North Putnam sweeps county rivals

Wednesday, April 29, 2015
NPHS' Reilly Tucker fires a pitch down the lane. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

ROACHDALE-- The North Putnam Cougar softball team hosted county rival South Putnam Eagles Monday night in the first night of a back-to-back. The Cougars scored in all four innings that they batted to win 17-4 in five innings. The second match saw the Cougars win 13-2

"We have to get mentally tougher," Eagle coach Roshia Sullivan said. "We just have to adjust. We have to pick each other up on offense. We have to back each other up, especially after a mistake."

All of the Cougar batters except one scored at least once on the night and senior pitcher Sabrina Surber scored all four times that she batted.

"They're just getting some confidence built up," Cougar coach Benny Ault said. "We played some really good teams. I knew when we stopped making those errors we'd get some confidence built up and we'd just keep rolling."

Surber was coming off a perfect game Friday night against Crawfordsville. She had seven strikeouts total in four innings of work against the Eagles and she only gave up one hit, which was a two-run home run to freshman Lillie Stein in the third inning.

Stein is the Eagles' catcher and as a freshman she helps this team tremendously. She went up to the plate with sophomore Jessica Vensko on first because she was hit by a pitch and there was no outs. It took one big swing to center field for Stein to bring both herself and Vensko in.

"I think it meant a lot to her," Sullivan said. "She struggled a little bit behind the plate. I'm not sure whether my pitcher wasn't hitting her spots or she wasn't adjusting, but then she got up and helped us out on offense. She already has such a tremendous effect on this team. I think in the future she will only get better."

The Cougars batted at least six batters into the line up in all four innings at bat and in the second inning everyone scored but senior TyeAnn Strow in a 12 at-bat inning.

"We're scoring more runs which is helping Sabrina on her pitching," Ault said. "We're not giving up as many runs and by us extending innings and getting girls in it's just building confidence. It's putting pressure on the other team and softball is a game of pressure."

Chloe LaPierre pitched after the fifth inning and she loaded the bases with only one out, but she managed to end the game with only two runs scored.

"It's huge on benefitting younger players," Ault said. "You put them in with the lead and they have nothing to lose and if they do start to struggle you pull them out and put your ace back in and you're good to go."

The second game was another tough one for South Putnam as North earned the win and allowed Reilly Tucker to finish out the game. In the end it was just too much hitting from North Putnam.

"It's really not about winning or losing at this point," Sullivan said. "It's about playing our best . I think we are yet to see our team's best all round. We've got to have our offense on and our defense on. We are getting there so there is a lot of hope."

At South Putnam

North Putnam 531 040 -- 13 10 1

South Putnam 000 200 -- 2 1 4

At North Putnam

South Putnam 002 02X X--4

North Putnam 384 2XX X--17

WP: Surber (NP), LP: Myers (SP)

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