GREENCASTLE BASEBALL SECTIONAL: Cougars find heartbreak again in extra-inning loss to Wolves

Heartbreaking losses in the tournament are becoming too common for the North Putnam Cougar baseball team.

Parke Heritage scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to advance in the Class 2A Sectional 44 opener with a 4-3 victory Wednesday evening.

Despite Jaylen Windmiller striking out 15 Parke Heritage batters while only giving up six hits and one earned run, the Wolves took advantage of Cougar errors to pick up the victory. The Cougar bats could not pick up enough hits to support that dominating performance.

“We picked the wrong time to have one of our worst nights swinging the bats. We didn’t put the ball in play and had way too many strikeouts,” North Putnam head coach Chris Geeser said.

Neither team could muster much offense in the first three innings. The Cougars picked up two hits in the first inning, but a double play and great outfield catch by Parke Heritage’s Jerrid Graves ended the threat. That was the only scoring threat in the first three innings.

North Putnam scratched out a run in the fourth inning as Kaden Helderman singled and stole second and third base. He would score off the steal of third base as the throw got past the third baseman. The Cougars led 1-0.

Parke Heritage then rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Brayden Luce led the inning off with a triple and scored as the Cougars committed an error that allowed Brenden McAmis to reach base. That was followed by a Braydon Goodwin single and then another Cougar error on a bunt allowed two more runs to score. The Wolves led 3-1 heading into the fifth inning.

“We couldn’t swing the bats well enough tonight to overcome a few miscues,” Geeser said.

The Cougars were not done yet though. North picked up a run in the top of the fifth as Griffen Starr walked and stole second base. He advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. Brogan Woodall drove him home with a single to left to cut the deficit to 3-2.

North picked up another run in the sixth inning. Helderman would lead off with a double to right center and would score on a Parke Heritage error, tying the game at 3-3 and, after neither team could pick up a run in the seventh, the game would go to extra innings.

Parke Heritage’s Kyle Harpold opened the bottom of the eighth reaching base on an error. That was followed by a single by Brayden Luce and a single by Goodwin led to Harpold scoring the winning run for the Wolves to advance to the semifinal game on Monday against Cloverdale.

North Putnam’s offense was led by Brayden Chew with two hits and Helderman with a pair of hits and two runs scored. The offense just was not enough to support the outstanding performance by Windmiller on the mound and the Cougars’ season ended with a 12-7 record.

“Jaylen was outstanding today. He did all he could. He and Brogan (Woodall) are my first four-year seniors, and they hold a special place in this program,” Geeser said.

North Putnam 000 111 00 — 3 8 3

Parke Heritage 000 300 01 — 4 6 2

WP – McAmis 6.0, Luce 2.0. LP Windmiller 7.1

2B – Helderman, Windmiller (NP)

3B – Luce (PH)

RBI – McAmis 1, Good 1 (PH), Woodall (NP)