Eagles, Clovers fall in sectional, NPHS advances

Monday, May 25, 2015
North Putnam's Lauren Johnston calls for time as she is called safe at second base. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

CLAYTON -- It was a busy Memorial weekend for Putnam County softball teams as Cloverdale, North Putnam and South Putnam played their sectional bouts on Monday.

The Clovers fell in a defensive battle against Monrovia 2-0 where hits were hard to come by. South Putnam played well offensively, with junior Katie Hewitt knocking two out of the park, however errors led to a 10-6 Eagle loss.

North Putnam will be moving on to face Speedway Tuesday after defeating Covenant Christian 9-1.

The final game of the day featured the most sun in the sky. The weather was windy but pleasant when North Putnam took the field against Covenant Christian.

Morgan Albers of North Putnam earns one of her three RBIs on the day. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The Putnam County champions allowed a run early but then shut the door on Covenant's offense while taking advantage of errors by the Lady Warriors.

"I still didn't think we played our best ball today," NPHS coach Benny Ault said. "I thought when we played Cloverdale on Thursday we played pretty good ball. Today I felt like we had some down spots but its off a Memorial Day weekend. We were slacking at first but it came around."

The offense certainly came around as the game wore on. North Putnam scored two runs in the second, taking the lead behind RBIs from seniors TyeAnn Strow and Morgan Albers.

"We consistently stay up on ourselves," Albers said. "We just keep hitting and stay up. We don't get down. We are playing vey confident."

More Cougar hits led to runs in the fourth. Junior Claire Sims scored her second of three runs when Albers earned a two-run single that also scored Strow a second time. Junior Reilly Tucker then scored on an RBI from Chloe LaPierre.

However North Putnam wasn't done yet. With senior Sabrina Surber's pitching keeping Covenant at bay North Putnam scored three more runs in the fifth . Lauren Johnson was knocked home by Sims who was knocked home by Strow. Johnson then took a score of her own by crossing home plate on a wild pitch.

Surber only allowed two hits with 17 strikeouts on the afternoon.

TyeAnn Strow slides safely into home after a Claire Sims hit. (Banner graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"No errors, that's our biggest goal right now," Surber said. "We want to stay strong and have each other's backs and play all out."

Ault has advised his team to play alert if they want to emerge victorious in the Cascade sectional.

"We got a good draw like I've said," Ault said. "We knew Covenant Christian was going to come out playing well. They've seen us already this year. We haven't seen Speedway. I told the girls that South Putnam played them pretty well today but don't that be deceiving. Don't let your guard down to any team because at any time you can be beat."

The second game of the day between South Putnam and Speedway came with mild showers and shy sunshine. At times the blue sky was evident amid the gray clouds and other times rain pelted the field.

Bats were swinging early and often but the Lady Plugs were able to fend off the Eagles in the 10-6 contest.

"If you look at us at the beginning of the season up until this point it's been about 100 percent improvement as a team," Eagle coach Roshia Sullivan said. "I've got girls in their first year playing and they are starting varsity so I can't ask them for much more than they are giving."

South Putnam's first couple of at-bats didn't yield much. Though junior Makenzi Myers and freshman Lillie Stein each made it to third, South Putnam could not score until the third inning.

Speedway, meanwhile, scored seven runs in the second inning to go up big early. Sullivan, though not completely impressed with the play throughout, was glad to see some players step up in a big game.

Eagle junior Katie Hewitt swings for the fences as she earns her second home run in the Cascade sectional game aganist Speedway. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"Katie Hewitt did awesome," Sullivan said. "I'm so proud of her. I had girls make plays. They got hit by a pitch and found a way to get on. We had a few good hits out of the people from the bottom of our lineup so we had some good things. Unfortunately it just wasn't enough."

South Putnam responded when Hewitt hit her first homer, scoring two runs. The Eagles then held Speedway scoreless for two innings with pitcher Myers striking out one in each the third and fourth.

However, the Plugs scored two in the fifth and another in the sixth before South Putnam could strike back.

When Hewitt walked in the bottom of the sixth inning, she was scored by freshman Addi Blaydes who recorded a single.

Then, in the seventh inning, Hewitt hammered another one, this one deep over the center field fence to score freshman Jessi Holcomb, who was running for Stein.

Those were the last runs for South Putnam who will only lose one senior to graduation. Sullivan says Katelyn Lady will be missed but is looking forward to getting the majority of her Eagles back.

Eagle senior Katelyn Lady (12) tosses the softball to first base after fielding it while pitcher Makenzi Myers (20) ducks and junior Katie Hewitt looks on. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"Katelyn is a senior leader," Sullivan said. "She helped us all year. She's kind of been my utility person. I've moved her from second to first then third and she steps up anywhere I put her. She's definitely going to be missed."

In the first matchup on Memorial Day, Cloverdale played Monrovia in what was the worst weather of the day. Most of the game was played in a light shower with other parts featuring a downpour.

The weather may have contributed to the low-scoring contest but the Clovers were never able to get into scoring position.

CHS had 13 strikeouts to Monrovia's two and the two third-inning runs from the Lady Bulldogs were enough to seal the game.

"I thought we played really well and gave ourselves a chance to pull off the upset," Clover coach Jim Spencer said. "However, we could not string any hits together to get on the scoreboard."

CHS' Lauren Meek winds up for a pitch against Monrovia in the first sectional game at Cascade on Monday. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The pitching by Cloverdale sophomore Lauren Meek kept her unit in the game until the very end of the game. Meek went thee-up-and-three-down four times in the game and forced a ground out in the final inning with two on to give the Clovers a final chance.

The defense behind Meek played well, making all the plays necessary to stay close to Monrovia and only committing one error.

While CHS will lose key infielders such as seniors Jessie Winders, Madi Smith and Christa Asbury and well as outfielder Bailee Stevens, Clover fans have to be happy to see so many underclassmen returning. Many underclassmen played big roles in some of Cloverdale's wins.

"We had great leadership all year from our four seniors," Spencer said. "It led to a successful season. Going forward, everyone returning needs to work on improving in all areas of the game to build on the accomplishments of the last two seasons."

IHSAA Cascade Sectional 44

At Cascade

Game 1

Cloverdale 000 000 0 -- 0 2 2

Monrovia 002 000 0 -- 2 5 0

Meek: 2 Ks

Game 2

South Putnam 002 001 3 -- 6 8 0

Speedway 070 021 0 -- 10 13 0

HR: Hewitt (2)

2B: Meyers

RBI: Hewitt (5) Blaydes

Game 3

Covenant Christian 100 000 0 -- 1 2 6

North Putnam 020 330 1 -- 9 9 2

WP: Surber 14 Ks

2B: Surber

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