South Putnam Eagles | Archive | April, 2008

For the girls, the meet opened with a school record in the 3,200
relay. The team of Shannon Egold, Lauren Haynes, Amanda Lund and Rachel
Egold ran a 10:58.3 to eclipse the old mark and finish second.

Eagle coach Kate Atkinson was proud of her team, but said this was something they had expected.

Rachel Egold runs the anchor leg of the school-record setting 3,200 relay team. The team of Shannon Egold, Lauren Haynes, Amanda Lund and Rachel Egold ran the event in the time of 10:58.3. [Click to enlarge]

“They work their butts off. We knew it would just be a matter of time
this year before they would break the record,” Atkinson said. “I won’t
be surprised if they break it and lower it a couple more times this
season.

“I think they’re going to be a group to watch out for come
conference, county and sectional,” the coach continued. “I know that’s
a goal of theirs.”

The Lady Eagles won five events in all, three of them by Shelby
Johnston. Johnston took the 100 hurdles in 16.3, the 300 hurdles in
49.1 and the high jump with a leap of 5-feet-2-inches.

South Putnam’s other two victories also came in the field
events. Kellie Caniff took the long jump with a length of 15-7.
Brittany Cox won the discus with a throw of 95-9.

“Brittany Cox has been throwing very well for us on the
discus,” Atkinson said. “She’s been putting in a lot of work and she’s
seeing some success. She’s creeping up on the discus record.”

Shannon Egold is also approaching a school record in the 3,200, as her time of 12:54.4 was just six seconds off the mark.

In general, Atkinson is happy with her teams efforts both Thursday and on the year as a whole.

“We knew tonight would be a meet where we would have to perform
at our best to be competitive with Danville and Monrovia being very
good track programs,” Atkinson said.

“The girls have been working very hard and we see times
continuing to drop,” she continued. “It may not always show with places
and scoring and things, but we are improving as the season goes along.
It’s a positive experience for everyone so far, all the way around.”

On the boys’ side, coach Carl Coons was pleased all around with
his team’s second-place finish. He knew they were up against good
competition in the Warriors and Bulldogs.

“Danville’s always strong and it’s always a test for us. Monrovia has a nice group of kids,” Coons commented.

“I’m pretty pleased with what we did tonight,” he continued. “I
think we had some good performances. I think we had some people who
stepped up. It’s that time of year.”

Dylan Hayes (left) receives the handoff from Tyler Heavin during the third leg of the 3,200 meter relay. The team finished first with a time of 9:32.6. [Click to enlarge]

The Eagles picked up four wins in the meet. The 3,200 relay team began
the meet with a win, running a 9:32.6. Jon Weaver picked up a win in
the 800, with a 2:14.5. Tyler Heavin won the 1,600 in 5:04.9.

In the field events, Adam Masters won the discus with a throw of 131-1.

Besides these, though, Coons also highlighted the performances of Tim Toland, Dayne Nelson and Chris Smiley.

“There were some performances I was pleased with tonight. I
really looked for some people to step up and they did,” Coons said.
“This is only the second good night that we’ve had to run, so I’m
pleased. I just feel positive with where the kids are at and I think
they’ll be okay.”

In general, Coons likes the way his team has dealt with some adversity early this season.

“The season has been a unique season. The weather has been off
and on and off and on. We’ve had a significant number of injuries this
year that have been detrimental to us. I think we’re coming through
those. We’re getting some of those kids healthy. Hopefully here in the
next couple of meets we’ll see the fruits of that labor,” Coons
concluded.

The Eagles visit Rockville at 5 p.m. Monday for a three-way meet with the Rox and Lighthouse Christian.

At South Putnam

Girls’ Results

Danville 64, Monrovia 63, South Putnam 40

Individual Results (SP only)

100 — 4. Butts 14.3.

1,600 — 3. S. Egold 6:01.1.

3,200 — 2. S. Egold 12:54.4.

100 H — 1. Johnston 16.3.

300 H — 1. Johnston 49.1.

400 Relay — 3. South Putnam 1:01.8.

1,600 Relay — 4. South Putnam.

3,200 Relay — 2. South Putnam 10:58.83*.

LJ — 1. Caniff 15-7, 3. Johnston 14-10.

HJ — 1. Johnston 5-2, 4. Caniff 4-8.

PV — 4. Franklin 6-0.

SP — 3. Hacker 26-11.

Discus — 1. Cox 95-9.

*–School record.

Boys’ Results

Danville 74, South Putnam 54, Monrovia 44

Individual Results (SP only)

200 — 4. Parker 25.4.

400 — 2. Toland 56.4, 4. Bowen 59.8.

800 — 1. Weaver 2:14.5.

1,600 — 1. Heavin 5:04.9.

3,200 — 4. Heavin 11:48.2.

110 H — 2. Riddell 18.5, 3. Smiley 18.6, 4. Williams 19.4.

300 H — 2. Smiley 45.5.

400 Relay — 2. South Putnam 49.5.

1,600 Relay — 2. South Putnam 3:54.9.

3,200 Relay — 1. South Putnam 9:32.6.

HJ — 3. Migliano 5-6.

PV — 2. Nelson.

SP — 3. Masters 44-0.5, 4. Frame 39-8.

Discus — 1. Masters 131-1.

Next meet — South Putnam visits Rockville for a triangular meet with the Rox at Lighthouse Christian at 5 p.m. Monday.

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. 

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.

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.