HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Clover softball sweeps Eagles

CLOVERDALE — Cloverdale swept a pair of softball games from visiting South Putnam on Tuesday night, winning the first game 17-7 in five innings and taking the nightcap 18-7.

In the opener, Lauren Meek was the winning pitcher and also had a double, single and three RBI. Kiley Shedron added two singles, a double and four RBI, Mackenzie Allen and Tori Combs each had two singles and two RBI, Kelsey Helterbrand had two singles and Skylar Price had a single and a single.

“It was a good start to the season in game one,” Cloverdale coach Jim Spencer said. “We were able to do some good things at the plate and make some plays in the field to avoid some big innings by South Putnam. Lauren Meek did a really good job on the mound and at the plate.”

For South Putnam, Jaylen Hughbanks and Savanna McIntosh each had two hits and two RBI, with McIntosh ripping a two-run homer. Helen Eaglin had two hits and an RBI. Drew Bratcher and Grace Carr each had a hit and an RBI. Leighla Hazlett and Becca Perry each added a hit.

In game two, the Clovers led 6-3 after three innings but scored six runs in the top of the fourth inning to break the game open.

Baylee Hamilton was the winning pitcher with four strikeouts, and added three singles, a home run and two RBI at the plate.

Shedron added a single, double and five RBI, while Price had two doubles and a single, Dinah Bunch had three singles and two RBI and Combs added a single, double and four RBI.

“We did some good things at the plate and in the field, especially for this early in the season,” Spencer said. “We had a lot of contributions from several different players in both games, and it was a night that we can hopefully build on and get better as the season progresses.”

“We are always working to eliminate mental mistakes in the field and at the plate, so we have plenty to work on in practice and in our next few games.”

Bratcher had three hits, an RBI and two runs scored for the Eagles, while Carr added three hits, two RBI and a run and Sydney Jackman had one hit and one RBI.

South Putnam coach Jamie Steffy was not disappointed with the play of his young team against the powerful Clover squad.

“We did a lot of good things tonight against an extremely talented Cloverdale team,” he said. “What you saw a lot tonight was an experienced junior/senior dominated team that was in mid-season form in the Clovers, and an inexperienced freshmen/sophomore-dominated team in us that is a good team but still learning and growing but going to get a lot better.

“They are mega talented,” Steffy added. “They have a lot of pieces to the puzzle, and they have a really good team that does a lot of good things.”

Steffy was pleased that his team struck out just four times in 57 at-bats against two good Clover pitchers.

“Our hitting was a big positive for us,” he said. “We are going to put the ball in play. We scored 16 runs, but we unfortunately we also had close to that in stranded runners on base as well.

“If we could have strung together a few more timely hits, we could have made it a tighter ballgame.”

Tuesday

Game 1

South Putnam 010 42 — 7 9 3

Cloverdale 038 51 — 17 15 2

WP — Meek.

Game 2

Cloverdale 105 630 3 — 18 20 1

South Putnam 201 300 1 — 7 11 4

WP — Hamilton

• Covenant Christian 12, North Putnam 2 — At Roachdale, the Cougars led 2-1 after one inning but did not score again in dropping their season opener on Tuesday.

Covenant Christian led 4-2 after four innings but pushed across eight runs in the top of the fifth to take control.

Mia Runnells had a single and a double with one run scored for the Cougars, while Baylee Osburn had a double and a run scored and Chloe LaPierre and Jada Stump each had a single.

Covenant Christian 100 38 — 12 10 0

North Putnam 200 00 — 2 5 5

WP — Johnson. LP — Gierke.

Track and field

• Clovers, Cougars split — At Cloverdale, North Putnam and the Clovers split a pair of meets on Tuesday evening.

Cloverdale squeaked out a 64-63 win in the boys’ meet, while North Putnam won the girls’ meet 78-51.

Cloverdale coach Andy Tyler was pleased with his team’s performance in the boys’ meet.

“We had some strong performances,” he said. “Tyler Kaeff, Ryan Heavener and Chad Stevens ran well. Williamson and Johnson are looking good as well.”

