Clover softball beat Cougars in Putnam County Tourney Championship Game

Cloverdale beat Greencastle 12-2 and then was able to hold of the Cougars in the champinship round beating North Putnam 4-1. The pitching of Cloverdale's Lauren Meek was too much for the Cougars to overcome and the Clovers claimed the Putnam County Pride Paddle. North Putnam had control of the Pride Paddle since it had beat Greencastle two weeks ago. Cloverdale will hold on to the Paddle until they are beat by by another Putnam County school. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

After the North Putnam Cougars and Cloverdale Clovers' softball teams won their opening round games it was time for them to come together and face off for county bragging rights. For Cloverdale, it was a focus of holding on to those rights because they won this tournament last year.

The championship game started roughly 40 minutes after the final preliminary game between Cloverdale and Greencastle. The short wait for Cloverdale helped keep them loose as they beat the Cougars 4-1.

The Cougars had to wait nearly three hours between their first game and the championship game. The long wait may have affected their play.

Freshman Lauren Meek for the Clovers and junior Sabrina Surber for the Cougars both pitched exceptional first round games, but both were also scheduled to start the championship game. This meant a 14-inning day for the two.

"It was pretty hard," Meek said, "But I've gotten used to it over the season. Throwing completely over the season, it's alright."

The freshman looked to have it coming her way in the top of the first inning. She loaded the bases up with only one out by means of a single, hit batter and a walk. Command was clearly an issue early, but she settled in and struck out junior Morgan Albers looking and got senior Kayla Fish to fly out, ending the threat.

This was the only real threat Meek faced the whole game. She did allow a run in the fifth and got out with two runners left on, but she only allowed 6 hits the entire game. She never allowed more than two hits per inning, which only happened once. Her only missteps came in the first inning allowing the one walk and hit batter.

"You have to score those runs," Clovers' coach Brian Knapp said, "We had already played North Put once last weekend. We had already played them twice in conference. You kind of get used to a team. They get used to you. It's hard. You have to be on your 'A' game every time you see them."

Surber also had a satisfying outing, but she could not get the win. She allowed only six hits, but she walked four and she threw a lot of strikes, striking out eight.

Surber's down innings came in the second and fifth. She allowed three singles to Meek, Maddie Smith and Kelsey Helterbrand. Meek scored on two wild pitches and Smith scored on the Helterbrand single.

"Meek did her job," Knapp said, "And the rest of the team did their job. In the first game we had a homerun ball from Kim Winders and in the second game it was basically all around. They all put a bat on the ball and they all did their jobs.

After the Cougars cut it to one in the fifth the Clovers went ahead and added two more insurance runs to their total. Surber walked both junior Jessica Winders and senior Heather Goss to put two on with one out. Senior Bekah Jordan sacrificed for both runners to move up a base. After that it was Meek who singled to drive in both runs signaling her game ball day.

"She was our game ball today," Knapp said, "She did everything she was asked to do today and as a freshman that is a lot to ask for. We came back to repeat this. We won this last year and she just did a great job. She had the sticks behind her today."

"My hitting was on today," Meek said, "That was probably the difference. I played good today. My hitting has been there, but today it was on."

Meek retired six out of the last seven batters to end the game. She gave up a single to Albers to start the sixth inning but after that is was three and out over the final two innings.

The Clovers' repeat celebration began after Meek got senior Bailey Ault to fly out for the final out of the game. This is a gratifying accomplishment for them and it also won them not only the county trophy, but they stole the County Pride Paddle from North Putnam who secured it after beating Greencastle earlier in the season.

"It feels pretty good," Meek said, "My team has been working pretty hard all year. It means a lot to me. It's a great start to freshman year. We will just have to keep going from here."

Cloverdale had also lost two of its three games against North Putnam this season before Saturday.

"Absolutely proud of the girls," Knapp said, "We had a couple called strikeouts, but hey, it's part of ball. It's going to happen. They were aggressive and I just have nothing bad to say about these girls. Now we just have to keep working and moving ahead."

