North Putnam Cougars | Archive | April, 2008

After North was able to place runners at second and third in the
opening frame, South’s Samantha Tomasino was able to get the Cougars’
Carlye McGaughey to fly out to left field ending the threat.

In the bottom of the first, the Eagles’ Krystal Welch led off with a
bunt single, which was followed by a free pass to South’s number two
hitter, Samantha Stanifer. The runners both advanced on stolen bases,
but North Putnam’s Taylor Judy was able to retire the next two hitters
to seemingly get out of the jam. When Katelyn Sibbitt popped lazily to
second, it seemed that the Cougars had escaped any damage, but North’s
Ashley Doyle was unable to make the play, allowing both Welch and
Stanifer to score. The unearned runs were the only tallies of the game
for either squad.

South never again mounted a serious threat, as Judy pitched an outstanding game, allowing only three hits and striking out six.

North had several opportunities in the ballgame collecting seven hits,
and advancing runners into scoring position three more times after the
first inning. Tomasino, who picked up the victory and Oceaia Boetjer,
who collected the save after coming on to relieve Tomasino in the
sixth, did what they had to do and effectively shut down North when the
game was on the line.

North Putnam coach Jim Brothers was at a loss to explain his team’s
inability to come through with plays when they needed to be made: “It’s
the story of our season,” said Brothers. “We just can’t seem to string
hits together when we need them.”

The Eagles’ skipper Evonne Canary was thankful to get a conference
victory: “We knew going in it was going to be difficult, (but) our
girls kept their composure. I’m very pleased with the way we played.”

With the victory, South moves to 9-1 on the season (6-1 WCC). North
Putnam falls to 5-5 overall (2-5 WCC). They are in action again this
afternoon at North Putnam. Game time is 4:30 p.m.

At South Putnam

WP — Tomasino

LP — Judy

Save – Boetjer

2B – Ashley Doyle (NP), Tomasino (SP)

Next game — South Putnam visits North Putnam at 4:30 p.m. today. 

The Cougars responded to the challenge with a nearly flawless 4-0 shutout,
highlighted by Taylor Judy’s 12 strikeout performance on the mound.

Things were scoreless until the bottom of the second inning when Leah Crosby
singled with one down. Elsiana Crosby then laid down a sacrifice that Speedway
misplayed twice, enabling Leah to score. Ashley Curry then followed with an RBI
single, giving North a 2-0 advantage.

Speedway threatened mightily in the top of the fourth when the Sparkplugs 1-2
hitters, Brandy Roth and Brooke Cooper, opened the frame with back-to-back
singles. They advanced to second and third on an unassisted putout by Kayla
Green at first, but Judy was able to strike out Speedway’s four and five hitters
to end the threat.

North Putnam was able to add to its lead in the fifth when Logan Doyle led
off with a deep shot that nearly cleared North’s short porch in leftfield. Doyle
wound up on second and scored when Carlye McGaughey added a two-bagger of her
own. McGaughey then took advantage of two more Sparkplug miscues and motored
home.

Speedway was able to garner two hits in the bottom of the seventh, but didn’t
seriously threaten, as their lead runner was caught in a run down between second
and third to end the ballgame.

Coach Jim Brothers was pleased with his team’s performance: “I thought we did
a good job of putting the ball in play tonight…it’s nice to get a win against
good competition, I think this one gives us some confidence.”

North evens its record to 2-2 (1-2 WCC) on the season with the win.

At North Putnam

Speedway 000 000 0 0 6 6

North Putnam 020 020 x 4 7 0

WP — Judy (2-2)

LP — Tharp

2B — Ashley Doyle, Logan Doyle, Carlye McGaughey (NP)

Next game — North Putnam travels to Speedway at 5 p.m. today for the second
half of this WCC series.

“I take my hat off to Speedway, they played real well,” Cougar head coach
Norm Fish said. “They’re a much improved team.”

