Putnam County blanked Westside-Augusta 5-0 on March 12 for a big region win at home in Eatonton.
The War Eagles scored five runs in the bottom half of the first inning and got seven solid innings from Hunter Holder on the mound to improve to 4-9 overall and a 3-0 mark in region play this year.
Putnam County coach Mike Phiel acknowledged Holder’s performance on the mound was key in the win.
“(Hunter) was in the zone. He was attacking the whole time and making (Westside) have to swing the bat and that’s the whole game,” Phiel said. “When you attack in the zone, make the other team have to swing and give your defense a chance, you limit your opponent’s opportunities at the plate.”
Holder retired the side with three straight strikeouts to end the top of the first for Putnam. The War Eagles took advantage of a pair of errors by Westside’s infield and a home run to bust the game open.
Holder led off the bottom half of the first with a single and moved to second base on a line drive to left field by Jackson Dodd. A flyout to the outfield by Branan Griffin then advanced Holder to third base.
Tanner Lukens reached base safely with a single, scoring Holder to give Putnam County a 1-0 lead over the Patriots. Next, Lukens and Dodd scored as Mark Winslette blasted a home run to left field.
An error and walk put BJ Ruff and Wyatt Simms on base following Winslette’s at-bat. Ruff scored as Westside’s shortstop mishandled Ethan Whatley’s ground ball, giving the War Eagles a 5-0 lead.
Putnam County’s five-run first inning gave Holder a substantial lead to work with. The senior pitched a nearly flawless game, finishing the contest with eight strikeouts and only two walks in the win.
Holder pitched his way out of a jam in the top of the second frame. Westside loaded the bases with one out, but the War Eagles’ hurler battled back by getting a strikeout and popout to end the threat.
While Putnam County’s bats went silent for the remainder of the game, the first inning was enough. The War Eagles got more than a few breaks defensively, and Holder was efficient on the bump.
Phiel said his team has been “ambushing” teams all year from the start on offense but is then struggling the rest of the game. He’s hoping his players can fix this moving closer to the playoffs.
“We’ve been ambushing people all year. This is the fourth game of the 13 we’ve played where we’ve come out and scored a crooked number in the first inning and didn’t score much the rest of the game,” Phiel said. “I don’t what it is. Maybe we ambush pitchers before they’re ready or maybe they’re not ready for us to be as aggressive. We need to fix that and stay aggressive all game.”
Phiel acknowledged Westside’s pitcher did a great job limiting his team offensively after the first inning.
“He’s one of the top three or four pitchers in the region,” Phiel said. “As tough as he is, he went through it as a sophomore and is a junior this year. In our game, he settled down and didn’t give us anything else after that first inning. But that was big for us to get an early jump on him and win.”