NP falls to Southmont; golfers win big

Friday, May 27, 2016
North Putnam third baseman Skylar Clifford (above) looks to put the tag on Avery Hess of Southmont, but the throw was late. Southmont won 10-2 in sectional semifinal action on Wednesday.

CLINTON -- North Putnam ran into a hard-hitting and speedy Southmont team on Wednesday in the Class 2A South Vermillion sectional, with the Mounties recording a 10-2 victory.

North Putnam managed just a single by Mia Runnels in the first three innings, before eventually breaking through in the fourth.

Southmont, meanwhile, scored one run in the first and three more in the second to take the lead for good.

In the first, Avery Hess doubled, went to third on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sidney Casteel.

Stadia Mikalik singled to open the second inning and scored on a double by Jordan Crist. Christ was sacrificed to third and eventually scored as Kayla Woodcock reached on an infield out.

Veda Emerson was hit by a pitch, advanced on the infield out and scored on a double by Hess.

The Cougars got to Southmont freshman pitcher Paige Knowling for two runs in the fourth as Runnels singled again, Chloe LaPierre followed with another single and Jada Stump reached on a fielder's choice.

Sierra Spencer singled to score Runnels, while LaPierre scored on an error.

Southmont got two more in the fourth as Crist singled and Emerson doubled, with another hit by Hess scoring Emerson.

Casteel tripled to open the fifth for Southmont and Paige Sheehan followed with a long home run to make it 8-2.

The Mounties closed out the scoring in the sixth as Knowling walked, Casteel tripled and Sheehan singled.

Knowling retired the final nine Cougars in order to close out the victory.

Runnels' two hits were half of the Cougar total.

North Putnam 000 200 0 -- 2 4 2

Southmont 130 222 x -- 10 13 2

WP -- Knowling. LP -- LaPierre. 2B -- Hess 2, Crist, Emerson. 3B -- Casteel 2. HR -- Sheean.

Golf

* Cougars close out with pair of wins -- At Rivercrest Golf Club on Thursday, North Putnam defeated Fountain Central 163-199 in its regular-season finale.

Austin Judy was the medalist for NP with a 38.

"Austin continues his solid play, really getting into the groove of things," NP coach Shawn Alspaugh said. "His +2 round was even better, but he gambled a little trying to reach a par 5 in two and got a penalty because he knew it was his last dual match."

Alspaugh thought Jake Holtze struck the ball very well and hit 7 greens in regulation, but 20 putts sabotaged an "otherwise special round."

Alspaugh was pleased with how his team closed out the regular season, and is looking forward to tourney action next week.

"I feel like we're playing some of our best golf right now," he said. "Hopefully a good week of practice will get us ready for sectionals next week, and maybe we can do something special.

"It will take everyone playing good golf, but we have put up some nice scores lately."

North Putnam (163) -- Austin Judy 38, Jake Holtze 40, Logan Grim 42, Preston Porter 43, Marcus Burdine 68, Peyton Myers 76

Fountain Central (199) -- Hudson 49, Stonebreaker 53, Crain 45, Wright 52, Starkey 55

* North Putnam 155, North Vermillion 191 -- At Old Hickory on Tuesday, the Cougars got a 35 from medalist Austin Judy and easily defeated the Falcons.

"I was pretty pleased with how we played," NP coach Shawn Alspaugh said. "Our top four guys all improved from our last round here at Old Hickory. Austin [Judy] played a great round, and was actually flirting with the school record, before he got caught up trying to break it and let a couple strokes get away at the end of the match."

Alspaugh thought Jake Holtze's 40 was also a good score.

"He could have done even better except for a couple of three putts, but he struck the ball better," he said. "Logan [Grim] actually had two double bogeys, but didn't let that get him down as he played the other 7 holes at -1. Preston [Porter] was his normal steady self and avoided the big numbers."

Alspaugh noted that Marcus Burdine had a good round except for two bad holes, and Peyton Myers improved by 27 strokes over his last round at Old Hickory.

"Overall, I think we're getting better, and making progress towards our goal of winning the sectional," Alspaugh said. "We keep getting better, and hopefully we can build on this for next week."

North Putnam (155) -- Austin Judy 35, Jake Holtze 40, Logan Grim 39, Preston Porter 41, Marcus Burdine 65, Peyton Myers 56

North Vermillion (191) -- Will Martin 36, Riley Garner 63, Kayleb Stephens 42, Adam Wesley 55, Kevin Byrum 60, Alijah Rogers 58

* Greencastle tops Northview, SV -- Greencastle avenged an earlier loss to Northview with a three-stroke victory, and easily defeated South Vermillion in a triangular match.

"It was a very close match between GHS and Northview," Tiger Cub coach Steve Paquin said. "Both teams played some very good golf."

Northview's Sam Grimes was the medalist with a one-under 34, trailed closely by Greencastle's Jake Buis with a 35.

Paquin noted that he got a season-low score from Jake Bennett with a 37, and consistent team scoring of no score higher than 41.

"The Cubs put together their best nine-hole score of the season and are playing with good decision-making scores," Paquin said. "This is the time of the year where you want your team playing their best golf before sectional and the Cubs are doing that."

Greencastle (152) -- Jake Buis 35, Jake Bennett 37, Blaise Hasty 40, Jaxon Parmley 40, Jonah Stevens 41.

Northview (155) -- Sam Grimes 34, Blake Bennett 39, Luke Weaver 41, Clayton Buck 41, Cam Weaver 43.

South Vermillion (196) -- Body Magee 47, Zach Junker 47, Jared Moore 49, Adam Voges 53, Andrew Klotz 62

Next match -- Greencastle will play an 18-hole match on Tuesday against South Putnam at Clover Meadows starting at 1 p.m.

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