Putnam County has best offensive outing in win over Hall

The Putnam County softball team’s young lineup had its best performance of the season Tuesday.

Six of the nine players in the PC lineup had a run or an RBI as the Panthers held off Hall for a 5-3 victory in a non-conference game in Spring Valley.

“We played really well,” said Putnam County coach Angie Heiser, whose roster does not have a senior. “We were really strong in every single inning both defensively and offensively. This is by far our best outing this season.

“The thing that’s really cool about us is we are a really young team. The fact we were able to generate that many runs and have six of the nine girls produce is really big for us. That’s going to be big moving into the rest of our season and into future years for our program. The girl did a really great job making adjustments, not giving up and having great at-bats the entire game.”

Sophomore Tori Balma led the way for Putnam County as she ripped three doubles, drove in two runs and scored two runs.

“I just kept my confidence up and kept my eye on the ball,” Balma said.

Putnam County’s offense got going in the first inning as Gabby Doyle singled and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jaidin Trone.

Balma then smacked her first RBI double of the game into left field.

PC added a run in the second when Kylie Moore singled and scored on a groundout by Paxton Stunkel.

In the fifth, Balma and Maggie Richetta each hit an RBI double to extend PC’s lead to 4-1.

The Panthers made it 5-1 in the top of the seventh when Balma doubled and scored on a single by Richetta.

“I thought we did pretty well today,” Balma said. “Our defense was really good and this was one of our best hitting games we’ve had so far.

“We just have to continue to keep our energy up and keep encouraging our team.”

The Red Devils, meanwhile, had trouble getting their bats going, but did manage a run in the third on an RBI single by Hope Whightsil.

“We never squared the ball up,” Hall coach Mike Filippini said. “Everything was off the end of the bat. We hit a bunch of pop ups. We hit a bunch of weak ground balls. It was just not a very good day at the plate for us. That’s what cost us.”

Stunkel started in the circle for PC (3-4), allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in three innings.

Kara Staley came on in relief, giving up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk in four innings.

“They work really well back to back because they throw differently,” Heiser said. “I think that really helped us keep their offense on their toes. It worked in our favor today.”

Hall (2-11) made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Hannah Parente led off with a single and Zoey Morris hit a one-out single to put runners on first and second.

Whightsil then lined the ball into left-center field for a two-run double.

However, Staley induced a flyout and a pop out to preserve the win for the Panthers.

“Our pitcher kept it together and our defense kept it together,” Balma said. “We stayed confident and pushed through to get those last few outs.”