County teams navigate wet week with multiple wins on baseball, softball fields; Cloverdale, North Putnam split track meet

CLINTON -- Three runs to start the game provided Greencastle with the platform in needed to pick up a second win of the 2022 season with an 8-4 victory over South Vermillion Wednesday evening.

Evan Alexander and Ben Huff both had two RBIs with DJ Wells and Owen Huff also knocking in runs.

Wells pitched five inning, giving up four hits, three earned runs and a walk while fanning seven. Keifer Wilson and Treyten Clark each added an inning of work to get the lead safely over the line.

“I knew coming into this season that pitching was going to be one of strengths and that has been the case in our first two games,” Greencastle head coach Ben Wells said. “DJ pitched a great game for us. He did a really good job of keeping the ball down and rolling ground balls.

“Our defense made a lot of strides last night as well. We are a team that will have a lot of people moving around to different positions and we looked a lot more comfortable out there tonight.”

Baseball

North Putnam 12, North Montgomery 6

A big sixth inning from the Chargers was met in kind by the Cougars to ensure a win Monday night.

Nic Hensley, Kovey Jeter and Brayden Monnett drove in a pair of runs each for North Putnam, the latter knocking in a pair of runs in the sixth after North Montgomery had turned a 7-2 lead into a 7-6 contest, only for the Cougars to hit back with five runs in the bottom of the inning.

Jaylen Windmiller pitched five inning, giving up two hits and an earned run while striking out six. Zach Huff was hit for four runs in his inning of work while Hensley shut the door in the seventh with a clean inning, including two strikeouts.

South Putnam 11, South Vermillion 10

Six different batters drove in at least one run Monday night as the Eagles beat the Wildcats in a topsy-turvy affair in Clinton.

Wyatt Mullin, Luke Switzer, Ethan Harcourt and Wyatt Switzer each had two RBIs each with Mullin adding a double and triple while Wyatt Switzer also hit a double; both batters also scored three runs apiece. Caden Switzer and Ayden Battin also added an RBI each.

Donald Scruggs started and pitched three innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out three while Gavin Eyster was hit hard in his inning of work, surrendering six runs. Trystan Smithers pitched the remaining three innings, giving up three hits and a single run while striking out five.

Cloverdale 4, Dugger 2

Brady Koosman had a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs to help the Clovers past the Bulldogs Monday night.

Koosman, Levi Hilton and McGuire Lee each had a double with Hilton also driving in a run among his four hits on the day.

Hilton also dealt a complete game on the mound, giving up four hits, two earned runs and two walks while striking out six.

Softball

Cloverdale 5, Dugger 1

Keelie Price and Andrea Nees both had RBIs as the Clovers scored twice to start the game and added three more runs in the third to win their season opener over the Bulldogs Monday night.

Hailey Caulkins took to the circle, giving up a run in the seventh inning but otherwise scattering four hits in a complete game effort, allowing a walk while striking out eight.

Cascade 8, North Putnam 0

North Putnam 13, Covenant Christian 2 (5)

The Cougars had four hits scattered over seven innings Monday night in a shutout loss against the Cadets.

Samie Hoops, Grace Kinkead, Emma Williams and Ashley Weir all reached base but were stranded by Cascade.

Kyndal Brewer gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in the circle, striking out four in 5 2/3 innings while Kinkead allowed three hits and two earned run in relief.

North Putnam faired far better on the road the next night as Brewer had five RBIs on four hits, including a home run and double, while Williams plated three runs, Brilye Schmitz and Karyssa Miller knocked in a pair of runs each and Kyla Willis had two doubles.

Miller got the win, pitching four innings, giving up three hits and two runs. Kinkead added an inning of relief in the circle.

South Vermillion 10, South Putnam 0 (5)

Lebanon 10, South Putnam 2

The Eagles were limited to just three hits Monday night as the Wildcats cruised to an early week win.

Danae Cline, Sabrina Leonard and Ariel Dooley each collected a hit as the hosts put up four runs each in the second and third before adding a final run in the fifth.

Leonard took the loss, pitching three innings and giving up nine earned runs. Jaicee Jackson had a clean fourth inning but surrendered a run in the fifth that would end the contest.

South Putnam had eight hits Tuesday at Lebanon but only managed runs in the fifth and seven innings with Leonard driving in both.

Leonard gave up four runs in four innings in the circle while Jackson was hit hard for six runs in two innings of work.

Clay City 8, Greencastle 4

A six-run third inning would prove to be too much for the Tiger Cubs to overcome in their season opener Monday night.

Makenzie Epley, Emma West, Evelyn Briones and Raigan Chavez all drove in a run with Epley and Emma Hunter having two hits each and Briones notching a triple.

Allie Beaman took the brunt of the damage in the circle, giving up seven runs on six hits with five walks and three strikeouts, allowing a pair of home runs in three innings of work. Haley Iseman worked three innings as well, giving up a run and five hits while striking out two.

Track and Field

Cloverdale and North Putnam split a dual meet Tuesday night with the Clovers winning the girls’ meet 41-38 and the Cougars winning the boys’ meet 97.5-25.5.

The visitors got a leg up in the girls’ meet by winning all three relays, winning the 3,200-meter relay in 12:15, the 400-meter relay in 59.23 and the 1,600-meter relay in 4:51.81, the latter by a mere .16 seconds over North Putnam, deciding the meet in the favor of the Clovers.

Cloverdale picked up individual wins from Ella Szczerbik in the 800-meter run in 2:48.53 and the 3,200-meter run in 13:43, Abigail Nees in the 1,600-meter run in 6:23 and Olivia Hemmerling in the 400-meter dash in 1:11.93.

North Putnam winners included Saylor Carrel in the 100-meter hurdles in 20.06 and high jump with a clearance of 4-04, Addison Osburn in the 100-meter dash in 14.34 and 200-meter dash in 30.39, Jacey Huffman in the 300-meter hurdles in 57.58, Callee Riggle in the shot put with a throw of 25-05.5 and Olivia Stewart in the discus with a throw of 71-05 and long jump with a distance of 12-07.

The Cougars cleaned up the boys’ meet, sweeping the top spot in all 15 events, including wins in the 3,200-meter relay in 9:41, the 400-meter relay in 48.45 and the 1,600-meter relay in 4:01.11.

Individual winners for the hosts included Nolan Hackleman in the 400-meter dash in 54.34, 200-meter dash in 23.51 and the long jump with a distance of 19-03, Gabe Garcia in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.99 and 300-meter hurdles in 40.73, Jeremiah Miles in the 1,600-meter run in 5:14 and 3,200-meter run in 11:07.20, Trevor Roseboom in the shot put with a throw of 34-04.25 and discus with a throw of 97-08, Paxton O’Brien in the 100-meter dash in 12.23, Corey Stancombe in the 800-meter run in 2:26.63 and Matt McHargue in the high jump with a clearance of 5-04.