Surber Ks 20 as North Putnam stays unbeaten

Sabrina Surber

ROACHDALE -- The North Putnam softball team faced its first adversity of the young season on Friday, but the team found a way to preserver and came away with an 8-2 win over visiting Rockville.

Sophomore Sabrina Surber struck out 20 Rox and helped her own cause, blasting a two-run home run in the third inning.

"The team is having a lot of fun in there," North Putnam coach Benny Ault said. "Hopefully we can keep it going. ... We're winning games now that we should be winning, versus losing games we should be winning. That's a big difference in my eyes, and that's exactly why I thought in the beginning of the year that we were going to be a better team than we were last year."

The win moved NPHS to 5-0, more wins than the team had all of last year.

After striking out the first two hitters to open the game, Surber allowed a base hit to senior Brittany Gordon then a home run to Rockville's senior pitcher Emma Riffe.

"The wind's blowing pretty good today," Ault said. "We knew if they hit it that it was going to go somewhere. I'm happy she had one hit out on her because it shows us what she's made of and what she can come back from.

"Is she going to buckle under the pressure, or is she going to keep the pressure inside and keep doing what she's been doing all year? That was the first time we've been down all year and I was really proud of how the girls rallied."

Surber struck out the final batter of the first but the Cougars trailed 2-0 until the bottom of the third.

NPHS appeared timid at the plate until senior Lauren Campbell got the team going by reaching base on an error to start the third inning.

Junior Madi Asbell reached on a walk then freshman Lauren Johnston came to the plate. Johnston drove the ball to right center field for a base hit, advancing both runners, but Asbell and Campbell each settled near third base.

The confusion was part of a designed play. Ault yelled for an apparently confused Asbell to return to second base and she feigned at doing just that.

Rockville's catcher fired the ball back to second base, and Campbell took off for the plate.

After a pair of errors, two runs scored for NPHS and Johnston was standing on third base.

"We've got a couple sneaky plays that you've got to have in your back pocket for days like today," Ault said. "Rockville beat us last year, and that was a game we felt like we should have won, and we won convincingly today."

Junior Bailey Ault, batting next, capitalized on another error that brought Johnston home, then Surber came to the plate with a runner on first.

The Cougars' ace blasted her first home run of the season over the fence in left-centerfield, nearly the same trajectory of Riffe home run earlier.

"She helped herself out," Ault said. "It just shows what kind of player she is and what she's made of as a player. I was pretty proud of her."

The five-run frame was more than enough as Surber never truly faced another challenge. Rife hit a pop fly to senior Cayla Kientz in left field to open the top of the fourth, then Surber recorded the remaining 11 outs by strikeout.

Surber finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs. Johnston was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs and senior Katie Welch was 1-for-3 with a double.

NPHS junior Kayla Fish had a single and a stolen base.

Rife struck out seven and allowed six hits, but Rockville's five errors proved costly.

Surber allowed just four hits and walked two. She now has 79 strikeouts in the Cougars first five games.

NPHS will get a chance for its sixth win on Saturday when the squad hosts Western Boone at 10 a.m. The game was previously scheduled on the road but was changed to a home game for the Cougars.

North Putnam senior Cayla Kientz hauls in a fly ball in the fourth inning against Rockville on Friday. It was the only out not recorded by strikeout for the Cougars. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

At North Putnam
Rockville.................200 000 0 -- 2 4 5 2
North Putnam.........005 012 x -- 8 6 3 2