The Cougars held the Sparkplugs to one run until the third when North Putnam
allowed four unearned runs in the third. It would be a hole the Cougars couldn’t
overcome.

The Cougars pulled within one after a three run fifth but Speedway responded
with three runs in the top of the six the seal the victory.

Fish expressed concern about the focus of the team, mentioning a few errors
that be believed to be caused my mental mistakes.

J.T. Francies and Shaun Diebold went 2-for-3 while Tyler Watson, Kyle Rooker
and Kyle Alcorn all recorded hits.

North Putnam was without the services of senior Jordan Berry who was out sick
making room for Watson to get the start behind the plate.

Fish acknowledged that the Cougars were basically outplayed in all phases of
the game but believes that his Cougars can turn it around tonight.

“We didn’t look too sharp tonight,” Fish said. “I told them after the game
that we have to find a way to get more focused. We just wait too long. We can’t
just show up and beat people this year.”

North Putnam used three pitchers on the night. Griffen Dahlstrom, Watson and
David Church were on the mound for the Cougars.

The Cougars (4-1) will travel to Speedway today for a 5 p.m. start.

At North Putnam

Speedway 015 003 — 9

North Putnam 000 132 — 6

Next game — The Cougars (4-1) will travel to Speedway today for a 5 p.m.
start.

The CHS girls recorded 11 wins on the day, with Brynlea Mattocks and Ashley
Koosman getting two individual wins in the meet.

Mattocks won the high jump with a height of five-feet even and won the 400
meters in a time of 1:08. Koosman dominated the 100 high hurdles and 300-meter
hurdles with times of 17:05 and 54.9, respectively. Ashley McCallie captured the
800 meters in 3:02.8 and Jenna Lewis in the 3,200 meters with a time of 16:58.

Cloverdale also took the 3,200-meter relay in a time of 12:29 and the
1,600-meter relay with the time of 5:00.26.

The boys had two athletes post two individual wins each. Nick Keefer won the
100 high hurdles with the time of 16.87 and the 300 low hurdles in a time of
42.8. Raine Young won the high jump with a height of 5-feet-6-inches and the
long jump with the distance of 20-feet-5-inches.

Dillin Gray won the 400 meters in a time of 1:00.6 and the 400-meter relay
was victorious with the time of 48.4

Cloverdale will travel to White River Valley with Lighthouse Christian at 5
p.m. today, while North Putnam will host Monrovia and Cardinal Ritter at 5 p.m.
today.

At North Putnam

Girls’ results

Cloverdale 78, North Putnam 45

110 H — 1. Koosman (CHS) 17.05, Mattocks (CHS) 17.94, Mimms (NP) 18,
McCammon (CHS) 19.75

100 — 1. Brock (NP) 14.37, Mimms (NP) 14.38, Rightmyer (CHS) 15, Hodgkiss
(CHS) 15.02

1,600 — 1. Williams (CHS) 6:41, High (NP) 7:09, Schwomeyer (CHS) 7:30,
Salyers (NP) 8:15, Monnett (CHS) 8:31

Shot put — Cheatham (CHS) 32-9, C. Preecs. (NP) 24-6, M. Preecs 21-8, NP
21-4

400 — 1. Mattocks (CHS) 1:08, McGaughey (NP) 1:15, Bettis (CHS) 1:18.9,
Buchannan (NP) 1:22

300 H — 1. Koosman (CHS) 54.9, McCammon (CHS) 58.68, Mimms (NP) 1:01.69,
Hodgkiss (CHS) 1:02.5

200 — 1. Brock (NP) 31.2, Stinson (NP) 32.34, Pina (CHS) 33.41

3,200 — 1. Lewis (CHS) 14:58, Lyons (CHS) 15:34, High (NP) 16:03, Salyers
(NP) 18:16

Long jump — 1. Rightmyer (CHS) 12-7, 2. Lewis (CHS) 11-11.05, 3. Robinson
(NP) 11-9.05, Hodgkiss (CHS) 10-10

