South Putnam's quest stalls in title game

Head coach Ryan Gilman (left) and first baseman Derek Dean try to calm down pitcher Aaron Parker in the fourth inning of Saturday's regoinal championship game against Providence.

LINTON -- Coming off the high of defeating No. 6 ranked Evansville Mater Dei, the South Putnam Eagles entered Saturday night's final against Providence in good spirits. However, the Eagles were grounded in the championship contest, losing the game 14-5.

And despite their loss, they kept their heads held high and remained in good humor as their season came to an end.

After falling behind early, South Putnam once again used some heavy lumber to stay in the game.

Aaron Parker connected on a shot in the second inning and Cameron Chestnut launched a shot to center field in the third inning that clipped the top of a tree well beyond the fence.

After the fourth inning, South Putnam found itself down 10-2 and facing a possible ousting from the 10-run rule. Again, it was the big bats of the Eagles that got some more runs on the board.

"We had a chance to go five-and-out, but we battled seven innings," South Putnam head coach Ryan Gilman said. "All of the seniors were there until the end."

In the fifth inning, Chestnut beat out a throw from the shortstop, and Grant Zimmerman reached on an error. Senior Nathan Welty stepped to the plate with two runners on and sent a shot over the left field fence for a three-run bomb. The home run was South Putnam's eighth of the day.

It would be the final scoring barrage from the Eagles, while the Pilgrims tacked on three runs in the bottom of the inning.

South Putnam had another shot at a run, but another big bomb from Chestnut sailed foul before abusing the dugout to an adjacent field. The Eagles failed to score and Providence added another run in the bottom of the sixth to move the score to its final tally.

South Putnam will lose seniors Chestnut, Derek Dean, Welty, John Spencer and Drew Cash, and while Gilman acknowledged the loss, he also noted he expects the team to continue moving forward.

"We lose a lot with the seniors; they gave us a lot, a lot of leadership," Gilman commented. "They've played baseball for a long time, but we do have a core coming back. We have a lot of our pitching coming back with Grant, Aaron and Seth Hammond.

"It's going to be tough to replace the seniors, but on the flipside we can hopefully build on what we've accomplished this year," he added.

At Linton

Linton-Stockton Class 2A Regional

South Putnam 011 030 0 -- 5

Providence 044 231 x -- 14