Eagles get WIC, county victory
South Putnam's baseball team was down for most of was down for most of the game with county and WIC division rival Greencastle Tuesday but stayed focused and seven late runs secured the 8-4 win for the Eagles.
"We really honestly worked through this seven-inning game as a team," Eagle coach Brady Rhodes said. "I'm proud of the effort the guys displayed. For about the first four innings we had some things that didn't go our way. I'm very proud of the entire team for believing that things were going to eventually break our way."
South Putnam got on the board first in the second inning thanks to Grady McHugh's double and Taylor Bush's RBI.
However Greencastle came back and took the lead with its three-run third inning. With two outs Brandon Workman was hit, Brett Sosebee singled as did Gus Manion. All three runners scored.
The Eagles then went three up and three down in the next two innings thanks to Trey Scanland on the mound and the fielding of GHS.
The Tiger Cubs put up another run in the fifth from Sosbee who doubled but that was all GHS could manage, though in the fifth still held a 4-1 lead.
"We just didn't play like ourselves today," GHS coach Troy Remsburg said. "It (GHS) was a different team than the one from last night."
The Greencastle boys picked up a road win Monday against Cascade but were unable to follow it up with another victory. South Putnam's fifth inning scored four Eagles which gave SPHS a 5-4 advantage.
Dylan Wood, Josh Stewart and Kody Britton all singled while Brandon Gierke was hit by a pitch. All three scored.
"We were talking about staying in it," Gierke said. "We've talked about battling through adversity all year. We stay in it and we tied it up in that fifth inning. We stayed with the win."
¬Geirke stayed pitching for SPHS and the Eagles held the Tiger Cubs at bay for the rest of the game while adding three more to the scoreboard. Again it was Wood, Stewart and Gierke who made it home thanks to a Britton single and a few errors.
"The main difference in that inning was being able to see the pitcher for a few more times," Rhodes said. "We talked about being mentally invested in the game and understanding what pitch you are going to face in what count. I think that paying attention in the first five innings paid off in the sixth. This is a great ball team that we played tonight and I'm glad they stayed invested so we could get that sixth-inning rally."
Greencastle will be at home Wednesday for the rematch against the Eagles.
At South Putnam
Greencastle 004 010 0 -- 4
South Putnam 010043 - -- 8
WP: Gierke