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‘Ain’t nothing better’: Putnam County jumps on Fulton early, wins first sectional title since 2013 · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Ain't nothing better. Putnam County jumps on Fulton early when's
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  first sectional title since twenty thirteen. Written by Kevin Schlum,
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  this article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  to you by Everlett. Players piled on the field, water
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  was flung in the air and poured overheads. The Putnam
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  County baseball team had plenty to celebrate. Playing as the
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  visitors on their home field. The Panthers jumped ahead in
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  the top of the first inning and led the whole
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  way in an eleven to two victory over Fulton to
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  win the class won a Putnam County Sectional championship. It
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  feels great, said Putnam County senior Jonathan Stunkel, who had
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  four hits, including a two run home run, and pitched
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  a complete game. It's awesome. Ain't nothing better. It's the
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  first sectional title for Putnam County since the twenty thirteen
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  squad finished as state run up, and it's the panthers
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  first sectional plaque in coach Chris Newsom's eleven seasons. It's amazing,
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  it really is, Newsom said. You don't know how it's
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  gonna feel until it happens. The boys played an amazing game,
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  all credit goes to them. I told them Friday, we're
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  just riding their backs, but I asked them to keep
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  the journey going because it's getting really fun. The boys
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  are having a good time. They're playing loose, and they're
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  hitting well. Hopefully it continues, but the feeling is great.
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  The Panthers twenty four to eleven, take the next step
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  in their journey Monday when they play Galina in the
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  Northern Illinois University super Sectional in DeKalb. The Pirates advance
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  with a five to four victory over Dakota in the
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  Forest and Sectional. With the Galina Dakota game starting at
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  three point thirty pm, Newsom planned to cut out of
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  the postgame celebration to scout PC's next opponent. I'm going
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  to boogey up there and catch the game, Newsom said.
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  I think it's important. We don't see those schools very often.
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  They're so far away, so getting a set of eyes
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  on them, I think is huge. Obviously, at this stage
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  in the game, every team is going to be good.
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  You earned your way to be there, so you expect
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  a dogfight. Saturday wasn't much of a fight, as the
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  Panthers jumped ahead with three runs in the first inning.
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  Traxton Mattingly drew a walk to start the game and
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  Stunkel hit a single to deep right center field before
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  Caide Zimmerline ripped a two run triple to write. Zimmerline
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  scored when Peyton Bardo put down a bunt and the
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  Steamers couldn't make the play at the plate. That set
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  the tone for us for sure, and we just kept
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  it going, Zimmerline said. It was an awesome feeling. Stunkel
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  came out and threw a perfect bottom of the first.
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  That's huge, Stunkel said about the early lead. It definitely
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  eases things for me. The Panthers scored on RBI doubles
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  by Stunkel in the second and Mattingly in the fourth
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  to go up five to zero before Fulton showed a
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  spark in the bottom half of the fourth. After a
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  two outdrop third strike, Evan Folk hit a two run
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  single to center to pull Fulton within five to two.
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  Fulton's momentum was short lived, however, as the Panthers scored
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  two runs on a two out error in the fifth
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  to push the lead back to five at seven to two.
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  The timing of our errors hurt Fulton coach Brent Diisterra
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  said that third run in the first with the bunt
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  and b Braden Meyers rolling it to home and not
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  making the out hurt us and created a little additional
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  momentum for them. That ball at second base in the
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  fifth after we scored those two runs would have shut
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  the door on the inning, but unfortunately added two more runs.
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  After being on your heel so long, that kind of
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  compounds each other. Stunkel launched a two run home run
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  in the sixth, and Wyatt Zellers and Jacob Furrr hit
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  RBI singles in the seventh. We kept our energy high,
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  kept focused, and just stayed with it, Stunkel said about
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  how the Panthers kept adding runs. Stunkel was strong on
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  the mound once again as he gave up two runs
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  on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in
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  winning his third straight postseason game. The defense backed me up.
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  Stunkle said, I knew today I wouldn't have many punch outs,
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  so I just consistently threw strikes and let my defense work.
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  They did a good job today and the bats came around.
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  Folk had two of Fulton's four hits, while Myers took
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  the loss on the mound. The Steamers, who have won
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  five consecutive regional titles and won a sectional crown last spring,
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  finished eighteen to nine. I'm proud of them, Dykester said.
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  We had a successful season. We've won five straight regionals.
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  Most of these guys have been part of two or three,
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  so we've had a lot of success. These players have
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  the experience of making it to the Supersectional last year
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  and now being back here in a sectional final again
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  this year. That takes a lot of dedication and a
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  lot of hard work to get to this point.