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Softball Previews: Greencastle looks to complete county control; North Putnam aims to break Tiger Cub hold on county while eying WIC
If you needed a little excitement in your life, being at a Greencastle softball game in 2022 was just the tonic you needed.
The Tiger Cubs only played in one game in which both teams scored less than 10 total runs and 18 games where at least one team hit double digits.
Along the way, Greencastle won its first Putnam County Tournament title in over a decade and reached a sectional final as well, despite a 12-15 record and a 3-7 mark in WIC play.
Despite the topsy-turvy nature of the previous campaign, Tiger Cub head coach Amy Coons said the squad was itching to get on the field.
“The girls are jumping right in, especially those that just got done with travel seasons,” Coons said. “They’re really excited.
“We only lost Raigan Chavez, as far as seniors, and lost a pitcher but gained one. We’ll be alright in that department. The girls are ready to go and they’ve said they’re ready to play right now, though this is the longest we’ve ever gone without playing a game.”
Greencastle returns a strong core of seniors between recent college commits Sidney Lantzy, Emma Hunter and Elise Lausee, all of whom Coons said were no stranger to handling duties behind the dish, along with Kenzie Epley and Olivia Richardville.
“Elise and Sidney both catch on their travel teams and are really high-level catchers,” Coons noted. “I have no doubts they can switch back-and-forth between catching and third base.
“Emma Hunter can also catch and does so on her travel team, so all three of my college commits can catch and are good leaders.”
Junior Allie Beaman returns as do sophomores Emma West and Haley Iseman, giving the Tiger Cubs a mix of experience all across the diamond while senior Gloria Brewer will lend a hand in the infield.
“We had Emma West and Elise at first base a lot but Gloria will take that first base role, which fits her very nicely,” Coons said. “Haley Iseman will play second some and will switch with Allie Beaman there and the outfield.
“Kenzie Epley is perfect out in center field while Olivia Richardville will be in left field with Emma West, who can play anywhere we put her.”
Sophomore Promise Williams returns while freshmen Ali Hassler, Makenzie Creviston and Hayley Owens will dress early on, the former of the trio adding a jolt to the pitching staff.
Additional freshmen in the squad include Grace Pilkin-Little, Isabel Hatfield, Kyler Rumley, Skye Bean, Hailey Fortner, Danica Overshiner, Lilly Franklin, Gracie Means and Shylynn Wather.
“Ali Hassler will step into a pitching role this year,” Coons said. “She has a lot of pitches, they move well and she throws the ball well.
“We have 12 or 13 freshmen this year, which is crazy; we only had three freshmen last year. We’ll have a couple of others that will dress and help us out in the outfield and running as they have a lot of speed.”
The need for consistency on the defensive side will be important for continued growth as Greencastle gave up double-digit runs in 11 games in 2022, an area Coons said the squad should be better in this season.
“Games like the one against North Central are the kinds we need to get rid of,” Coons said, the Tiger Cubs having lost to the Thunderbirds 20-19. “Our pitching should be more consistent this year.
“It won’t be a problem for us scoring runs because our offense will be killer like it was last year. We should have a little more reliability to go with it.”
With a chance to run the table against county opposition for the entire 2022-23 school year, Coons said the biggest thing the team needed to be able to handle was their own emotions as, if they could keep things in check, the 2023 season could be one to remember at Greencastle.
“I hope the kids can keep a cool head as several of the girls have a lot of fire in them,” Coons said. “We know the other county teams will be coming for us.
“We beat South Putnam three times last year and it’s hard to do that. We beat Cloverdale a couple of times and while North Putnam got us once, we won the county tournament meeting.
“We know those teams will be strong so we need to be level-headed,” Coons added. “Nobody wants to be the team that loses the Paddle and that’s our main goal this season.
“It took us 14 years to win the county title and we don’t want to have to have that streak happen again.”
North Putnam
The Cougars put together one of their best seasons in a decade in 2022, going 18-8 and 8-2 in WIC play, finishing as runner-up in the conference behind Sullivan.
But with no titles to go along with it, North Putnam head coach Kerry Rousey said the campaign felt a little empty in the end.
“We just want to win something,” Rousey said. “We had a good record last year but no hardware to back it up.
“The county title is on our radar but Putnam County has four solid teams and it’s not an easy tournament to win; we took it for granted last year and Greencastle beat us. Finishing second in the conference also gave us a taste of winning, so why not want to win it all?”
The Cougars will be far younger than a season ago with three mainstays in county player of the year Grace Kinkead, Ashley Weir and Kyla Willis, along with Mia Crafton, having graduated.
A smaller lineup will still have plenty of power to spare according to Rousey.
“We’ve looked good,” Rousey said about early season practices. “We probably won’t have as much depth off the bench but our core nine will be pretty solid overall.”
Seniors Kyndal Brewer and Karyssa Miller will handle the bulk of the pitching duties once again with Brewer throwing 75 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA last season and Miller hurling 56 2/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA.
Other returners in Briley Schmitz, Emma Williams and Ashlynn Stacks give North Putnam an experienced infield core to work around while Lexi Daigle will move to center field and Kylie Rust returns after missing last season with a shoulder injury.
The rest of the squad contains junior Morgan Mason, sophomores Mackenzie Mason and Haley McConnell and freshmen Hailee Daigle, Kaylynn Lawrence, Bailee Pride, Camryn Riggle and Maelyn Gibbs.
“Kyndal and Karyssa are our main two pitchers while Camryn Riggle, a freshman, will get JV time in and some time in the varsity circle,” Rousey said. “Kyndal and Karyssa will play first when the other is in the circle.
“We’ll be tough up the middle. Brilye will move to shortstop while Ashlynn is at second base. We have four seniors and three of them are up the middle with Emma at the dish.
“Lexi will be in center while Camryn is in right field and Bailee Pride is in left field,” Rousey added. “We also get a player back from injury last year in Kylie. She’s still a little bit hurt but it’s a last hurrah and she’s the kind of player that will run through a wall for you.”
North Putnam will get a solid first week of play in before key outings begin with Sullivan arriving on April 12, the Putnam County Tournament on April 15 and back-to-back outings against West Vigo and South Putnam on April 17 and 18.
Rousey said the squad wanted to continue to build off last year’s results this season but had to be ready for teams to come at them with their full arsenal at the ready.
“We probably still have a target on our backs,” Rousey said. “We have a goal of winning the conference.
“Sullivan graduated a few players and maybe this is a year to overtake them but we’ve also got teams like Greencastle and West Vigo beating down the door on us. It’s a big conference and not easy to win as there’s 10 games to play and you have to be on your A-game every day.
“We had two bad outings last year, one against Sullivan and other against South Vermillion in the sectional that we want back,” Rousey added. “Sectional wasn’t in our vocabulary a couple of years ago, now it’s in our sentences.
“We want to be peaking in May and make a run but it’s a tough sectional other there with South Vermillion and Southmont back in it. The kids just have to believe in it.”