On the girls’ side, Tyler thought Grace Rightmyer, Arianna McCracken and Justyce Monnett saw some improvements.

“Leonard and Stoltz are improving in the hurdles,” he added. “Hopefully we get some decent weather soon and we can have some improvements in the field events.”

North Putnam coach Kevin Lutes also saw positives.

“For their first meet, I felt the girls performed well,” he said. “Every year, we look forward to getting past the first competition; getting the nerves out of the way, and setting a standard from which we try to progress.

“Though we definitely have room to improve, I’m pleased with their efforts and look forward to what they can do in the future.”

Boys’ meet

Cloverdale 64, No. Putnam 63

SP — 1. Binnion (NP) 39-9, 2. Rude (NP) 38-6.5, 3. Radford (C) 36-1.5

D — 1. Binnion (NP) 117-0, 2. Patterson (NP) 105-0

LJ — 1. Proctor (NP) 19-9, 2. Kaeff (C) 18-0.5, 3. Murray (NP) 17-0

HJ — 1. Wilkes (C) 5-2, 2. Pickel (NP) 5-0

PV — 1. Willis (C) (no height listed)

4x800 relay — 1. Cloverdale 9:27.69, 2. North Putnam 9:49.10

110 hurdles — 1. Kaeff (C) 16.09, 2. Wilkes (C) 17.15, 3. Monnett (C) 17.79

100 — 1. Murray (NP) 11.261, 2. Beam (CP) 11.265, 3. Willis (C) 12.32

1,600 — 1. Duncan (NP) 5:12, 2. Young (NP) 5:33, 3. Hall (C) 5:37

400 — 1. Heavener (C) 54.81, 2. Williamson (C) 58.16, Scott (NP) 58.81

300 hurdles — 1. Kaeff (C) 42.15, 2. Monnett (C) 44.44, 3. Proctor (NP) 46.92

800 — 1. Stevens (C) 2:14, 2. Duncan (NP) 2:22, 3. Bates (C) 2:25

200 — 1. Christy (NP) 23.91, 2. Johnson (C) 25.43, 3. Payton (NP) 26.63

4x100 relay — 1. North Putnam

3,200 — 1. Duncan (NP) 11:47, 2. Mannan (C) 12:18, 3. Churchholder (NP) 12:44

4x400 relay — 1. Cloverdale 3:37.16, 2. North Putnam 2:53.22

Girls’ meet

No. Putnam 78, Cloverdale 51

SP — 1. Gasho (NP) 29-2, 2. Gilbert (NP) 26-11, 3. Parent (NP) 25-8

D — 1. Gasho (NP) 108.5, Parent (NP) 91.5, 3. Gilbert (NP) 63-11

LJ — 1. Leonard (C) 12-9, 2. Baugh (C) 12-1, 3. McCracken (C) 11-5

HJ — 1. O’Neal (NP) 4-6, 2. Mason (NP) 4-4, 3. Spencer (NP) 4-4

PV — 1. Stoltz (C) 7-0, 2. Rightmyer (C) 7-0

110 hurdles — 1. Sims (NP) 18.47, 2. Stoltz (C) 19.41, 3. Leonard (C) 19.60

100 — 1. A.Oneal (NP) 13.89, 2. E.Oneal (NP) 13.97, 3. Rightmyer (C) 14.00

1,600 — 1. Hensley (NP) 6:59, 2. Abner (NP) 8:23

400 — 1. Spencer (NP) 1:14, 2. Beavers (NP) 1:15, 3. Sims (NP) 1:16

300 hurdles — 1. Monnett (C) 54.00, 2. Sims (NP) 55.16, 3. Renner (C) 58.51

800 — 1. Blankenship (C) 2:53, 2. Rogers (C) 3:15, 3. Shubar (NP) 4:27

200 — 1. Stoltz (C) 30.47, 2. Strausberger (NP) 31.38, 3. Sims (NP) 33.04

3,200 — 1. Hensley (NP) 15.36, 2. Spencer (NP) 17:08

• Eagles, Rox split pair — At South Putnam, the Eagles and Rockville split a pair of meets on Tuesday evening.

