HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Cubs, Bennett add to trophy collections

Monday, May 15, 2017
Greencastle junior Jake Bennett captured medalist honors at Saturday’s Western Indiana Conference tourney at Idle Creek in Terre Haute.
Contributed photo

TERRE HAUTE – Greencastle continued its strong boys’ golf performances this season by winning its first-ever Western Indiana Conference championship on Saturday at Idle Creek.

The Tiger Cubs shot a 338 to edge second-place Northview by seven strokes. Jake Bennett paced the Tiger Cubs by taking medalist honors with a 76.

Bennett was joined on the all-conference team by teammates Jaxon Parmley (sixth with an 84), Blaise Hasty (12th with an 88) and Conner Taylor (14th with a 90).

Greencastle’s Kyle Tesmer shot a 92 and missed all-conference honors by one stroke.

South Putnam’s Tyler Hicks finished 10th to also earn all-conference recognition.

Greencastle coach Steve Paquin thought his team played some good golf on a difficult course.

“The slick, undulating greens and very tight fairways made accuracy important,” he said. “The weather was very nice, which made playing a tough course enjoyable. The Cubs are continuing to improve in ball striking, but still struggle with chipping and putting.”

Paquin knows his team still has corrections to make as state tournament play approaches in a few weeks.

“As the season winds down, it’s imperative that the short game gets better, too many 3 putts and inaccurate chips will make scoring difficult at the sectional.”

Cloverdale’s Zach Nichols led his team with a 92, and also missed all-conference honors by one shot.

Zarek Wellington added a 94, while Drew Boyette shot a 101, Wyatt Helterbrand shot a 123 and Tyler Harrison had a 128.

“It was a very difficult day for us,” Cloverdale coach Doug Wokoun said. “Zach and Zarek both had some stretches of good play, but found enough trouble to ruin good efforts. It was particularly disappointing for Zach, who missed all-conference by one stroke.

“Drew has continued to struggle with timing and swing issues, but I hope they are starting to come around.”

Wokoun has great respect for what Greencastle’s Bennett and his teammates accomplished last week, winning the county tournament title on Thursday and following that up with the conference crown on Saturday.

“Jake Bennett played two great rounds in three days,” Wokoun said. “He and his teammates were very impressive. Jake is a very talented young man, but has also put the time in to excel.

“Talent only takes you so far, the rest is just hard work,” he added. “His medalist honors are not an accident or fluke – he has earned those awards by putting in the time to be a champion.”

North Putnam coach Earl Hall thought his team played well on Saturday.

“This year’s North Putnam Cougars played their very first WIC Tourney and got their very first look at Idle Creek golf course,” he said. “Te two happenings presented interesting outcomes and surely lasting memories. And for the first time this year, two young players led the efforts for the Cougars.”

Zane Mason led North Putnam with a 115, while R.J. Batchelor was second for the Cougars with a 120.

“Those scores are outstanding, especially when considering that Zane and R.J. are both playing in their very first year of competitive golf,” Hall said. “Both of these young men joined the golf team and the golf game just barely two months ago and they continue to show improvement as they seek to learn all the intricacies of the game of golf.”

Marcus Burdine added a 125 for the Cougars and Peyton Myers had a 138.

“The scores do not seem all that impressive but considering the youth in age and experience, the boys are playing hard, working harder, and showing improvement which is all part of this year’s goals,” Hall added. “North Putnam would like to congratulate and salute the Greencastle Tiger Cubs for both their winning the WIC and for their Jake Bennett, who was individual medalist.”

