Cougars Remain Unbeaten
The Cougars may have to change their name to "Comeback Cougars" after this weekend's
games with Odin and Putnam County.
In three straight games, the Cougars had to battle
back from late-inning deficits to keep their unbeaten season intact and extend their fall winning streak to 53 in a row.
On Friday, the Cougars used an 8-run sixth to wipe out a 6-2 Odin lead and held
on for an 11-8 conference victory over the pesky Eagles.
The Cougars took an early lead when they scored 2 runs in the 2nd on a single by
Brock Adams, a sac fly by Spencer Patton, and a solo home run from Trey Garrett.
But as the Cougar bats grew silent, the Eagles used a 4-run 3rd and 2-run 5th to
take a 6-2 lead into the 6th. Eagle's starting pitcher Jace Carter then ran into a brick wall as he appeared to run out of
gas.
Matt Hicks led off the inning with a double and after Adams was hit by a pitch,
Nick Jones(RBI) and Patton singled. Ryan Kell relieved Carter and after back-to-back wild pitches and a walk to Garrett, the
Cougars were within one.
Pinch-hitter Miles Yates then followed with an RBI groundout to tie the game and
a single from Shane Landreth and a walk from Tyler Burns would load the bases again.
Hicks walked to force in another run and Brian Wodtka promptly singled up the middle
to score two more. Adams then singled to force in the 8th run of the inning and the Cougars found themselves in control with
the 10-6 lead.
The Cougars would add another run in the 7th and just to keep things interesting,
the Eagles would add two in their half of the inning to account for the 11-8 final.
Burns picked-up the win in relief of Patton and leading the offense with two hits
apiece were Hicks, Adams, and Landreth.
On Saturday, the Cougars swept a pair of victories from Putnam County by scores
of 3-1 and 3-2. These were both very intense and well-played games by both teams and will be placed in the "quality win" category
for the Cougar season.
Game one saw Trey Garrett steal the show as he tossed a complete game two-hitter
and pick up the game winning RBI's with an impressive line-drive, 2-run homer in the 6th.
The other Cougar run came in the second when Matt Hicks reached on an infield single,
advanced to second on a pass ball, and scored on an RBI single by Brian Wodtka.
To go along with Garrett's heroics on the mound, the Cougar defense was stellar
when it had to be. Time and time again, the Putnam County scoring threats were thwarted with the execution of all the routine
plays.
To go along with Garrett's homer and the singles from Hicks and Wodtka, Brock Adams,
Nick Jones, and Shane Landreth each added hits to bolster the Cougar offense.
Game two was similar to game one as pitching and defense again ruled. Tyler
burns picked-up his second win of the weekend with his complete-game outing and the Cougar offense mustered just enough offense
to get over the hump.
After missing out on several opportunities to score, the Cougars finally got to
the tough Putnam County starter in the 6th.
Trailing 2-0, Brock Adams and Spencer Patton singled to get things started. After
a pair of flyball outs, Miles Yates shot a double into the rightfield corner to score Adams. With runners now on 2nd and 3rd,
Shane Landreth and Burns drew back-to-back walks to knot the score. A ground out to the pitcher ended the threat and into
the 7th they went with the 2-2 tie.
After Burns set down the side in order, the Cougars went to work. Brian Wodtka reached
on an infield error and one out later, Nick Jones doubled past the rightfielder to send pinch-runner Nathan Lotz to third.
After a strikeout, Trey Garrett walked to load the bases and with two outs and the game on the line, Miles Yates drew a walk
to force in the winning run.
With the wins, the Cougars' record now stands at 10-0 and will return
to action again next Tuesday when they host the North Clay Cardinals in a conference game at 7:00 P.M.
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