Tiger Cubs make statement in plucking of Clovers

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

CLOVERDALE -- It did not take the Greencastle baseball team long to make a statement Monday against county rival Cloverdale. The Tiger Cubs roared early and used that momentum to defeat the Clovers 13-3 in five innings.

"We came out hot with the bats and it's been a while coming. It's usually one inning later when we come out alive in a game, but I was glad to see them come out hot in the first inning," GHS head coach Troy Remsburg said.

In the opening inning, Greencastle sent 13 batters to the plate, gathered extra base hits, took advantage of fielding errors and scored nine runs to put the Clovers in a whole.

Kyle Nobles led the GHS charge with a single, a double and three RBIs. Kyle Johnson added two RBIs, with Keegan Remsburg, Logan Grzesiek and Trey Ford adding an RBI each.

The beautifully sunny day was greeted by fans, but was a problem for its players. Cloverdale logged five errors in the opening inning, extending the Tiger Cubs stay at the plate.

"We some breaks with some of our hits," Remsburg acknowledged. "We had some that we hit up in the sun and they lost. This is a tough field to play in the sun."

Cloverdale's head coach Brian Archer also noted the bright conditions played a part in his team's miscues in the field, but refused to use it as a justification for his squad's play.

"You take away four errors, five errors we had in that inning and they may have scored three runs. It's no excuse, but you give up four errors in an inning, you shouldn't deserve to win," Archer commented.

After Greencastle added a run in the top of the third, Cloverdale was able to respond in the bottom half. Chad Cummings scored on a sacrifice fly by #17, but the Clovers left two runners stranded.

Cloverdale's biggest moment of the contest came in the bottom of the fourth when Cummings came to the plate a drove a deep shot to centerfield for a two-run home run, bring the score to its final count of 13-3.

The Tiger Cubs displayed a more relaxed, confident demeanor on the diamond and their play displayed that. When asked about the change, Remsburg stated that it seems that things are starting to turn in the Tiger Cubs favor.

"They are," he said. "They're a lot more relaxed since we had our talk and they know their roles are and they know what I expect out of them. Here in the last three or four games, we're coming together more and more as a team.

"We're starting to get on a little bit of a roll and hopefully carry over later in the week," Remsburg added. "They're starting to hit some strides. Everyone says it always when it comes to sectional and hopefully it will be. They're starting to get there."

An obviously frustrated Archer said following the contest that it all boils down to making your voice heard. It' something they work on, but for unknown reasons, it's not translating into game time situations.

"Half of it is communication," Archer said. "We've talked about it and we get out here and they seem to forget or something. If we get our communication down and if we have guys that have guts and want to make plays, then we'll be fine. Right now, we don't have anyone who wants to step up and that's our problem.

"There were a couple good hits, but when you have bases loaded and you only get one run in, that's what's hurting us," Archer continued. "When other teams get four or five, we get one. It's been happening all year; we just can't capitalize when we have the opportunity at all."

GAMES

At Cloverdale

Greencastle 901 30 -- 13 12 3

Cloverdale 001 20 -- 3 3 6

WP -- Remsburg

LP - #20

HR -- Cummings (CHS)

2B -- Grzsiek, Nobles (2), Remsburg (2)

Next game -