Meek showed being a freshman means nothing in this league and it shows that anybody can do anything that they set their minds to. With three years ahead of her and sectionals coming up, teams may want to watch out for her.

"For a freshman she did awesome," Knapp said, "She did an awesome job today."

"Feels pretty good," Meek said, "I don't think it happens very often. I'm pretty happy. I'm pretty proud."

North Putnam and South Putnam played in the first game, with the Cougars winning 5-2 despite a late rally by the Eagles. Cloverdale took on the host Tiger Cubs and won convincingly, 12-2.

The Cougars were up 3-0 in the sixth inning of their game before Eagles' sophomore Katie Hewitt belted a home run over the left field fence. Senior McKenzie Trisler followed up with a double to spur up the hopes.

Carey Tanner of South Putnam stretches to try for the double play at first. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

Any hopes South Putnam had were nearly diminished because the next two batters after Trisler popped out and struck out. The third out was tallied two batters later.

"I think we just came out flat," Eagles coach Roshia Sullivan said, "We just weren't hitting. We left too many people stranded on base."

The Eagles had one inning left to play and with a surge of energy in the sixth it left a splash of confidence in the tank.

Bad luck continued to haunt South Putnam, as it gave up two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Cougars' junior Morgan Albers and senior Bailey Ault both scored to widen the gap.

Instead of a two-run deficit, it was now four runs and half of an inning left to go.

"I thought both my pitchers did great," Sullivan said, "I had a sophomore first year pitcher who started the game and I thought she did great. Then I put in Brooke Cundiff, in who I thought honestly both had great games."

The Eagles threatened and got four of their first six batters on base. Cundiff even scored and left the winning run to bat.

"We weren't adjusting," Sullivan said, "We weren't aggressive in the box. We were taking third called strikes. We just weren't coming out aggressive.

It looked like the rally was back on for the Eagles Who loaded the bases with two outs. However, Katie McHugh struck out for her fourth time of the day to end the game.

"I don't think anything was normal about our bats today," Sullivan said, "That wasn't us. We weren't fired up and we weren't aggressive at the plate."

Those four strikeouts were only a third of the strikeouts that Cougars' pitcher Sabrina Surber secured.

Following this game was the Clovers and the Tiger Cubs.

The game stayed close for the first four innings, but after that it was all Cloverdale.

Tied at two in the fifth inning the Clovers turned the motors up and busted out seven runs. In the first four innings the Clovers only had six hits, but in the last three they had eight. They also drew six of their nine walks in the last three.

Greencastle's Courtney Adams slides back to third base to beat the tag by Cloverdale's Jessica Winders after pitcher Lauren Meek of the Clovers tries to pick her off.

The most notable hit was a bomb by Clovers' sophomore Kimmy Winders, which also drove in her sister Jessica Winders in the seventh.

Despite the blowout, there was a glimpse of hope for the young Greencastle team. Coach Dave Keller has been looking for someone to step up all year. He has needed someone to break through and get a big hit.

That hit came in the fourth inning for the Tiger Cubs from sophomore Paige Bragg. She hit a two-run double with runners on second and third. Though they could not capture any more run support, they showed they are capable of doing big things.

"It sure does please me," Greencastle coach Dave Keller said, "Paige put in a lot of work this week in the cage as the whole team did. It just didn't pan out today. It pleases me, though. Softball is a fun game. I'm not mad and I told the team that."

Keller said that part of this he was to blame for. He says when things are not going well that it is time for the coach to step in and straighten things out. He said he was unable to do that.

Freshman Lauren Meek pitched for the Clovers in this game and allowed eight hits, two walks and a hit batter. She was going to have to be on her game for the rest of the day. She was scheduled to pitch two full games.

"She did awesome," Clovers' coach Brian Knapp said, "For a freshman she did an awesome job. She was our game ball today. As a freshman that is a lot to ask for."

With the championship win in hte bag, Cloverdale was able to comple the repeat in the Putnam County Tournament.

At Greencastle

WP: Surber

LP: Myers