future.
“Obviously we are disappointed we lost, but I felt we played a very solids game with only a few things that didn’t go our way,” Rhodes said. “Some of those things were out of our control, but the items we could control, we did a good job at managing and pushing through.”
South Vermillion got single runs in the first, third and fifth innings as the Wildcats took a 3-0 lead behind starter and winner Cooper Terry — son of SV head coach Tim Terry.
Connor VanLannen came on in relief for the final two innings.
South Putnam got on the board in the top of the sixth inning as Devin Cashion had an RBI single that scored Tanner Pistelli.
Cashion, Pistelli and Brandon Demoret had singles for the only Eagle hits.
Demoret, a sophomore, pitched the first five innings for the Eagles and allowed just three hits. Crum pitched the sixth inning in relief.
“I’m exceptionally proud of our seniors,” Rhodes said. “Nick Perry was always ready when we needed him this season, Nick Duggan was a vital part of strategy and game-planning while manning our stats.
“Hunter Croan, who strained a muscle in his arm, worked hard with our excellent athletic trainer [Jed Arseneau] to get back in shape to play Thursday night, and the leadership from our captain Dylan Crum was vital all season long. All of these seniors will be missed.”
The Eagles will return eight of 10 starters from Thursday’s lineup, with many of them having at least two years left in their careers.
“Lastly I have to thank my varsity assistant [Dave Wood] for everything he has done for our team,” Rhodes said. “Dave and I have a good rapport and I’ve loved coaching with him. Our JV coach [Brandon Kinnaird] has also been a great support to our varsity team the past two seasons as well.”
South Putnam 000 001 0 — 1 3 0
South Vermillion 101 010 x — 3 4 1
WP — Terry. LP — Demoret.
In other sectional action:
• South Putnam 8, Cloverdale 1 — On Wednesday, the Eagles got a one-hit pitching performance from sophomore Jackson Wood in winning the sectional opener.
The Eagles got on the board in the top of the first inning as Wood singled to drive home Tanner Pistelli, who had reached on an fielder’s choice and advance on an error.
Cloverdale tied the game in the second as Tyce Jackson reached on an error, stole second and came home on two groundouts.
The Eagles broke the game open in the top of the fourth with five runs. Wood led off with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Devin Cashion and Trey Long walked with one out, and Hayden Switzer singled to score Cashion.
Dylan Crum then singled to score Switzer. Aiden LeBlanc then singled and came home on a Pistelli single.
South Putnam added two insurance runs in the seventh as Pistelli singled and scored on a Demoret double. Wood followed with another single to bring home Demoret with the game’s final run.
Wood allowed just a fourth-inning double to Jackson and walked just one Clover batter. He struck out nine hitters.
“Jackson had an excellent pitching performance,” South Putnam coach Brady Rhodes said. “I was really pleased. He’s been working hard all season to get all of his different pitches under control, and he threw pretty much every pitch he has — including the knuckleball — with command.”
Rhodes quickly gave a lot of credit to junior catcher Aiden LeBlanc for his role in the pitching gem.
“Aiden called nearly a perfect game,” Rhodes said. “He’s a very cerebral catcher. Cloverdale is a team we have played several times over the past couple of years, so Aiden knows what they can hit and not hit. He also did a fantastic job of framing pitches behind the plate.”
The Eagles got 12 hits off three Clover pitchers, with six different batters getting at least one hit.
“We hit the ball well from the top to the bottom of the order,” Rhodes said. “We had a little trouble with [Clover pitcher] Parker Watts’ velocity in the county tournament, so for the last week we’ve been working on having shorter and more compact swings and allow the velocity to do the work. He’s an excellent pitcher, and we’ll have to be ready again when we face him next year.”
The Eagles played well over the final two weeks of the season after having a tough run through the Western Indiana Conference season.
“What we are seeing now in the later portion of the season is a lot of that youth we have developed and matured over the year,” he said. “Us staying mentally focused through that part of the season will help us throughout the sectional.”
• Monrovia 9, North Putnam 2 — The Bulldogs advanced to Monday’s sectional championship game with a win over the Cougars.
Monrovia scored two runs in the bottom of the third, but North Putnam cut the deficit in half with a single run in the top of the fifth inning.
Nick Huff started the rally with a single, stole second and came home on a single by Cole Shoemaker.
Monrovia scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to regain control, and added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
North Putnam did not give up, adding a run in the top of the seventh inning.
Huff walked, went to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a groundout and scored on another Shoemaker single.
North Putnam 000 010 1 — 2 4 1
Monrovia 002 034 x — 9 7 1
WP — Caplinger. LP — Rader.
• Danville 12, Greencastle 0 — At Danville, the Warriors scored in every inning of the five-inning game shortened by the 10-run rule, and saw their pitchers record 14 of 15 outs by strikeouts.
Abe Wade had a pair of singles for the only Greencastle hits.
Danville 234 21 — 12 16 0
Greencastle 000 00 — 0 2 2
WP — Wynn. LP — Sutherlin.
Baseball sectional schedules, results
Class 3A at Danville
Wednesday
Danville 12, Greencastle 0
Brebeuf Jesuit 14, Indianapolis Northwest 2
Monday
10 a.m. — Danville (16-11) vs. Brebeuf Jesuit (9-16)
Noon — Cardinal Ritter (17-7) vs. Tri-West (18-6)
7 p.m. — Championship game
Class 2A at North Putnam
Wednesday
South Putnam 8, Cloverdale 1
South Vermillion 9, Fountain Central 1
Thursday
South Vermillion 3, South Putnam 1
Monrovia 9, North Putnam 2
Monday
1 p.m. — South Vermillion (25-2) vs. Monrovia (15-11) in championship game