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Eagles continue to roll, win in five innings
The South Putnam Eagles cruised to a 10-0 win over the visiting Eminence Thursday, but didn't come out unscathed. Senior shortstop Emily Dabkowski tweaked an ankle in the third inning, but head coach Chris Jones expects her to be ready when his team takes the field again.
"Emily is doing pretty well. We wanted to be cautious with it. So, she's going well. She'll have an opportunity to have a couple days to get healthy and she should be just fine for coming back on Monday," Jones said.
South Putnam started slowly, but hit its stride in the third inning and exploded for eight runs. Twelve South Putnam batters went to the plate in the inning, with Janet Crafton and Brooke Cundiff recorded two RBI each in the frame.
Jones said a big part of his team's success in the third was their patience at the plate. In the inning South Putnam earned five walks in addition to its three hits.
"We were really patient in the third inning and being patient led to a lot of walks and we got some timely hits after that," Jones said. "That's what you have to do if a pitcher is struggling to pitch strikes. I think you have to be patient and sacrifice maybe wanting to try to get a hit for getting on base and knowing the girls behind you will get it done if she gets the opportunity."
It was also in the third inning when Dabkowski injured her ankle getting back to third base. Dabkowski's departure of the game seemed to be more protective measure as the senior walked off the field on her own power.
South Putnam took an 8-0 advantage into the fifth inning and didn't take long to tack on the two runs to close out the game. Crafton reached on a walk and Cundiff reached after hitting single. Crafton scored to make it 9-0 South Putnam and a single by Kelsey Whitaker drove in Cundiff to end the game.
South Putnam freshman pitcher Ashlee Gibson got the call and went all five innings, allowing just three hits and striking out nine batters. Jones was pleased to see a solid effort from his young pitcher.
"That's Ashlee's second opportunity to get a start and she pitched really well tonight," Jones said. "I think she only gave up a couple hits. She did a nice job striking them out, changing their eyes and changing speeds on them.
"It's nice to see a young girl come in and step up and help get us a win tonight," he said.
South Putnam's back in action Monday when they host North Putnam at 4:30 p.m.
At South Putnam
Eminence 000 00 -- 0 3 2
South Putnam 008 02 -- 10 9 1
WP -- Gibson
LP -- Hunter