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PARKE HERITAGE BASEBALL SECTIONAL:Five-run sixth inning allows North Putnam to knock Greencastle out of sectional play
ROCKVILLE – After last Wednesday’s opening round of action resulted in only the Putnam County schools remaining in IHSAA Baseball Class 2A Sectional No. 44 play, a rerun of the Putnam County Baseball Tournament was in order Monday.
The first game featured a rubber match between Greencastle and North Putnam, the latter winning in the Putnam County Baseball Tournament final while the former won in extra innings in WIC play.
With both seasons on the line, the Cougars got a critical five-run sixth inning to back Jaylen Windmiller on the mound with the junior keeping the lead intact over the last six outs to ensure passage to Monday’s championship game with a 6-3 win.
“You got your money’s worth if you came to all three games,” North Putnam head coach Chris Geeser said. “You couldn’t get three more competitive games between two pretty similar teams.
“It was a fight back and forth. I’m so proud of our kids for not giving in, tucking tail and saying the season was over. We put the ball in play, made defensive plays and while both teams made mistakes, it was about who bounced back, handled the adversity best and I’m proud of our guys for their effort.”
While Windmiller was a lock to return to the mound after a 14-strikeout performance against Parke Heritage, Greencastle turned the ball to Sam Gooch, who had seen limited action over the final weeks of the season due to a leg injury.
The move looked an inspired choice early on as both pitchers were locked in early, keeping both offenses in check through the first portion of the game.
“I thought Sam threw really, really well,” Greencastle head coach Ben Wells said. “Starting was what he felt more comfortable with because it allowed him to get his body and mind right.
“We felt comfortable starting him today and he pitched great. I probably left him in there a little too long but the way Sam was throwing, you ride your horse as (North Putnam) wasn’t really making contact off of him.”
Each side needed a bit of help to get their first runs of the game in with the Tiger Cubs scoring in the bottom of the third following two North Putnam errors, the second allowing Ethan Hamm to come in for a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars also scored without a hit as a pair of walks and wild pitches saw Brogan Woodall scored to level the score at 1-1.
Greencastle’s bats finally pinged Windmiller around in the fifth as Chase Carrington doubled, Jaylon Bushong singled with an error allowing Carrington to come in and Nathan Sutherlin doubled to plate Bushong for a 3-1 lead.
North Putnam’s reply proved to be the difference as an error allowed Woodall to reach safely while Windmiller singled to put two men on.
A pair of strikeouts for Gooch left the inning in the balance but Gooch ran out of steam, first hitting Ian Patrick before consecutive walks to Jayce Monnett and Chase Barber forced two runs in to tie the game at 3-3.
Gooch exited for Treyten Clark but luck favored the Cougars as a fly ball off the bat of Brayden Monnett was dropped, allowing two runs to score, before a ground ball from Kaden Helderman beat the infield for a third run and a 6-3 lead.
Windmiller and North Putnam’s defense sealed the deal from there, allowing just a single hit from Trevin Long across the last two innings to advance to Monday’s final.
Greencastle finishes the season 13-12 and 4-6 in WIC play with a team that relied heavily on underclassmen to fill important roles in the defense and pitching staff.
“It was a good season,” Wells said. “Any time you can finish above .500 in baseball is pretty good.
“People don’t always understand the grind of the season when you’re playing four games a week but, especially starting seven underclassmen most of the season, I was pretty pleased. Obviously, it didn’t end the way we wanted but at the end of the year, there’s only going to be one team in each class that’s satisfied.
“I was pleased with what we did and we look forward to the future.”
North Putnam 000 105 0 — 6 1 4
Greencastle 001 020 0 — 3 6 3
WP — Windmiller 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R (ER), 9 K
LP — Gooch 5 2/3 IP, H, 6 R (ER), 5 BB, 6 K
2B — Carrington, Clark, Sutherlin
RBI — J. Monnett, Barber; Sutherlin, Bushong