Paola sweeps Louisburg softball

Louisburg catcher Kallee Bartlett tags out a Paola runner during the Lady Cats’ season opener Thursday in Paola.

PAOLA – It wasn’t the start to the season the Louisburg softball team had hoped for.

The Lady Cats, who ended Paola’s season last year in the regional championship game, had a hard time keeping up with Paola during their season opener Thursday in Paola. Paola got out to big leads early and never let up with 13-0 and 15-0 run-rule losses.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Lady Cats appeared they were going to jump out on top with the long ball. After sophomore Blair Vohs reached on a walk, junior Miranda White connected on a pitch to deep centerfield.

It would have been a 2-run home run, instead Paola’s Morgan Laudan made a leaping catch at the fence to rob the Lady Cats of their first runs of the season. The news didn’t get much better.

Paola scored five runs in the first and eight more in the second on its way to the win. Junior Emalee Overbay had the Lady Cats lone hit with a single in the second inning.

The Panthers did much of the same in the second inning with five runs in the second, three in the third and seven in the fourth to secure the run-rule win. Kallee Bartlett had the Lady Cats lone hit with a single in the third inning.

Louisburg will try and get its first win of the season Tuesday when it travels to Fort Scott. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.