Big fifth inning leads GHS baseball past South, 8-1

Heading into the fifth, it was anybody's game. Greencastle led South Putnam 1-0, but both pitchers had looked extremely strong through four innings.

Five Greencastle hits and three South Putnam errors later, the Tiger Cubs led 8-0.

Greencastle brought 11 batters to the plate in a seven-run fifth inning on their way to an 8-1 victory Monday at South Putnam.

In the end, a big difference in the game was the mental side, a big key for both coaches.

"They were very disciplined at the plate," South coach Harold Campbell said of Grencastle. "They went up and knew what their pitch was and they waited until they got their pitch and put it in play."

He contrasted this approach with his own team's. "I felt like we weren't patient at the plate and we really helped their pitcher out by swinging at the pitches he wanted us to swing at. When you do that, you hit ground balls and make easy plays for a defense. They get the outs. We really played into their hands, there."

Tiger Cub coach Troy Greenlee, who has seen his team come a long way from its 0-8 start, said doing the little things has been a key to the Greencastle (5-12, 4-5 WCC) turnaround.

"We're getting good pitching and we're not giving teams extra outs. When you give teams opportunities, it's hard to overcome those at times. I thought we kept giving teams extra outs. Those are the keys. They're very simple things, but they can really make you pay if you don't take advantage of the opportunities you are given," Greenlee commented.

The Tiger Cubs drew first blood in the fourth, when Graham Shuee doubled to drive in Kyle Nobles.

The next inning, the floodgates really opened. Jeremy Hayden got things rolling with a double off of South starter Noah Boswell. After a passed ball, pitcher Trey Ford drove him in on an error.

Nobles kept the inning rolling with a bloop single, and Kendall Faust drove in both runners with a single to center field.

Shuee then collected two more RBIs on a home run to left field, putting GHS up 6-1.

But that wasn't all for the inning. Logan Grzesiek reached on a second error and Blake Robinson followed that with a double. Keegan Remsburg drove in Grzesiek on the inning's third error, and Robinson later scored on a Boswell wild pitch.

It was Boswell's only bad inning, but it was enough. The junior allowed eight runs on nine hits and four walks. He struck out four Tiger Cubs in the loss.

To Campbell, what went wrong for South Putnam (11-5, 6-3 WCC), was exactly what went right for Greenlee's club.

"We really just had one inning where we fell to pieces mentally," Campbell commented. "I think we gave them six or seven outs. In a tight game like that, if you have an inning where you give a team six or seven outs, they're going to put a lot of runs on the board."

Greencaste's Trey Ford held South Putnam batters at bay all night, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks in a complete game victory.

Greencastle starter Ford had his way with South Putnam's hitters most of the night. He threw a complete game, allowing one run on five hits and two walks.

"I thought Trey was outstanding," Greenlee said. "Much like the Crawfordsville game, he really kept the hitters off balance. He does a really good job of setting up his fastball by using some offspeed stuff. He doesn't throw overly hard, but when he has effective breaking stuff going over the plate guys have to look for that. Then when he throws his fastball, it's just fast enough where it's a really effective page.

"I think he threw 80 pitches, which for a seven-inning game is tremendous" the coach continued.

Offensively, Shuee was the GHS star of the game, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs. He also made a nice grab in the field, diving right from third base to catch a ball that was curving foul in the seventh.

The heart of Greencastle's order -- Nobles, Faust and Shuee -- all performed well, combining for seven of the team's 10 hits.

"That's why we put them there," Greenlee said. "If we can get those guys in the middle of the order hitting like they were hitting tonight, and get some guys on base, I think we can be pretty effective."

Faust was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Nobles was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

For the Eagles, the one run came in the sixth, when Brice Steinbaker drove in Adam Hammond with a single.

Even that inning, though, had its problems for South, as they had four hits in the inning, but also made all three outs on the base paths.

The two teams face off again tonight at 4:30 p.m. at Greencastle.

At South Putnam

Ford and Faust; Boswell, Zimmerman (7) and Dean.

WP -- Ford.

LP -- Boswell

2B -- Shuee, Hayden, Robinson (G).

HR -- Shuee (G).

Next game -- Greencastle (5-12, 4-5 WCC) hosts South Putnam (11-5, 6-3 WCC) at 5 p.m. today.

GHS EDGES SOUTHMONT

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- Greencastle pulled out a 6-5 win Saturday at Southmont, eking out the winning run in the top of the seventh.

Trey Ford opened the inning with a double to left center before a Kyle Nobles single moved him to third. Ford then scored on a wild pitch.

Nobles picked up the win for GHS, pitching the seventh in relief.

In the JV game, the Tiger Cubs downed the Mounties 9-4.

Tanner Battin was the winning pitcher, allowing four runs on five hits, a walk and two errors. He struck out eight batters.

Jesse Vermillion had two hits for GHS.

The Tiger Cub JV is now 7-4. Their next game is Thursday against Edgewood.

At Southmont

Hayden, Remsburg (6), Nobles (7) and Faust; Woodcock and Joyner.

WP -- Nobles.

LP -- Woodcock.