Wildcats fall to Eudora in walkoff fashion

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 12, 2018

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg sophomore Madden Rutherford makes a pitch Tuesday during the Wildcats’ doubleheader at Eudora. The Wildcats fell in walkoff fashion in the opener, 11-10, and lost the nightcap 9-6.

EUDORA – For six innings, everything seemed to being going right for the Louisburg baseball team.

Louisburg had a 5-run lead going into the final inning of play Tuesday in Eudora and appeared to have a win all wrapped up.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it didn’t have a happy ending.

Eudora rallied for six runs in the seventh inning and came away with an 11-10 walkoff win over Louisburg and took that momentum into the nightcap. The Cardinals started the second game with nine straight runs, and despite a late rally of their own, the Wildcats fell 9-6 and left Eudora with a pair of losses.

Louisburg (3-3) got a strong start in the opener from sophomore Madden Rutherford as he took the game into the fifth inning and gave up four earned runs and also struck out four.

In turn, the Wildcat offense backed him up as they scored three runs in the first, two in second, fourth in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 10-5 lead.

Jakob Krause relieved Rutherford in the fifth, finished off the inning and pitched a strong sixth before running into trouble in the seventh when Eudora started finding holes and the Wildcats couldn’t stop the bleeding.

“Our defense struggled to support Rutherford’s effort in the first game,” Louisburg coach Joel McGhee said. “The mound becomes a very tough and lonely place to be when extra outs are provided to the offense.”

Louisburg first baseman Noah Larson gets ready to make a tag on a runner Thursday.

Senior Garrett Caldwell led the Wildcat bats with a four-hit performance to go along with 2 RBIs. Nate Swenson and Rutherford both had 2-hit games and had 2 RBIs. Rutherford recorded a triple and Swenson added a double to his line.

Junior Beckett Rasmussen also finished with 3 RBIs and fellow junior Noah Larson finished with a double.

In the nightcap, Eudora picked up right where it left off as it scored three runs in the first and second inning to take a 6-0 advantage and then tacked on three more in the sixth to grab a 9-0 lead into the final inning.

The Wildcats certainly didn’t back down as they scored six times in the seventh. Larson and Garrett Harding each had base hits that scored runs. Louisburg also scored thanks to two Eudora errors and a wild pitch to help get them back in the game.

Chase Norton and Rutherford led the Louisburg offense with three hits each, while Caldwell, Larson, Harding and Michael Rogers each finished with an RBI.

“Offensively things went well, we made solid contact and moved around the base path,” McGhee said. “We took a few chances to try and get things started in the second game and showed great hustle in those plays, but Eudora’s defenders made plays to get outs. As a team we took advantage of Eudora’s mistakes in the top of the seventh and fought till the end.”

After Eudora jumped out to a big lead, Harding came in for relief and calmed things down as he pitched four innings and gave up three earned runs on just four hits.

“Rutherford and Harding pitched quality games,” McGhee said. “Both filled up the zone and got the ground balls and fly balls we wanted. Neither gave up many hard hit balls. Harding came in the second game and threw three shutout innings and was very efficient and had quality defensive support.”