Putnam County builds 5-run lead, holds on to beat Hall in season opener

GRANVILLE – On a windy afternoon Monday, the Putnam County and Hall baseball teams were able to take advantage of walks and hit batters, but the host Panthers had a couple of big hits early and hung on to defeat the Red Devils 6-5 in the season opener for both teams.

Hall was able to get runners on throughout the game but was unable to get the big hit to get its offense going.

Braden Curran picked up a single in the top of the first and advanced on a Putnam County error, but the Red Devils left the inning without a run.

“That’s what kind of bit us last year,” Hall coach Tom Keegan said. “We left nine on base, and I think last year we had the staff that we could get away with leaving a guy here and there, and eventually I think this staff will get there also.”

The Panthers, on the other hand, were able to crack the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning. Maddox Poole walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

That’s when Traxton Mattingly crushed an RBI double to right-center field that scored Poole and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, Drew Carrson picked up an RBI double to right field on the first pitch he saw from Izzaq Zrust. Mattingly scored to put Putnam County up 2-0 after the first inning.

“Traxton may not be the biggest kid, but he works hard,” PC coach Chris Newsome said. “He’s got a lot of potential, as does this team. We’re off to a good start against a good Hall team, and we’ll see what we can get going.”

Noah Plym had a bloop single with two outs in the second inning for Hall, then Hunter Edgcomb crushed a shot down the first base line, but Mattingly was there with the glove to end the inning and prevent the Red Devils from getting anything going.

“On the defensive play, you just have to get your body in front of the ball,” Mattingly said.

In the third inning with two outs, Jack Jablonsk had a bloop single and then advanced on a PC error to get in scoring position where Jaxon Pinter connected for an RBI single to left to cut the Putnam County lead to 2-1.

But the Panthers answered right back in the bottom half as Poole led off with a walk before Mattingly crushed a two-run homer to center field that pushed the lead to 4-1.

“At the plate, I knew Izzaq [Zrust] was going to be throwing hard, and with two straight balls I knew I had a fastball coming and was able to make contact with it for the home run,” Mattingly said.

Two batters later, Carlson walked, and two batters after him, Tayton Kays hit a two-out, RBI double to right to push the Putnam County lead to 5-1.

That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the fifth, when Mattingly and Kays were hit by pitches and Carlson walked.

Jaden Stoddard was hit by a pitch to score Mattingly without the Panthers recording a hit to extend the lead to 6-1.

Hall made things interesting in the top of the sixth, as the Red Devils recorded four runs while managing a single infield hit.

Pinter led off with a walk, then stole second. Greyson Bickett and Plym both walked to load the bases before Edgcomb got an RBI walk to make it 6-2.

Luke Bryant then beat out the throw to first for an RBI single to score Geno Ferrari, and the throw got away, which allowed Plym to score and make it 6-4.

Jablonsk then picked up an RBI walk of his own to make it 6-5 before Jacob Furar was able to record the final out for the Panthers.

Hall managed to get a runner on in the seventh, but was unable to get the tying run across as Putnam County came away with the 6-5 victory.

For the game, Mattingly led the Panthers as he was 2 for 2 with three RBIs and a home run. Johnathon Stunkel was the winning pitcher, as he allowed one unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks in 3⅓ innings.

For Hall, Braden Curran went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Zrust took the loss.