Greencastle baseball rolls through weekend; Cloverdale boys’ golf wins Northview Invitational

INDIANAPOLIS -- Greencastle picked up its third win of the season Thursday night with a tight 4-2 win over Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter.

“This was another really good win for our team,” Greencastle head coach Ben Wells said. “Ritter is a very solid team.

“They are well coached, fundamental and won’t beat themselves so we had to match that caliber. We came out a bit flat in the first inning but were able to rebound and play solid the rest of the game.”

The Tiger Cubs trailed 1-0 after the first inning, tying the game in the third when Jaylen Bushong scored on a steal of home.

After the Raiders retook the lead in the fourth, Ben Huff tied the game a second time with a double in the top of the fifth after Keifer Wilson doubled ahead of him.

Treyten Clark provided the game-winning hit with a two-run home run in the sixth which held up in the end.

Wilson picked up the win, pitching six innings, allowing both runs while striking out 13 batters. Clark picked up the save with a clean 1-2-3 seventh, punching out all three batters faced.

“We got another great pitching performance from Keifer,” Wells said about the senior. “He was a little shaky at the start but he settled down and did a really good job of working ahead and keeping the ball low.

“To get six innings from him was a huge boost for us, because we knew we had Treyten ready for an inning if needed.”

Although Greencastle gave up three errors, only one run was scored off the miscues and Wells said the team settled down along with Wilson.

“Our defense has really started to click,” Wells said. “We made some silly mistakes early but overall played another solid game.

“DJ (Wells) has stepped up huge for us behind the plate when Keifer is pitching and that is an invaluable asset to our team.”

Baseball

Greencastle 15, Eminence 2 (5)

After falling behind 2-0, the Tiger Cub offense picked up steam, scoring twice in the second, three times in the third and 10 runs in the fourth for the quick win.

Greencastle scored both runs in the second after a pair of wild pitches allowed runners to scamper home, followed by a two-run inside the park home run by Keifer Wilson and another run on a wild pitch for a 5-2 lead after three innings.

Singles from Owen Huff and Treyten Clark brought in the first two runs of the fourth before a two-run single from Wilson and a two-run double from Ben Huff made it 11-2.

Evan Alexander grounded up to force in a run while Clark added the final run on a single to finish out the scoring.

Owen Huff picked up the win on the mound, giving up the two first inning runs but only allowing a single hit while walking five and striking out 12 batters.

North Putnam 13, Southmont 3 (5)

North Putnam 22, Monrovia 8 (5)

Covington 7, North Putnam 6

Covington 15, North Putnam 0 (5)

An extremely busy stretch for the Cougars ended with a split as the squad played four games in three days.

On Thursday, the bats continued to be hot as Nic Hensley’s three-run home run was the highlight of a quick win over the Mounties.

Hensley’s shot gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead in the third inning while the hosts took advantage of several Southmont errors to add several runs.

Isaac Thomason pitched five innings in the win, giving up six hits and three runs while striking out six.

Friday, North Putnam put on a late-night show at Monrovia, collecting 14 hits as Hensley and Kovey Jeter drove in five runs each.

The Cougars started off with three runs in the first but trailed 6-3 after the inning was over and 8-3 before the bats roared to life with six runs in the third, nine runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth.

Hensley hit his second home run in two days in the top of the first to make it 3-0 but Chase Hutto was unable to get an out to start the game, giving up six runs before being pulled for Brayden Monnett on the mound.

Monnett got out of the first and gave up two runs in the second but shut the door from there on, striking out nine and setting the platform for the offense to get the job done.

Monnett would tie the game with a single in the third after an error, a pair of fielder’s choice plays and a single had all scored runs while Zach Huff took the lead on a double.

Jeter would ground out to bring a run in early in the fourth and singled to add two more later in the inning, giving the visitors an 18-8 lead at that point.

Huff, Patrick and Brogan Woodall each drove in a pair of runs in the win.

Saturday, the Cougars hosted Covington for a doubleheader, suffering their first two losses of the year.

North Putnam trailed 2-0 before a four-run fourth inning where Hensley singled home a run and Gunner Burress plated two to take a 4-2 lead.

A five-run sixth inning from the Trojans turned the game around and despite Patrick scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, the visitors were able to get the final out with a runner on to seal the win,

Huff took the loss on the mound, pitching three innings, giving up five hits and five runs while striking out four. Jeter started the game, throwing four innings, scattering five hits while giving up two runs and walking and striking out three.

Game two saw the hosts run out of steam as Covington collected 13 hits and was aided by 10 North Putnam errors.

