Greencastle rolls North Putnam again; Cougars get walk-off win over Tiger Cubs

ROACHDALE- Kiefer Wilson and Treyton Clark combined to throw 13 strikeouts and four Tiger Cubs had multiple hits as Greencastle handed North Putnam a 9-3 home loss Tuesday evening.

North Putnam would strike first in the conference match-up. Brayden Monnet opened the bottom of the first with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then would score on an RBI groundout from Jaylen Windmiller to take a 1-0 lead.

Greencastle struck back in the second with back-to-back-to-back doubles from Treyton Clark, DJ Wells and Evan Alexander. Clark and Alexander would both score on wild pitches while Wells scored on Alexander’s double. The Cubs went up 3-1.

The Cougars used a disciplined plate approach, looking to go up the middle and grabbing four hits in the bottom of the second. Kovey Jeter started off with a double, Brogan Woodall then singled and stole second and Doug O’Hair brought them both home with a sharp single to center to tie the game at 3-3.

Greencastle retook the lead in the third. Wilson was hit by a pitch and Wells singled to set the stage. Wilson scored after a Cougar error and Alexander drove in Wells with a single to put them up 5-3.

The Tiger Cubs would add four more in the fourth to stretch their lead. Owen Huff reached on an error, Chase Carrington singled and Jaylen Bushong also reached on an error to set the table.

Wilson drove in two with a single while Ben Huff brought in two more with a double to deep center. Greencastle now led 9-3.

Both pitchers settled in, taking advantage of a generous strike zone to keep each other at bay. Cougar starter Kovey Jeter finished with seven strikeouts over seven innings. Wilson would finish with 11 strikeouts of his own over six innings. Treyton Clark pitched the seventh for the Cubs, striking out two of his own.

Greencastle moves to 8-4 on the season and have a quick turnaround as they host Owen Valley Wednesday and travel to Southmont on Thursday. North Putnam falls to 6-5 on the year and travels to Northview on Wednesday and hosts Cascade on Thursday as they hit a rough part of their schedule.

Greencastle 032 400 0 — 9 12 1

North Putnam 120 000 0 — 3 8 3

Batting - (G) Wells 3-4, Alexander 3-4, Wilson 2-3, B. Huff 2-3; (N) Huff 2-3, 6 players 1-3

RBI - (G) Wilson 2, Huff 2, Alexander 1; (N) O’Hair 2, Windmiller 1

2B - (G) Huff 1, Clark 1, Wells 1, Alexander 1; (N) Jeter 1

WP - (G) Wilson 6IP 7H 2BB 11K 3R 3ER; Clark 1IP 1H 0BB 2K 0R 0ER

LP - (N) Jeter 7IP 12H 1BB 7K 9R 7ER

Cougars walk-off to reverse county tournament bout over Tiger Cubs

BAINBRIDGE – Tuesday’s rematch between Greencastle and North Putnam on the softball diamond started verily similarly to the opening game of the Putnam County Championship.

The difference came in the final at-bats as the Tiger Cubs did not find any runs after the second inning whereas the Cougars, not having a second gap to close, ended the night in style as Emma Williams walked off with a solo home run to cap an 8-7 win.

Greencastle started the game with five-straight hits, Emma Hunter driving in the first run on a single while another came home on Emma West’s double and a third on Mackenzie Epley’s single for a 3-0 lead.

Allie Beaman added a three-run home run to double the gap to 6-0 with just a single out recorded in the game.

Grace Kinkead was able to get the final two outs to get out of the inning and North Putnam was able to pull a run back when Samie Hoops hit a solo shot to left field.

The Tiger Cubs got the run back on a error on a throw to third but couldn’t add a second run after a West triple.

A single, an error and a bunt single set up two-run knock for Ashley Weir in the second to chip a bit of the deficit away and the Cougars continued their work in the third inning.

Kinkead tripled and would get an easy run home after Brilye Schmitz slammed a two-run home run to cut the gap to 7-5.

Karyssa Miller hit a second triple in the inning and Ashlynn Stacks landed a ball in the outfield to get Miller home to make it a 7-6 game.

From there, tension built as Kinkead had settled in in the circle while Evelyn Briones replaced Beaman after the third inning, leading to a scoreless stretch that saw the hosts waste a bases-loaded fifth after an infield fly and a throw out at home.

Kyndal Brewer took over for North Putnam in the sixth and continued to keep Greencastle’s bats silent, allowing the hosts to tie the game in the sixth.

Hoops singled and was able to move over to third, scoring on a Kinkead grounder, though Kinkead, reaching third herself, was unable to score to give the home team the lead.

That would not matter once Williams came up and belted a 1-0 offering over the center field fence to end the game with aplomb.

Both teams return to WIC play Wednesday as Greencastle hosts Owen Valley while North Putnam travels to Northview with both games starting at 5:30 p.m.