High jump — 1. Mattocks (CHS) 5, 2. Koosman (CHS) 4-10, Preecs (NP) 4-6

3,200 relay — (CHS) 12:29

1,600 relay — (CHS) 5:00.26

400 relay — (NP) 58.2, (CHS) 59.38

Boys’ results

North Putnam 62, Cloverdale 61

110 H — 1. Keefer (CHS) 16.87, Mason (NP) 18.41, Fidler (CHS) 18.96

100 — 1. Ban (NP) 11.6, Boller (CHS) 12.2, 3. Couse (CHS) 12.45, Shin (NP)
12.45

1,600 — 1. Quisenberry (NP) 5:24, McLaughlin (NP) 5:40, Clark (CHS) 5:46,
Monds (CHS 5:51

800 — 1. McLaughlin (NP) 2:23.1, Stout (CHS) 2:48.78, Dean (CHS) 2:09.81

400 — 1. Gray (CHS) 1:00.6, Breen (NP) 1:01.7, Paul (NP) 1:01.8, Green (CHS)
1:04.8

300 H — 1. Keefer (CHS) 42.8, Mason (NP) 46.57, Dean (CHS) 52.21, Fidler
(CHS) 52.94

200 — 1. Boller (CHS) 25.4, Couse (CHS) 25.9, Breen (NP) 27.21, Adams (NP)
27.79

3,200 — 1. Quisenberry (NP) 12, Clark (CHS) 12:56.6, Dean (CHS) 13:35,
Fidler (CHS) 13:47

Shot put — 1. Keyt (NP) 38-4, Vondersaar (NP) 36-11.05, Moore (CHS) 35-4.05,
McGaughey (NP) 34-7.05

Discus — 1. Keyt (NP) 124-3, Vondersaar (NP) 112-10, Everet (NP) 106-11,
Moore (CHS) 98-10

Long jump — 1. Young (CHS) 20-5, Ban (NP) 20-1, Boller (CHS) 18-10, Keefer
(CHS) 18-9.05

High jump — 1. Young (CHS) 5-6, Adams (NP) 5-4

3,200 relay — (CHS) 10.02

1,600 relay — (NP) 3:55

400 relay — (CHS) 48.4

Next meet — Cloverdale will travel to White River Valley with Lighthouse
Christian at 5 p.m. today, while North Putnam will host Monrovia and Cardinal
Ritter at 5 p.m. today.

But in less-than-climactic fashion, the Covington pitcher walked the Cougars’
Griffen Dahlstrom, sending J.T. Francies home for the winning run. The Cougars
had a 4-3 walk-off win.

Exciting or not, it was a win in a tough game, so no one was complaining.

North Putnam’s Jordan Berry lays down the game-tying sqeeze bunt in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 4-3 win. [Click to enlarge]

The Cougars (3-0, 2-0 WCC) had actually
made the most exciting play of the game earlier in the seventh. Down to their
last two outs, but with two runners in scoring position, Coach Norm Fish called
a squeeze play. Senior Jordan Berry laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Brock
Jones and tie the score at three.

Fish was proud of Berry’s team-first attitude.

“No kid loves hitting gap doubles and swinging the bat more than Jordan
Berry, and I had to ask him to squeeze in the seventh. He said, ‘Fine, I’ll do
whatever I have to do to help us win.’ He gets the bunt down and gets the tying
run in to help us win,” Fish said.

It was that brand of selflessness as well as senior leadership that got the
Cougars to their third win of the season.

“Today, all four seniors (came through),” Fish said. “Without them, this is a
different ball game for different reasons. One is stepping up and making the
plays. The other big thing was keeping our team in a position where they didn’t
panic. You could tell they knew they were going to have a chance to win this
ball game.”

David Church, in his first start as a varsity pitcher, gave the Cougars more
than five quality innings while surrendering just three hits. If not for a
couple of defensive miscues in the sixth, Fish thought he could have finished
the game.

