Lady Cats’ offense continues hot streak in sweep

Louisburg junior Emalee Overbay watches as she gets a base hit during a game earlier this season. Overbay and the Lady Cats got the sweep against De Soto on Friday as the offenses came through with 26 runs in the two games.

LENEXA – The Louisburg High School softball team has been on a tear with its bats as of late and that trend continued Friday against De Soto.

The Lady Cats’ offense pounded De Soto for 26 runs over two games and left with 14-5 and 12-0 victories at the 3&2 Baseball and Softball Complex. Louisburg has now tallied 86 runs in their last eight games and have won five of those.

“The girls were able to put together two of our most complete games of the year against De Soto,” Louisburg coach John Ozier said. “Our offense and defense really set the tone early. Getting out to an early lead helped our defenders play loose. We were really aggressive and attacked the ball.”

Louisburg made a statement in the first inning as it struck quickly for five runs to take the early lead. Freshman Molly Rison had a big 2-run double in the frame to get the Lady Cats going.

For the game, the Lady Cats had 14 hits, with only two of those going for extra bases, and were able to string several hits together. Rison had a big day for the Lady Cats as she had three hits to go along with four RBIs.

Senior Miranda White got Louisburg started offensively on several occasions as the Lady Cats leadoff hitter had four hits, including a double, and scored all four times.

Juniors Emalee Overbay and Allyssa Griggs each had a pair of hits and two RBIs each. Freshman Karson Griggs had two hits and an RBI and senior Paige Shaffer also added a run batted in.

Freshman Bailey Sarna got her first win of the season Friday as she pitched a one-hitter in a 12-0 win over De Soto.

De Soto cut the Louisburg (5-13) lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Lady Cat offense answered with two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and fourth in the seventh.

Allyssa Griggs also provided the Lady Cats with a strong performance on the mound. Allyssa gave up just one earned run to go along with four strikeouts over seven innings.

All the Lady Cats needed in the nightcap was two big innings and a shutdown performance from their starter. Freshman pitcher Bailey Sarna silenced the De Soto bats as she allowed no runs, one hit and had one strikeout over five innings.

Louisburg’s offense backed up Sarna as it came through with five runs in the first and seven more in the third to get the run-rule victory.

“More than anything else we have accomplished this year, I saw the girls picking each other up and thoroughly enjoying themselves on and off the field,” Ozier said.

Allyssa Griggs had a big day at the plate as she had three hits, which included a triple, a home run and three RBIs. Her 3-run home run in the third inning basically sealed the win for the Lady Cats.

Overbay also had three hits, including a triple and an RBI. Junior Hailey Crowder had two hits and three RBIs and Katie Baker had a pair of hits and two RBIs, including a double.

Freshman Kennia Hankinson finished with an RBI triple and Rison had a pair of hits and an RBI. White also added two hits.

Louisburg returns to action Thursday when it hosts Spring Hill on senior night. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.