PARKE HERITAGE BASEBALL SECTIONAL FINAL: Cloverdale stuns North Putnam with seventh-inning rally to win sectional

Monday, May 29, 2023 ~ Updated 1:46 PM
Cloverdale staged a seventh-inning rally to stun North Putnam in the final of the Parke Heritage Baseball Sectional Monday night, rallying from a 3-0 deficit as seven-consecutive batters reached base as part of a 4-3 win, claiming the school's first baseball sectional since 1984.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

ROCKVILLE – Sport is a funny thing sometimes.

After four innings of defenses and pitching on top, North Putnam scratched across the first run of the championship game of IHSAA Baseball Class 2A Sectional No. 44, added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh and looked set to add a second sectional title in a week’s time to its trophy case.

And then that funny thing happened.

Nothing looked on when Cloverdale drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh. Then a single and an error put two runners in scoring position.

What happened from there sent one set of fans into a frenzy and the other into a crestfallen heap as the Clovers scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to surprise everyone, most of all the Cougars, with a 4-3 win and a first baseball sectional title since 1984, breaking the longest baseball postseason drought in Putnam County in the process.

“Both pitchers were tremendous tonight,” Cloverdale head coach Charlie Lee said. “Brayden Monnett, he’s tough and he pitched his heart out.

“We finally got to him; we struggled against him all game but we finally got to him. That’s what we needed.

“Layton Allen, I tell you what, he’s pitched some big games this year; he deserves this and his team deserves this,” Lee added. “We didn’t get the hits we needed to in the first few innings but we got them at the end at that’s all that matters. We didn’t quit.”

“Everything we wanted, we had,” North Putnam head coach Chris Geeser said. “We had a multi-run lead, we had our senior on the mound and the best defense we could have on the field with the bottom of (Cloverdale’s) order coming up.

“We couldn’t ask for anything else.”

It was a finish that was far from expectations after Cloverdale missed out on a scoring opportunity back in the first inning.

Drake Hoffa doubled with two outs and moved to third on a Corey Branigan single but Brayden Monnett, starting on the mound for North Putnam, coaxed a fly ball for the third out to end the inning.

Opposite Monnett was Layton Allen, who allowed three singles across the first four innings as the two teams were locked in a defensive struggle.

The first run finally came in the top of the fifth as Ian Patrick, Chase Barber and Kaden Helderman all singled, the latter plating Patrick, for a 1-0 lead.

Monnett got a key out in the fifth after Allen singled and Levi Hilton was intentionally walked, getting Mcguire Lee to fly out left field to end the inning.

“We struggled to get the hits,” coach Lee said about missing another opportunity, though before he could add to the answer, he was the target of a postgame ice bath.

Branigan reached second in the sixth but was left stranded there as the Clovers would have their 7-8-9 hitters to start the bottom of the seventh.

The Cougars put even more pressure on as Jayce Monnett singled, Barber moved him to second with a sac bunt, Brayden Monnett drove the younger Monnett in with a single and a Brogan Woodall single plated the elder Monnett for a 3-0 lead.

Given the game state and the way Brayden Monnett had been pitching, it looked as likely as the first game of the day that North Putnam would be cruising in for a sectional title.

After Allen flew out, Caiden Watts was able to draw a walk from a full count before Landon Duncan singled and the runners moved up on an error on the play, bringing Hilton up with runners on second and third.

Hilton hit deep into the hole between third and short, a ball that couldn’t be played, and Cloverdale was on the board, trailing 3-1 but with the heart of the order coming up.

Hilton broke for second and an error on the throw allowed Duncan to score and Hilton to move to third.

Lee was hit by a pitch and took first before Hoffa hit a grounder too deep into the hole between short and second to be played, allowing Hilton to score and tying the game at 3-3.

With the game suddenly spiraling out of its control, North Putnam lifted Brayden Monnett for Helderman on the mound, trying to get the game into extra innings.

It would not come to pass.

Brannigan hit a grounder to short that skipped through the infield and Lee barreled around third and across home plate, sparking wild celebrations from the Clover dugout while those on the opposite side looked on in disbelief at what had just occurred.

North Putnam finished the season 13-14 with a 4-6 mark in WIC play as well as the Putnam County Baseball Tournament title.

“The Bucket may not be in our possession at the moment but in the record book, we were the 2023 Putnam County champions and that’s the first time since 2017,” Geeser said. “Our seniors helped us get that.

“We’ve had three-straight years of double-digit wins and anyone who sees our schedule, both conference and non-conference, knows that’s not anything that’s given or guaranteed. I wish our seniors had gotten four full years but three years of wins that we got and a Putnam County title with two seniors and a young group is a pretty good goal to have achieved.”

Cloverdale will now turn its attention to Saturday where it will face Covenant Christian, winners of the Cascade Sectional over the host Cadets 5-1, with the regional site and time to be announced this week.

North Putnam 000 010 2 — 3 10 3

Cloverdale 000 000 4 — 4 9 1

WP — Allen 7 IP, 10 H, 3 R (3 ER), 4 K

LP — B. Monnett 6 1/3 IP, 9 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 5 K

2B — B. Monnett; Hoffa, Duncan

RBI — B. Monnett, Helderman, Bro. Woodall; Hilton, Hoffa, Branigan

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  • Congrats Cloverdale!

    -- Posted by smartmom on Tue, May 30, 2023, at 7:24 AM
  • Huge congratulations to Cloverdale!

    -- Posted by kbmom on Tue, May 30, 2023, at 8:35 AM
  • Great article Trent Scott!

    -Mom

    -- Posted by scottku32 on Tue, May 30, 2023, at 9:36 AM
  • Great job, Clovers! It was an exciting game☘️

    -- Posted by fillmorechick on Tue, May 30, 2023, at 3:20 PM
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