Boetjer named Player of the Year

GREENCASTLE -- This season proved to be a banner year for the South Putnam Eagles. They had a 1-loss regular season, won the sectional title and for the second straight year, Eagle pitcher Brooke Boetjer has been named the 2009-10 Banner Graphic Player of the Year.

Boetjer led four Eagles named to the All-Putnam County team, with Greencastle adding four, Cloverdale three and North Putnam two.

The South Putnam ace breezed to a 17-2 record this season, striking out 149 batters and recording a county-low ERA of .60. In addition to her pitching effort, Boetjer was one of the county's biggest threats at the plate as well.

She batted .444 with 26 RBIs, two home runs, five triples and eight doubles. She had 36 hits and 24 rounds as well.

Teammate Krystal Welch proved to be the definition of a leadoff hitter for the Eagles. She had an on base percentage of .516 and batted a team-high .451, with 11 RBIs and 32 runs scored. She had two home runs, two triples and nine doubles and led the team with 37 hits and eight stole bases from the leadoff spot.

Starting catcher Jenny Thompson had an average of .395 and recorded 14 RBIs, three doubles, along with 21 runs and 30 hits. Emily Dabkowski batted .393 with 10 RBIs, 1 triple, four doubles, 33 hits and 22 runs, while providing solid defense at the short stop position.

Kayla Downing led the Tiger Cubs with an average of .475. She also chipped in 22 RBIs and had one home run, four doubles and 29 hits. She also had six wins for GHS, with an ERA of 4.57 and 41 strikeouts.

Shortstop Taylor Pruitt had 11 RBIs, two home runs, one triple, and nine doubles for the Tiger Cubs. She batted .393 and had 24 hits and 19 runs scored.

Kaytlynn Beaman, the lone freshman on this year's squad, shared a similar stat-line with Pruitt this season. Beaman also batted .393 and had nine doubles. She added 10 RBIs, 33 hits and 19 runs.

Riley Seahorn rounded out the Greencastle representatives with an average of .351, with 11 RBIs, one home run and six doubles.

She also added 26 hits and seven runs scored for the Tiger Cubs.

Cloverdale's Tika Byrd, Paige Gutierrez and Kara Knapp had great numbers during the Clovers' tough 2009-10 campaign.

Gutierrez led the team with an average of .520, with eight RBIs, two home runs and four doubles. She also had 16 runs and 26 hits and struck out 29 batters this season.

Knapp might not have had many plate appearances this season, but when she was there, she put the bat to work. Knapp averaged .421 with two home runs, two doubles and two triples. She was second on the team with nine RBIs and had 12 runs scored.

Byrd, a senior, put up 19 RBIs, with two home runs and eight doubles for the Clovers this season. In addition, she had nine runs scored and 22 hits in her final season.

Their strong starting senior catcher Dakota Malayer powered North Putnam's offense this season. Malayer batted .480 to lead the team and was tied for the team lead in home runs with three.

She also chipped in 21 RBIs, with 12 doubles, five runs scored and 36 hits.

Pitcher Taylor Judy was once again a dominating force for the Cougars this season. She put together a 10-7 record, with 166 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.11.

At the plate, Judy averaged .250 with 13 RBIs, three home runs and four doubles. Judy also contributed eight runs scored and 23 hits.

The class breakdown for the 2009-10 Putnam County All-County team is: three seniors, two juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman.