North Putnam Cougars | Archive | April, 2008

The Cougars scored their lone run on a second-inning RBI single by Leah Crosby. Ashley Doyle also had a double for North.

Taylor Judy took the loss for the Cougars (6-6, 4-4 WCC),
allowing two runs on just four hits and one walk. The freshman struck
out 10 batters in her six innings of work.

The Cougar problems came at the plate, as they had just four hits and struck out 15 times.

“We’ve got to get more run production,” coach Jim Brothers said.
“We need to get some clutch hits with runners in scoring position.”

North Putnam’s Monday game with Cascade was postponed. The Cougars will now play a doubleheader at Cascade at 5 p.m. today.

At Southmont

North Putnam 010 000 0 — 1 4 2

Southmont 000 002 X — 2 4 0

WP — Addler.

LP — Judy.

2B — A. Doyle (NP).

Next game — North Putnam (6-6, 4-4 WCC) visits Cascade for a WCC doubleheader today at 5 p.m. 

After North Putnam beat South Putnam 19-5 on the Eagles’ home field
Monday, Tuesday’s rematch at North Putnam seemed like a mismatch.

Fortunately, that was not the case.

The Cougars put up two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning
to get a 5-4 come-from-behind win and take the outright lead in the WCC
title chase.

The North (11-2, 7-1 WCC) began with a David Church walk. Tyler
Watson then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance pinch runner C.J.
Lofton to second base. A J.T. Francies infield hit and a Kyle Rooker
intentional walk later, the Cougars had the bases loaded with just one
out.

Cougar coach Norm Fish attempted a squeeze play, but Kyle
Alcorn popped the bunt foul. But when a pitch in the dirt got away from
the catcher, Lofton came home for the tying run.

With the leadoff hitter Francies at third and still just one out, Fish felt good about his chances at this point.

“J.T. Francies did a great job,” Fish said. “I wouldn’t want
anybody at third base other than him in that situation. I knew that on
something just about anywhere, he was going to score. We got about the
worst possible scenario, a blooper, but he still made it.”

That blooper was all they needed, though. The Alcorn pop-up
sent South second baseman Adam Hammond into shallow right field to make
the catch. After a tag, Francies was on his way, beating the throw that
pulled Eagle catcher Derek Dean off the line.

The Cougars had done it, scoring two runs in the final inning without a hit.

“It was one of them games I thought it would be,” Fish said. “I
thought it would come down to the last batter. We shot ourselves in the
foot to let it get to that point, but regardless, I thought it would.”

For the Eagles (8-4, 6-2 WCC), the game was a major step
forward after Monday’s blowout. A loss is a loss, but to standing
toe-to-toe with North after Monday was promising for coach Harold
Campbell.

“I told the kids that this is the proudest I’ve been of them in
my two years. They came in tonight expecting to win the ball game,”
Campbell said.

North Putnam senior Kyle Rooker connects on a two-run home run in the third inning of Tuesday game with South Putnam. Rookers home run put the Cougars up 3-0. They would go on to win 5-4. [Click to enlarge]

The game didn’t begin so great for South Putnam, as Rooker hit a solo
home run in the second at-bat of the game. But South starter Noah
Boswell battled back, holding the Cougars scoreless until the third,
when Rooker again came to the plate.

This time the senior hit a two-run shot to put the Cougars up 3-0.

“North Putnam jumped out with a home run, then a two-run home run,”
Campbell said. “We very easily could have said, ‘Here we go again. We
can’t play with these guys.’ But they knew we were going to get our
runs and they knew we could win this ball game. They played great.”

Down 3-0, the Eagles battled back in the fourth. Each of the
first three batters put down ground balls and the Cougar infield
misplayed each one. After four errors in just three plays, Derek Dean
scored to get the Eagles on the board. A John Spencer groundout then
drove in Brice Steinbaker.

Nathan Welty then drove in Brayden Freeman on an error. A Drew
Cash RBI single closed out the scoring for the inning, but the Eagles
had taken a 4-3 lead.

The onslaught drove NP starter Dahlstrom from the mound,
bringing Rooker to the hill. Fish was happy with how Rooker maintained
control, especially since he had committed some errors earlier in the
inning.

“Kyle did a great job there and filled a big spot for us,
especially after the inning he had in the field,” Fish said. “He
grabbed the baseball and just threw and got us to where we needed to
be.”

With the damage done, Fish simply told his team to stay in it.

“We had an inning we could have just folded. We gave up four and
we were still just down one run,” the coach said. “I told the kids,
‘That’s our bad inning and we’re still in this ballgame. Let’s just
keep ourselves in position to win it.'”

The Cougars were able to do so, holding the Eagles scoreless for the remainder and scrapping together a seventh-inning rally.

While the coaches agreed Tuesday’s game was much more fun than
Monday’s, the contest was not without its mistakes on both sides of the
field. The Cougars committed six errors on the evening, five of them in
the fourth inning. South Putnam left nine runners on base in the game.

Both teams missed signs, missed bunt opportunities and
misplayed balls in the field. The Cougar coaches left thinking the win
could have come more easily. The Eagle coaches were left thinking the
victory could have gone their way.

“Baseball’s a game of catch the ball, throw the ball. And we
kind of butchered it up, kicked it around,” South Putnam Assistant
Coach Emmitt Carney said. “The little details hurt us tonight — missed
bunts, missed signals. Mental errors are key every time. Physical
errors, we can deal with. But the mental errors are something that set
you back.”

“There’s still just a few little things we’re not getting
down,” Campbell added. “Two or three times in this game, if we lay the
bunt down, innings keep going, we mover runners into scoring position.
We knew that their defense was suspect. All we had to do was put the
ball in play and good things were going to happen.”

Moving forward, both head coaches like were their squads are.
For Fish and the Cougars, they are all alone atop the WCC. For Campbell
and the Eagles, they are playing the best baseball they’ve played in
the coach’s two-season tenure.

“I like what I’m seeing. If they play the way they played today
for the rest of the year, it’s going to be a special season for us,”
Campbell said.

The Eagles host Riverton Parke at 4:30 p.m. Friday. North hosts Tri-West at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

At North Putnam

South Putnam 000 400 0 — 4 8 2

North Putnam 102 000 2 — 5 3 6

Boswell and Dean; Dahlstrom, Rooker (4), Berry (7) and Berry and Dahlstrom (7).

WP — Berry.

LP — Boswell.

2B — Welty 2, Hammond (SP).

HR — Rooker 2 (NP).

Next game — South Putnam (8-4, 6-2 WCC) hosts Riverton Parke at
4:30 p.m. Friday. North Putnam (11-2, 7-1 WCC) hosts Tri-West at 4:30
p.m. Friday.

“Dakota had two laser shots,” North coach Jim Brothers said. “She found good pitches to hit and got a hold of them.”

But in a low-scoring game like this, offense wasn’t the whole
key for the Cougars. Freshman pitcher Taylor Judy tossed all 11
innings, allowing just two runs on six hits. She struck out 11 Eagle
batters in the win.

For the Eagles, Oceaia Boetjer relieved starter Samantha Tomasino in the fifth and went the rest of the way to take the loss.

Brothers was also pleased with his team’s defense.

“Several kids made key defensive plays tonight,” Brothers said.
“We had a talk about getting refocused after Monday’s game and the kids
took it to heart.”

The North Putnam JV team also rebounded from a tough loss to defeat South Putnam 5-3 Tuesday.

The Cougars were defeated by the Eagles 12-2 the previous night, but snapped South’s 19-game win streak with their win.

J.C. Wertz provided some power for North Putnam with a triple. Sam Surver and Sam Herrmann recorded two doubles each in the win.

Lauren Green received the win, pitching for eight strikeouts and two walks.

“We came out hot last night. It was nice to avenge that loss and beat a team that good,” North Putnam coach Benny Ault said.

The Cougar JV will host Fountain Central at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

At North Putnam

S. Putnam 100 100 000 00 — 2 6 2

N. Putnam 000 200 000 01 — 3 7 0

Tomasino, Boetjer (5) and Canary; Judy and Malayer.

WP — Judy.

LP — Boetjer.

2B — Boetjer, Tomasino (SP), McGaughey (NP).

HR — Malayer 2 (SP).

Next game — South Putnam (9-2, 6-2 WCC) travels to Tri-West at
4:30 p.m. today. North Putnam (6-5, 4-4 WCC) visits Southmont at 11:30
a.m. Saturday. 

North Putnam senior Austin Malayer chips on hole number eight at Old Hickory Monday. Malayer shot a 42. [Click to enlarge]

The Monday matchup between the North Putnam and Cloverdale boys’ golf
squads resembled a heavyweight bout rather than a golf match. Each team
fought each other hit after hit but it was North that walked away with
the win, nipping the Clovers 158-161.

“Cloverdale has got a really solid team,” North Putnam head coach
David Fox said. “They all have good swings and it was a tough match all
the way around. Really our best players kind of sagged a little bit.

“Maybe be it was a little too much prom last weekend,” he joked.

“Today was our best round to date. A combination of nice weather
and getting some practice this last week I think helped us. But we
played a very good gold team today,” CHS head coach Doug Wokoun
commented. “In a county match you know that everyone is going to bring
their best. So we’re disappointed in some respect, but I think we have
a lot to be optimistic about.”

Each team had a golfer qualify for medalist honors.
Cloverdale’s Michael Glassburn and the Cougars’ Aaron Vondersaar carded
38 to earn the honors.

The teams couldn’t have asked for a better day to hit the course and the scores reflected this fact.

North Putnam’s Jeremy Redman followed close to Vondersaar with a
39, while J.J. Burns had a 40 and Patrick Byrd added a 41. Austin
Malayer came in with a 42 and Kyle Smith had a 46.

“Our freshman came through and pulled it out for us I think.
But that’s what it’s kind of been all year, we don’t know who’s going
to pop up and play well for us. It was a good win,” Fox said.

The Clovers recorded almost identical scores with Sean Rhine
carding a 39, Chris Arnold had a 41 and Mike Wellington and Alex Evans
had 43. Keith Haltom added a 47.

“We really have played a lot better today than what we’ve been
playing and if we can just keep going, I feeling pretty good about
things,” Wokoun said.

Putting was an area that both teams performed well at, with
both squads knocking down long putts at crucial times. Wokoun commented
that all golfers have had to deal with overly damp greens but thinks
that the weather will help the situation.

Cloverdale’s Michael Glassburn drives the ball on No. 4 Monday evening. Glassburn shared medalist honors with a 38 in the Clovers’ loss. [Click to enlarge]

Wokoun also addressed the fact he thinks his team needs to work on the
mental side of the game. Concentration is crucial for the game of golf
Wokoun pointed out and wants his squad to work on theirs.

“I think that we have some concentration issues that we need to
work on. That’s the downside to practicing last week instead of playing
matches,” he said.

North Putnam’s Vondersaar rebounded from a sub-par round at
Turkey Run over the weekend to capture co-medalist honors. Fox spoke
about his team’s ability to rise to the challenge when a teammate
struggles.

“It really is a good thing,” Fox said. “The seniors realize
that if they fall down one round it all right. It takes more than one
guy to win a match and it takes more than one to lose one. We have five
guys that are playing solid and as long as they keep going like this,
I’m really happy with them.”

North Putnam’s junior varsity also defeated the Clovers 186-199.

North Putnam will travel to Deer Creek to face the Cascade and
Owen Valley at 4:30 p.m. today. Cloverdale will compete in a three-way
meet with the Tiger Cubs at Plainfield at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

At Old Hickory G.C.

North Putnam 158, Cloverdale 161

Medalist — Vondersaar (NP) and Glassburn (CHS) 38.

Cloverdale — Glassburn 38, Rhine 39, Arnold 41, Wellington 443, Evans 43, Haltom 47.

North Putnam — Vondersaar 38, Redman 39, Burns 40, Byrd 41, Malayer 42, Smith 46.

Junior varsity

North Putnam 186, Cloverdale 199

Cloverdale — Williams 47, Saunders 48, Witt 51, Cook 53, Deakin 57, Jordan 58, Schroer 60.

North Putnam — Volland 44, Smith 45, Detienne 48, Wiatt 50, Clevenger 50, Brewer 53, Michner 60.

Next meet — North Putnam will travel to Deer Creek to face the
Cascade and Owen Valley at 4:30 p.m. today. Cloverdale will compete in
a three-way meet with the Tiger Cubs at Plainfield at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday. 

Brock Jones connects on a three-run home run in the top of the third inning at South Putnam Monday. Jones has hit four homers in the last four games. [Click to enlarge]

The Cougars (10-2, 6-1 WCC) jumped on the Eagles (8-3, 6-1 WCC) early,
with three runs in the first inning and another in the second.

The second-inning run was the hard luck sort for South, as Cougar David
Church hit a ball to the South Putnam left fielder, only to have the
ball bounce out of his glove and over the fence.

However, the game got really out of hand in the third when Kyle
Rooker and Kyle Alcorn led off the inning with back-to-back home runs.
The next four batters all reached base, with Brock Jones finishing off
South starter Brice Steinbaker’s night with a three-run homer.

Steinbaker took the loss, allowing 10 runs on eight hits, two walks and four home runs.

Reliever Grant Zimmerman fared no better, allowing two more hits and issuing six walks before the inning was over.

All told, the Cougars scored 11 times in the inning, extending a 3-1 lead to a 15-1 lead.

North coach Norm Fish was very happy with the way his team is hitting the ball.

“I think we’re playing with some confidence right now
offensively, and that’s what it takes. Hitting is 99 percent mental,”
Fish said.

For South Putnam coach Harold Campbell, the game turned into a teaching opportunity after the **** third inning.

“We’re a young team and we’re learning every day. Sometimes you
take a game like this and you have to use it as a learning experience,”
Campbell said. “One of the things we’re looking for in our team is that
they never give up. Some of our kids are starting to do that. Some
still have yet to do that so we just have to keep pounding that home.”

The Cougars added two runs in the fourth and two in the fifth,
with Jordan Berry hitting a two-run shot in the fourth and Kyle Rooker
adding a two-run homer in the fifth.

These two seniors led the potent Cougar attack on the evening.
Berry was 5-for-5 with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Rooker
was 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and thee RBIs.

Sophomore Brock Jones has been on a tear of late, having hit four home runs in four games.

The Eagles, on the other hand, could not keep up with the Cougar
output. Brayden Freeman drove in Steinbaker with a second-inning
double. Cameron Chestnut scored on a wild pitch in the fifth.

The main bright spot for South came in the bottom of the fifth,
when two straight players reached on errors before Noah Boswell hit a
monster three-run shot that reached the infield of the softball
diamond.

“You want to finish on a good note,” Fish said “We played good
offense for five innings, but we finished the game on kind of a sour
note defensively. We just gotta keep playing.”

However, Berry kept the Eagle hitters off balance most of the
night. He allowed five runs on six hits and a walk while fanning nine
Eagle batters.

“Jordan’s a competitor and he really likes being out there. He
works hard at it and he throws hard. That just carries over at the
plate. He’s staying focused and doing his job right now. You can’t ask
much more out of him,” Fish said.

For both coaches, the challenge is now getting their players to
forget about Monday and get ready for Tuesday’s rematch at North
Putnam. Campbell reminded his team that, in spite of Monday’s score,
the teams are still tied for the WCC lead.

“We’re still excited. We know we still control our own destiny,
as far as this next game. They’ve evened things up with us in terms of
one loss in the conference,” Campbell said.

“We’re confident with what we’re bringing tomorrow,” he
continued. “North Putnam probably feels like right now we’re a team
they can walk all over. We’ve just got to come out ready to fight and
show them we’re going give it everything we’ve got.”

Fish is fighting hard against that kind of attitude from his team.

“We just have to keep that focus and not take anybody lightly.
This score didn’t mean anything because South is a good baseball team.
They had young pitchers on the mound,” Fish said. “I told our kids,
‘Don’t let that score do anything to you because we were facing young
pitchers and we had a senior on the mound.’

“That’s not really an indication of how close these teams are,”
Fish went on. “Tomorrow’s gonna be a battle and we expect one. And we
hope we’ll be ready for it.”

Noah Boswell will be on the hill today for South, matched up with the Cougars’ Griffen Dahlstrom.

“We have a challenge against Noah Boswell tomorrow and we’re
excited about that,” Fish said. “Our boys are wanting to play and we’re
excited about playing right now. We’re having fun, but we’re staying
focused.”

For the Eagles, their goal of a split with North Putnam is still within reach.

“We didn’t get this first one, but that goal is still achievable
if we do what we need to do tomorrow,” Campbell said. “We expect to
play great baseball and get that win tomorrow.”

At South Putnam

North Putnam 31(11) 22 — 19 15 2

South Putnam 01 1 02 — 5 6 3

Berry and Dahlstrom; Steinbaker, Zimmerman (3), Freeman (7) and Dean.

WP — Berry.

LP — Steinbaker.

2B — Berry 3 (NP), Freeman (SP).

HR — Rooker 2, Church, Alcorn, Jones, Berry (NP), Boswell (SP).

Next game — South Putnam (8-3, 6-1 WCC) visits North Putnam (10-2, 6-1 WCC) at 4:30 p.m. today.