Doug O’Hair collected the only hit of the game for the Cougars, a double in the fifth inning, but a pair of strikeouts left he and Burress stranded on the base paths.

Hensley took the loss, pitching two innings, giving up five hits and five runs, one earned, with a strikeout. Codie Proctor pitched two innings, giving up five hits and four runs, none earned, walking two and striking out one. Patrick gave up four hits and six runs, two earned in an inning of work.

Clay City 10, Cloverdale 0 (5)

The Clovers were unable to get the bats going with Brady Koosman and McGuire Lee picking up a hit each in a loss to the Eels.

Drake Hoffa took the loss, giving up seven hits and seven runs in two innings of work, striking out four, while Koosman went 2 2/3 innings, giving up two hits and three runs, none earned, walking three and striking out two.

Softball

South Putnam 7, Covenant Christian 0

A pair of two-run doubles in the sixth inning provided the big scoring punch for the Eagles in a tight game with the Warriors Thursday night.

Ariel Dooley collected one of the two sixth inning knocks, having brought in the game’s first run in the second inning, while Sabrina Leonard followed with the second double to ease the hosts to the finish line.

Leonard scattered six hits in the circle while striking out six to pick up the win.

North Putnam 12, Eminence 2 (6)

Monrovia 7, North Putnam 1

On Thursday, the Cougars rolled past the Eels with Kyla Willis and Emma Williams notching two-run home runs and Karyssa Miller adding a solo shot, along with a two-run double from Brilye Schmitz doing most of the damage.

Kyndal Brewer gave up a pair of runs on four hits while striking out three in the six-inning win.

Friday, however, the bats were restricted to four hits, two coming from Grace Kinkead, while Williams drove in the sole run in the loss.

Miller took the loss, giving up four hits and four runs in two innings, allowing a pair of walks while striking out two. Kinkead allowed five hits and three runs in three innings of work, walking three and striking out three.

Greencastle 13, Lebanon 11

A back-and-forth slugfest ended with the Tiger Cubs bettering the Tigers at Grand Park in Westfield.

Sidney Lantzy drove in seven runs, scoring the first two runs in the first and third before cranking a grand slam in the fourth to give Greencastle a 7-6 lead.

Lantzy added three more runs in the fifth on a bases-clearing triple, eventually stealing home to make it 12-6.

Lebanon answered with five runs in the sixth but Evelyn Briones brought home an insurance run with a triple in the sixth to help preserve the win.

Briones pitched six innings, giving up six hits, 11 runs, three earned, walking four and striking out nine. Allie Beaman got the save with a single and a strikeout in the seventh inning.

Track and Field

Cloverdale finished eighth in the girls’ meet and ninth in the boys’ meet at the Terre Haute North Hall of Fame Track and Field Meet held at Terre Haute South.

Lexianne Dewey had the top finish of the day, finishing third in the pole vault with a clearance of 6-06 while Daphanie Geiger finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run in 14:17.95. The 400-meter relay team of Dewey, Olivia Hemmerling, Emily Mann and Yasmin Sorter finished sixth in 1:01.37 while the 1,600-meter relay team of Hemmerling, Mann, Kiersten Wade and Abby Nees finished fourth in 5:00.44.

Tyson Bridges added a third-place finish in the boys; meet in the 300-meter hurdles in 44.66 while Tayt Jackson finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.72 and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.37. Jackson, Bridges, Jaxton Helton and Levi Johnson finished fifth in the 1,600-meter relay in 4:01.19.

Boys’ Golf

Cloverdale won the Northview Invitational Saturday with a round of 319, beating out Terre Haute North by four strokes (323) and Greencastle by seven shots (326) as the top-three teams.

Eli Kelley paced the Clovers with a round of 76, one stroke off medalist honors that went too Linton’s Andy Clark (75). Zach Thomas was close behind on 78, as was Max Kaufman on 81 while Noah Betz rounded out the scoring with an 84. Carson Caulkins finished with a round of 122.

The Tiger Cubs were led by Keaton Parmley on 77, followed by Tyler Rodgers on 81, Lathen Worman on 83, Vincent Martoglio on 85 and Zane Huber on 86.

“The weather was most challenging with low temperatures and stiff winds, making scoring difficult,” Greencastle head coach Steve Paquin said. “The Cubs had difficulty controlling their drives, iron shots, chips and putts which resulted in too many bogeys, doubles and triples to post a winning score.

“Our players had many opportunities to shoot lower scores, but being early in the year it’s hard to execute shots in the conditions that they played Saturday. For example, last year we shot a 316 with basically the same group of players under much better conditions.

“We will continue to get better with more practice and matches.”