Cougar middle school baseball defeats Athenians

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- The North Putnam middle school baseball team rallied for nine runs in the top of the seventh inning to come home with a 21-14 comeback win against Crawfordsville Monday night.

The Cougars trailed 14-11 with two outs in the seventh when eighth-grader Brandon Kimmel hit a two-run single to close the gap to 14-13. Third baseman Blake Knowling and catcher Nathaniel Crosby each drew a walk to load the bases before eighth-grader Jake Werth recorded the third consecutive free pass of the inning to tie the game.

Eighth-grader Tyler Simmons gave the Cougars a 15-13 lead when he drilled a two-run double down the left field line. After two more walks and a hit batsman, seventh-grader Kyler Badten blew the game open with a two-run double.

North Putnam banged out a season-high 10 hits. Simmons paced the Cougars with two hits, two stolen bases, three runs scored and three RBI. Winning pitcher Brodie Perrine also collected a pair of hits.

The Cougars (3-0) return to action at 6 p.m. today when they host Avon.