South Putnam softball gets first win at Cloverdale's expense; Clovers use six-run fourth to beat Eagles in baseball

CLOVERDALE – Big hits, big innings, nifty plays and solid pitching paved the way for the South Putnam Eagle softball team to pick up a county and Western Indiana Conference victory over the Cloverdale Clovers 11-5 on Thursday night.

The visiting Eagles posted a seven-run first inning and a four-run fifth to power their way over the hosts.

Peyton Freeman did a lot of the damage by smacking a three-run double in the first inning, following that up with a two-run home run to left field in the fourth inning in leading the Eagles to the victory.

Alyssa Pingleton and Jaicee Jackson were solid on the mound as the Eagles improved to 1-6 on the season and 1-1 in the conference. The loss dropped the Clovers to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in WIC play.

“We hit the ball better than any other game so far. We left way too many runners on base though. We had a couple innings we had bases loaded and didn’t get any runs,” South Putnam head coach Mark Hamilton said of his Eagles stranding, unofficially, 15 baserunners.

The Eagles wasted little time in getting the action going as Danae Cline reached on an error, followed by two walks and a hit batsman that scored the first run.

That set up Freeman for her first big hit. The junior drove a double to left to bring in three Eagle runners and boosted the lead to 4-0. The Eagles would score three more times in the inning as Joscelyn Pilcher and Cline each had RBI singles.

“I thought it was big in the first inning. We had a miscommunication with a dropped ball in the outfield. We might have been able to get out of the inning, but we have had that problem a few times this year. Sometimes we just can’t get that key out,” Cloverdale head coach Jamie Steffy said.

Cloverdale looked to rally for some runs in the bottom half of the inning as, following Erin Johnson’s double, the Clovers had runners on second and third with no outs, but shortstop Lilah Holderfield took that away as she robbed Keeli Price of a hit, ranging to her right and snagging a line drive, and doubled the runner off of third to end the threat.

Cloverdale did put some runs on the board in the second inning. An RBI double by Hailey Caulkins highlighted a two-run inning, but it could have been even better as Holderfield made her second big defensive play by faking out a runner at second with a pump throw and then picking her off. The Eagles led 7-2 after two innings.

“We made a couple of base running mistakes that hurt us. We did not get hits when we needed to,” Steffy said.

Cloverdale made a game out of it in the fourth by picking up another pair of runs. Caulkins singled and scored on an RBI groundout by Callie Smith while Johnson singled home Abagayle Welton and the game was much closer at 7-4 heading into the fifth inning.

“Our really young infield did a solid job tonight. They really played well,” Hamilton said as the Eagles kept the Clovers from a big inning.

South broke the game open in the fifth. Jackson had an RBI double and Pingleton an RBI groundout to start the inning, then Freeman hit the big shot to left field for a 2-run dinger and an 11-4 lead.

“She (Freeman) knows that we have a lot of talented players coming up. She has to hit the ball to keep her spot and she really came through,” Hamilton said.

Cloverdale did manage to tack on another run in the sixth on another RBI single by Johnson, but it wasn’t enough as Jackson pitched the last three innings in relief of Pingleton as the Eagle pitchers were solid all evening.

“I thought our pitching was pretty good tonight. They kept us in the game and let our defense work,” Hamilton said.

South’s offense was led by Freeman with a double, home run and 5 RBIs. Pingleton, Cline and Pilcher also had multi-hit games for the Eagles. Cloverdale’s Johnson went 4-for-4 on the night with a double and two RBIs, while Caulkins had a pair of hits, as did Andrea Nees.

“We are really young. We will get better. We will go back and get to work and get ready for the county this weekend,” Steffy said.

South Putnam 700 040 0 — 11 9 3

Cloverdale 020 201 0 — 5 8 3

WP – Pingleton 4, Jackson 3

LP – Meyerrose 1, Caulkins 7

2B – Jackson, Freeman (SP), Johnson, Caulkins (CHS)

RBI – Pilcher, Cline, Jackson, Pingleton 2, Freeman 5 (SP), Johnson 2, Caulkins, Smith (CHS)

North Putnam 11, Parke Heritage 1 (6)

A tight contest took a sharp turn in the sixth as the Cougar offense sliced apart the Wolves for eight runs to end the contest an inning early.