Team scores – Greencastle 338, Northview 345, Edgewood 360, West Vigo 373, Owen Valley 382, Indian Creek 383, Sullivan 397, Brown County 397, Cascade 405, Cloverdale 410, South Putnam 425, North Putnam 498

All-conference players – Jake Bennett (Greencastle), Parker VanNess (Brown County), Clayton Buck (Northview), Noah Cox (Sullivan), Austin Langley (Edgewood), Jaxon Parmley (Greencastle), Luke Weaver (Northview), Jackson Wendel (Edgewood), Dakota Grier (Owen Valley), Tyler Hicks (South Putnam), Jalen Satterfield (Northview), Blaise Hasty (Greencastle), Hunter Meredith (Indian Creek), Conner Taylor (Greencastle), Alex Baker (West Vigo), Chandler Donahue (Indian Creek)

Cascade 167, Cloverdale 184 — At Deer Creek on Monday, Cascade’s Jackson Franchville shot a 36 to win medalist honors in leading the Cadets to the win.

Zarek Wellington led the Clovers with a 44, while Drew Boyette had a 45, Zach Nichols had a 47, Jason Miller had a 48 and Tyler Harrison had a 58.

“Jackson Franchville played an excellent round,” Clover coach Doug Wokoun said. “It was a shame he wasn’t available for the conference on Saturday, because he would have contended for the medalist.”

Wokoun thought Wellington played “a fantastic round, even though his score does not indicate it,” and he was pleased with his effort.

“Drew has started to get some things put together, but struggled a little with his putter,” Wokoun added. “Zach played pretty well, but had one hole that really killed his round.

“Jason played much better, but he still has some easy things to fix,” he added. “He will get better pretty quickly if he can manage those things.”

Wokoun thought Harrison started well but ran into two bad holes back-to-back, and was encouraged overall.

“There is some reason for optimism after our effort in this match,” he said. “We did many things better, and we hope to build on those things this week. We missed Wyatt Helterbrand due to illness, but he should be back pretty soon.”

Baseball

Greencastle 3, Cloverdale 1 – With the score tied at 1-1 after six innings, Greencastle came up with two runs in the top of the seventh game to pull out the victory.

“This was a very well-played game on both sides,” Greencastle coach Ben Wells said. “Pitching and defense for both sides were spectacular. We made some bad base running decisions that cost us early in the game, but our defense and pitching were able to keep us in it.”

Jacob Harris led off the top of the seventh inning with a walk, and one out later he advanced to second on a single by Abe Wade for the team’s second hit of the game.

Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and after an infield popup No. 9 hitter and pitcher Tanner Sanders came to the plate, lining a ball into right center to score both runners.

“I could not have asked for a better moment for Tanner to get his first varsity base hit,” Wells said. “On top of that Tanner pitched a great game, often battling out of tough situations. Gus Manion came in and closed the door in the bottom with a seven-pitch save.”

Harris added the team’s other hit, while Jackie Scanland had the other RBI.

“It was a great game and a big win for us,” Wells said. “I was very proud of how we kept our composure throughout and never crumbled. I really can’t say enough about how we have been pitching and playing in the field the last three games.

“We have been filling up the zone with a lot of strikes and our defense has been making almost every play in the field,” he added. “It is a great feeling for our pitchers to know that they can pitch to contact and plays will be made.”

Greencastle 100 000 2 – 3 3 1

Cloverdale 010 000 0 – 1 8 1

WP – Sanders.

Softball

Cloverdale 16, Greencastle 3 – In a battle between the two fourth-place teams in the Western Indiana Conference, Cloverdale scored in every inning on its way to claiming seventh place in the league standings.

Lauren Meek improved her pitching record to 12-3 with the victory, striking out three batters, as the Clovers improved to 16-4.

Tori Combs ripped her ninth home run of the season for the Clovers, adding two singles and three RBI. Kelsey Helterbrand added a home run, double and three singles with four RBI, while Baylee Hamilton had three singles and a double and Kiley Shedron had three singles, a double and four RBI.

“It was a really solid night for Cloverdale in all phases of the game to get an important win at Greencastle,” Cloverdale coach Jim Spencer said.

Cloverdale 212 227 – 16 21 1

Greencastle 200 100 – 3 8 4

WP – Meek (12-3)

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