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Sullivan surges late, takes down Tiger Cubs
Through four innings in its season opener against Sullivan, Greencastle looked ready to begin their season with a win. However, timely miscues and big bats from Sullivan resulted in eight runs over three innings and a 13-6 loss for the Tiger Cubs Saturday.
Greencastle head coach Chasity Wood said she would have liked to have seen a more consistent effort the entire game and across the lineup. She like some of what she saw, but acknowledged there was room for improvement.
"We definitely have some things to work on," Wood said. "We haven't played a full seven innings yet. We had only a few weeks to get ready for the season, so there're some things that worked really well in certain situations and things that didn't go our way or well. Things we have to work on, but we had out bats going the top of the order and hit really well. Kayla's homerun was great, but we have to get the bottom of the lineup working a little smoother.
"We just haven't had a lot of time on the field, haven't had a lot of hitting off of live pitchers yet, just the weather hasn't cooperated, so we'll see how next week goes," she added.
After Sullivan took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, GHS responded by posting two runs of its own. Taylor Pruitt reached on an error, and after moving to third, was brought home on an RBI from Danielle Thomas.
Two batters later, starting pitcher Kayla Downing picked up where she left off from last season -- with a homerun. Downing stepped to the plate and with two strikes sent a towering shot over the centerfield wall to knot the game at 2-all.
Sullivan added another run in the second and two more in the top of the third, but the Tiger Cubs were ready to respond.
GHS started the bottom of the third inning at the top of its lineup, with Pruitt reaching on a walk. She was brought home by a double from Jessie Bennett. Bennett scored when Downing sent a shot to centerfield for an RBI single on the next at bat. Riley Seahorn scored later in the inning after reaching on a walk.
With the game knotted at 5-all, both team experienced a scoreless fourth inning, and unfortunately for the Tiger Cubs, that tread extended for the fifth and sixth innings as well.
Sullivan exploded for four runs in the top of the fifth to put the Tiger Cubs behind the eight-ball, but the difference maker came in the top of the seventh. With a four-point lead, Amber Wright-Griffith smashed a three-run homerun to left-center field to cap another four run inning for the Golden Arrows.
Greencastle mounted a small charge in the bottom of seventh as Pruitt scored on an RBI single from Bennett, but two strikeouts ended any hopes the Tiger Cubs of coming back in the contest.
On the day, Downing was 4-for-4 with a homerun, three singles and two RBIs, while Bennett was 2-for-4 with a double, a single and two RBIs.
One of the biggest aspects of the game the Tiger Cubs had to battle Saturday were a few crucial mental lapses. It's something Wood address following the game and assured it was something her team would be ready for in the future.
"When we had the runner at third and the girls walked and continued on to second, we actually had just talked about that in practice yesterday, but that's the first time it's really come up of course, so we'll work on that a little more," Wood said. "We actually had a strategy in place for it, but I think the girls are just so focused on the point at hand they tend to forget and tend to not be prepared and ready. They'll get there."
Greencastle will host North Putnam at 5 p.m. today.
At Greencastle
Sullivan 212 040 4 -- 13
Greencastle 203 000 1 -- 6
WP -- Wills
LP -- Downing
HR -- Downing (GHS); Wright-Griffith (S), Harrison (S)
2B -- Bennett (GHS); Basinger (S)
Next game -- Greencastle will host North Putnam at 5 p.m. today.