North Putnam took a 2-0 lead after three innings following three-straight singles to open the frame and an error that allowed two runs to score.

Parke Heritage got a run back in the fourth after a double though the hosts would restore their two-run lead in the fifth on a Kyndal Brewer single.

The Cougar bats came to life in the sixth with two singles and an error that plated the first run of the inning.

Hailee Daigle brought in a run on a single while Brilye Schmitz plated two runs two batters later.

An error brought in two more runs before patient play at the plate saw a hit batter and three walks force in the winning run.

Parke Heritage 000 100 — 1 3 8

North Putnam 002 018 — 11 10 3

WP – Miller 4 IP, 3 H, R, K

LP — Norman 5 1/3 IP, 10 H, 10 R (4 ER), K

2B — Falls, Sturmer

RBI — Brewer (3). Schmitz, Miller, L. Daigle, H. Daigle

South Vermillion 15, Greencastle 2 (5)

The Wildcats put up 14 runs in the first three innings and didn’t allow a Tiger Cub hit, though the visitors still scored twice as Sydney Lantzy and Emma Hunter both scored on passed balls in the third inning.

Greencastle 002 00 — 2 0 4

South Vermillion 527 1X — 15 13 3

WP — Smith 5 IP, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K

HR — Crouch, Boardman, Minor

2B — Crouch, Boardman

RBI — Crouch (3), Boardman (2), Minor (2), Smith (2), Wilson, Swinford

Baseball

Cloverdale 9, South Putnam 3

A six-run fourth inning provided the Clovers the room they needed to defeat the Eagles in the final game before the Putnam County Tournament Saturday.

Cloverdale nearly missed a chance to start the game with a lead after a double play on a fly ball to center field and a strong throw from Kyle Glasson to third base, getting Levi Hilton at the bag.

An error on Drake Hoffa’s fly ball to right field allowed Layton Duncan to score for a 1-0 lead.

South Putnam got the run back in the top of the second after Glasson doubled and Ashton Nichols grounded out to bring the runner in.

The hosts loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning but Cam Bozell coaxed a pair of strikeouts and infield fly to get out of the jam but Hoffa returned the favor in the top of the third, getting a pair of strikeouts and a throw to home to get Wyatt Mullin to keep the score tied at 1-1.

Bozell wasn’t as fortunate in the bottom of the third after an error and two walks loaded the bases as the sophomore plunked Jayden Sturges and walked Caiden Watts, forcing in two runs as the Clovers led 3-1.

The Eagles got a run back in the top of the fourth after Kenny McDaniel scored on a passed ball but the following half inning decided the contest.

An error and two walks loaded the bases for Ben Campbell, who plated two runs with a single, before Corey Branigan plated another run with a single following an error that allowed a run in to make it 7-2.

Sturges doubled to move Branigan to third, the latter later scoring on an error while Sturges stole home to make it 9-2.

Cloverdale left the bases loaded in the fifth and though Mullin pulled a run back in the sixth with a double, that would not be enough as the Clovers moved to 1-1 in WIC play with the Eagles falling to 0-2.

South Putnam 010 101 0 — 3 9 6

Cloverdale 102 600 X — 9 5 4

WP — Duncan 3 IP, 3 H, R, 2 BB, 3 K

LP — Bozell 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K

2B — Glasson, Mullin; Sturges

RBI — Mullin, Nichols; Campbell (2), Branigan, Sturges, Watts

Girls’ Tennis

Greencastle 4, Edgewood 1

Greencastle 5, West Vigo 0

The Tiger Cubs claimed a pair of WIC road wins over the past week, dropping three sets across the 10 matches played against the Mustangs and Vikings.