South Putnam dominated the boys’ meet by a 107-19 margin, led by multiple wins from Connor Cain, Kieffer Vittetow and Kain Gregory.

“I am very proud of how our guys came out and competed for the first meet of the season,” coach Nathan Aker said. “Our guys have had a great preseason and it showed in this meet.”

Aker noted that Cain had a “tremendous” night, going back-to-back in the 110 hurdles and the 100.

“Kain Gregory had a great first high school track meet, winning both the long jump and the 200,” he added. “We had some additional solid performances in the field events while gaining some valuable experience, and our entire distance crew performed very well.”

Vittetow had “strong” performances, Aker said, in winning both the 1,600 and the 3,200, while placing multiple spots in those events.

“In addition to their work with the sprinters and distance guys, I really like what coach [Heath] Pruitt and coach [Matt] Thoennes have done with our relays,” Aker said. “All three relays were able to bring home first-place finishes. We had a bunch of kids competing and had overall great performances, and our middle distance was strong as well.”

Aker noted that Blake Clearwaters won the 300 hurdles and Austin Rumley won the 800-meter run.

“Jonah Sanders was able to PR in the 300 hurdles,” he said. “He’s had a great offseason and looks really good right now. I really look forward to seeing continued growth and competition out of our group as we go forward.”

Rockville won the girls’ meet by a 57-38 margin.

South Putnam was led by freshman Lexi Vanihel, who won both the 1,600 and 800.

“She is a very driven, hardworking athlete, and I can’t wait to see what else she accomplishes this season,” coach Brandon Welti said. “Sophomores Chelsie Edwards [a transfer from Cloverdale] and Aubrey Barker both put together great performances despite dealing with some injuries over the past few weeks. Once they are fully healthy, I know they will continue improving and performing at really high levels.”

Barker won the high jump and the 300 hurdles, while Edwards won the 400.

Boys’ meet

South Putnam 107, Rockville 19

(South Putnam results)

4x800 relay — 1. South Putnam 9:15.99

110 hurdles — 1. Cain 19.61

100 — 1. Cain 11.97, 2. Thibodeau 12.37, 3. Meynard 13.06

1,600 — 1. Vittetow 5:06, 2. Hinkle 5:35, 4. Bock 6:12

4x100 relay — 1. South Putnam 47.75

400 — 1. Clearwaters 1:03.55, 2. Da.Johnson 1:03.55, 3. Da.Johnson 1:05.00, 4. Edwards 1:09.06

300 hurdles — 1. Sanders 44.44

800 — 1. Rumley 2:10.84, 2. Da.Johnson 3:32.28, 3. Tom 2:36.96

200 — 1. Gregory 24.40, 2. Thiboedeau 25.69, 4. Hatton 29.13

SP — 2. Theis 33-1.5, 4. Bemish 30-8

D — 3. Bemish 77-7

LJ — 1. Gregory 16-11, 2. Zeffel 16-0, 3. Johnson 15-8, 4. Beikman 14-10

HJ — 1. Zeffel 5-6, 2. Gregory 5-6, 3. Hatton 4-8

PV — 1. Theis 7-5

3,200 — 1. Vittetow 10:38.57, 2. Vandermark 10:43.00, 3. Bottorff 11:26

4x400 relay — 1. South Putnam 3:49.47

Girls’ meet

Rockville 57, South Putnam

(South Putnam results)

100 — 2, Young 15.96, 3. Montgomery 16.16, Dugan 16.69

1,600 — 1. Vanihel 5:52

400 — 1. Edwards 1:03.60

300 hurdles — 1. Barker 53.89

800 — 1. Vanihel 2:38.93

200 — 2. Edwards 29.12, 4. Montgomery 34.50

SP — 2. Capps 29-4, 4. Autun 17-6

D — 2. Capps 77-7

HJ — 1. Barker 4-10