“He looked awful good out there today for his first appearance. He had great
control and did an excellent job,” Fish said. “If we make a couple of routine
plays, David Church throws a complete game, which I would’ve bet a million
dollars he’d have never done in his first game.”

But the Cougar defense opened the sixth with a misplayed grounder and an
error on a fly ball. When Church walked the bases loaded, Fish called on fellow
senior Kyle Rooker.

“Kyle Rooker — I can’t say enough about him. He’s been struggling with his
arm for a couple of years and he comes in to help his team out and looks good.
He went out there for the team; he didn’t do it for himself,” Fish said.

Although the first batter Rooker faced collected a two-RBI triple, he did not
surrender another hit in two innings and kept North in a position to make its
comeback. He struck out one in two solid innings to get the win.

Offensively, Rooker was also the day’s star. He doubled to drive in Francies
in the first and led off the fourth with a homer to put the team ahead 2-1.

Francies, the fourth senior, was hitless, but got on base twice and found a
way to score both times.

“I can’t say enough about the seniors. All of them found a way to come in and
help, Fish said.

For Covington, starter Cyle Knecht went five innings, allowing four hits and
two runs while fanning six. Reliever Nick Paris allowed no hits in
one-and-two-thirds innings, but walked five and allowed two runs to take the
loss.

On the day, Fish was happy with how his entire team performed.

“Everybody stepped up and played great. Our defense was good except for that
one inning,” he said.

In a mix of veterans and new players, the coach said his older guys are
carrying the weight they have to at this point. He looks for this load to
lighten as the season progresses.

“Our first five or six guys with experience are really carrying this for the
guys who need to get experience. That’s the way it’s going to be for a few
weeks, and then we should get more solid and consistent as the season goes on,”
Fish concluded.

North Putnam hosts Speedway in a WCC game today at 5 p.m.

At North Putnam

Covington 001 002 0 — 3 4 3

North Putnam 100 100 2 — 4 4 3

Knecht, Paris (6) and Williams; Church, Rooker (6) and Berry.

WP — Rooker (1-0).

LP — Paris.

2B — French (C), Rooker (NP).

3B — French (C).

HR — Rooker (NP).

Next game — North Putnam (3-0, 2-0 WCC) hosts Speedway at 5 p.m. today.

Judy struck out nine of the 15 batters she faced while yielding no base
runners all evening.

After two strong outings on Monday and Tuesday against Greencastle, Judy had
17 good innings under her belt, but an 0-2 record to show for it. She made up
for it on Thursday, though.

Cougar coach Jim Brothers thought it was good for his entire team to pick up
the victory.

“Taylor was really strong. It was good for our confidence to get that win,”
Brothers said.

The Cougars scored their 18 runs on 10 hits, so Brothers said his team did a
good job of staying focused when the Eel pitchers were missing the strike zone.

Dakota Malayer and Judy each had a double and three RBI. Ashley Curry had two
singles and three RBI. Leah Crosby also collected a pair of singles.

The coach was pleased with the way his team improved in several areas of the
game after Wednesday’s practice, noting that their defense, base running and
patience at the plate were all sharp on Thursday.

The Cougars (1-2, 0-2 WCC) host conference rival Speedway at 5 p.m. Monday.

The game was shortened due to darkness.

Tyler Watson had five strikeouts while allowing just one hit in four innings
on the mound.

The offensive highlight came in the fourth inning as J.T. Francies, Kyle
Rooker and Brock Jones all hit home runs as part of a 10-run inning.

Jordan Berry was 2-for-2 with three RBI. Darrick Wyatt was 2-for-3 with two
RBI and a double. Rooker went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer.

North Putnam (3-0, 2-0 WCC) hosts Covington at 11 a.m. Saturday.

At Turkey Run

North Putnam 302 (10) — 15 10 1

Turkey Run 000 0 — 0 1 1

Watson and Berry; Canfield, Jeffers (3) and Martin.

WP — Watson.

LP — Canfield.