On April 7, Greencastle traveled to Edgewood with all four wins coming in straight sets with Allie Landry and Maddie Landry collecting wins without dropping a game, the former defeating Macy Vaughn 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles and the latter winning over Ellie Jackson 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

Caroline Gooch and Sophie Riggle defeated Kaiden Harrington and Cadence Rosemeier at No. 1 doubles 6-3, 6-0 while Liberty Amis and Bella Monnett defeated Olivia Lloyd and Wren Millick at No. 2 doubles 6-2, 6-1.

The only setback came at No. 3 singles where Addie Fowley fell in a super tiebreak to Kimmie Franklin 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.

At West Vigo Thursday, the Tiger Cubs rolled to a sweep with Fowler blanking Bayli Vester at No. 3 singles 6-0, 6-0.

Allie Landry won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles over Avery Lasecki while Maddie Landry defeated Allie Lasecki 6-2, 6-1.

Gooch and Riggle defeated Maddie Bradbury and Lilly Wrin 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles while Amis and Monnett won a super tiebreak over Katelyn Fennell and Preslie Stewart 4-6, 7-5, 10-5.

Track and Field

Mooresville Christian, North Putnam at South Putnam

Boys: South Putnam 68, North Putnam 66, Mooresville Christian 20

Girls: North Putnam 84, South Putnam 50, Mooresville Christian 11

The Eagles held on despite a late charge from the Cougars across the latter half of the track events.

The Eagles recorded 21 of 22 possible points from the throwing events with Preston Pelfrey winning the discus (111-0), Gus Monday second and Ben Teipen third while Aiden Beadles won at shot put (41-09.5) with Teipen second, Pelfrey third and Monday fourth.

Other winners for South Putnam included Cayden Witt in the 100-mter dash (11.9) and 200-meter dash (25.3), Wyatt Switzer in the 110-meter hurdles (16.8) and Fisher Jones in the high jump (5-08), beaten out teammate Hayden Meredith on jump record.

North Putnam winners included Nolan Hackleman in the long jump (22-02) and 400-meter dash (51,2), Jeremiah Miles in the 1,600-meter run (5:02) and 3,200-meter run (11:01) and Myckah Slagle in the 300-meter hurdles (47.0). The Cougars also won the 1,600-meter relay through Slagle, Hackleman, Brayden Monnett and Matt Farrington (3:40) and the 3,200-meter relay though Miles, Monnett, Corie Stancombe and Evan Polley (9:06).

In the girls’ meet, the Cougars cruised with several top finishes, including Callee Riggle in the shot put (32-04), Olivia Stewart in the discus (79-03), Kassidy Hackleman in the long jump (15-01.5) and 400-mter dash (1:06), Saylor Carrell in the high jump (4-0), Addi Osburn in the 200-meter dash (30.1), Maddie Trent in the 800-mter run (2:54) and Kenna Day in the 3,200-meter run (14:48).

North Putnam also won the 1,600-meter relay through Carrell, Hackleman, Trent and Ava Smith (4:48) and the 3,200-meter relay through Day, Trent, Brooke Hensley and Melanie Davies (11:37).

Winners for South Putnam included Bailey Brickert in the 100-meter hurdles (17.6) and 300-meter hurdles (54.4), Jasmine Guzman in the 100-meter dash (13.2), Elise Kendall in the 1,600-meter run (6:18.1)and the 400-mter dash through Brickert, Guzman, Kallie Pastore and Makayla Nicholls (56.3).

Boys’ Golf

Mustang Invitational

Greencastle (5th) 259

Jackson Rodgers paced the Tiger Cubs with a round of 81, followed by Bryson Worman on 87, Zane Huber on 95, Cooper Grable on 96 and Clark Shafer on 99.

South Spencer won the event with a 309, followed by Brownstown Central on 315, Ind. Cathedral on 326 and hosts Edgewood on 341.

“It was a great weather day, warm and sunny,” Greencastle head coach Steve Paquin said. “Only one Tiger Cub had played the course so knowledge of where and how to hit shots made it difficult to score. It was a good learning experience for a young and inexperienced team.”