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Jeter, North Putnam stroll past South Putnam
ROCKVILLE – A round of rain that passed over Stan Gideon Field delayed the start of the opening game of IHSAA Baseball Class 2A Sectional No. 44 by an hour.
As it turned out, it was just an extra hour North Putnam had to wait to collect a straight-forward win as Kovey Jeter tossed five innings of one-hit baseball in an 11-0 win over South Putnam.
“We played pretty close to a perfect game,” North Putnam head coach Chris Geeser said. “Kovey dealt, throwing 60 pitches in five innings and gave up one true hit.
“Our defense was lights out and when they play like that with a pitcher that’s pounding the zone, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
“I saw in pregame that we just weren’t ready,” South Putnam head coach Kurt Kyle said. “We’ve been struggling all year hitting and we don’t know how to fight back yet but we’re getting there.”
Following a scoreless first inning, the Cougars began their offensive efforts in earnest as Jeter drew a four-pitch walk from Gavin Eyster before Kaden Helderman singled and Gunner Burress drew a walk to load the bases.
Doug O’Hair doubled to right field to plate the first two runs of the game before Isaac Thomason and Brayden Monnett drew walks, forcing a run in to make it 3-0.
O’Hair would score on a passed ball before a Zack Huff ground out made it 5-0.
Jaylen Windmiller drew the fifth walk of the inning, signaling the end of the outing for Eyster on the mound with Trystan Smithers entering in relief.
Windmiller was thrown out going for second base and Nic Hensley struck out to end the inning but not before a balk made it a 6-0 North Putnam lead.
Jeter cruised through the next two half innings and was in charge of a 10-0 lead by the time the bottom of the fourth inning rolled around.
Thomason led off the top half of the frame with a double, moving to third on a passed ball and scoring on a Huff single.
Huff was the second runner gunned down going for second by Aidyn Battin behind the dish but walks to Windmiller and Hensley set up Jeter for a two-out, two-RBI double to make 9-0.
Back-to-back singles from Helderman and Burress brought Jeter in before Smithers could finally get out of the inning.
The Cougars would add one extra run in the fifth after Thomason doubled, moved to third on a balk and scored on a Brayden Monnett ground out.
Donald Scruggs ensured Jeter would not go without giving up a hit by singling to start the bottom of the fifth but two strikeouts and a pop out later, North Putnam was off to the sectional semifinal Monday afternoon.
South Putnam finishes the season 3-15 with a 1-9 record in WIC baseball play.
“It was a tough one this year,” Kyle said. “We had kids playing in different spots with a few young kids out there.
“We’re going to get better. We’ll take this offseason, with the kids playing fall sports doing well and the others practicing and getting better for next year.”.
North Putnam will take on hosts Parke Heritage in the second semifinal Monday with Geeser
“We’ve had the same mentality of us needed to play our game but when we played (Parke Heritage) in the regular season, we didn’t play North Putnam baseball,” Geeser said. “They’re a good ball club and they’re the champs until they get knocked off.
“We need an effort like tonight where our defense is rock solid, our pitcher is pounding the zone and our bats are hot.”
North Putnam 060 41 — 11 10 1
South Putnam 000 00 — 0 1 0
WP — Jeter 5 IP, BB, 7 K
LP — Eyster 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 BB
2B — O’Hair, , Jeter, Thomason
RBI — O’Hair (2), Monnett (2), Huff (2), Jeter (2), Burress