Menu
Cougars rally but fall to Wolves in sectional semifinals
ROCKVILLE — Trailing 4-0 and down a player, it would have been very easy for North Putnam to throw in the towel on the 2022 baseball season against Parke Heritage in the semifinal of IHSAA Baseball Class 2A Sectional No. 44 Monday afternoon.
The Cougars instead battled, bringing the game to within a run at 4-3 after three innings but could not put the pressure on any further as the Wolves scored three more runs in the fifth to help themselves to the sectional final with an 8-4 win.
“We were a timely hit or two away from putting the pressure onto Parke Heritage’s side to the point a pitching change could have happened,” North Putnam head coach Chris Geeser said. “We couldn’t get that hit and they did, a couple of ducksnorts that cost us three or four runs.
“We made contact but just didn’t get the timely hits to apply the next level of pressure to put on them.”
Parke Heritage got off to a great start in the second inning with Josh Heck hitting a sack fly to bring in one run before a wild pitch and throwing error allowed Kyle Harpold to score for a 2-0 lead.
Further issues cropped up for North Putnam when Kovey Jeter was ejected for arguing strikes, depriving the Cougars of their first baseman and a potential arm in the bullpen.
The Wolves added two more runs in the third after Ashton Mrdja singled to bring in two runs, doubling the lead to 4-0.
A four-pitch walk to Doug O’Hair was the start of the visitors’ reply with Isaac Thomason singling behind O’Hair and an error on a Brayden Monnett grounder leading to the first North Putnam run of the game.
Zack Huff doubled to left field in the next at-bat to plate two more runs, cutting the lead to 4-3.
Jaylen Windmiller grounded out to advance Huff but Huff was caught in a rundown to end the inning.
Windmiller, starting for the Cougars on the mound, worked through the fourth but couldn’t navigate the fifth as a walk, a pair of floating singles landed on the fair side of the right field line and an error allowed three runs to score as the hosts extended their lead back out to four at 7-3.
Nic Hensley was able to get out of the jam in relief of Windmiller and the visitors were nearly able to respond.
After two strikeouts to start the bottom of the fifth, Ren Harper and Noble Johnson combined to walk three-straight batters, only for Windmiller to lineout to left field to leave the bases loaded.
Johnson was able to escape more two-out trouble in the sixth before Heck singled home a run to take the game out of slam territory in the top of the seventh.
A walk to Thomasson to start the seventh inning turned into an early run as Monnett singled home Thomason to make it 8-4.
Tony Wood, in for Johnson, was able to get the final few outs, however, ending North Putnam’s season.
The Cougars finished 13-13 with a 5-5 mark in WIC play.
“It’s a tough loss but I was proud of the demeanor of the kids, where we were going into the game as a team and how tight-knit a team we were, probably as close as we were since the first game of the season,” Geeser said. “This season was a sign, for me personally, that building a program doesn’t come overnight, or even in a season or two.
“We did take a step in the right direction this year, improving our record to 13-13 this season, after we were something along the lines of 10-16 in 2021, though we saw ourselves a couple of games better than that. The young guys got a lot of great experience with eight seniors on the team, learning how to handle their business and how to work towards their goals.
“This is a great group of kids and it’s a tough group of seniors to say goodbye to.”
Parke Heritage 022 030 1 — 8 12 3
North Putnam 003 000 1 — 4 3 3
WP — Harper 4 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R (ER), 3 BB, 6 K
LP — Windmiller 4 1/3 IP, 10 H, 7 R (4 ER), BB, 9 K
2B — Johnson (2), A. Mrdja (2); Huff
RBI — Heck (2), Harpuld (2), A. Mrdja (2); Huff (2), Monnett