Lady Cats fall in doubleheader to Ottawa

Louisburg second baseman Kayla Willey makes a throw to first Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ game with Ottawa. The Lady Cats lost both games of the doubleheader to Ottawa, 15-8 and 10-3.

OTTAWA – The Louisburg High School softball team went to Ottawa on Tuesday in hopes of building on its two-game winning streak.

Although they got off to a good start, the Lady Cats couldn’t keep up with the Cyclones. Louisburg suffered a pair of 15-8 and 10-3 losses that saw the winning streak come to a halt.

Offense wasn’t a problem in the opener as Louisburg took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the second, but Ottawa scored six runs in the frame and eventually built a six-run lead after four innings.

Errors didn’t help the Lady Cat cause as they committed five in the contest and Ottawa scored their 15 runs on 16 hits. Louisburg starting pitcher Shayla Meyer was knocked out of the game in the second inning when she was hit in the knee on a sharp base hit up the middle.

Freshman Brooklyn Diederich pitched the final 4-plus innings and gave up just three earned runs.

“The girls came out in game one with some great at-bats and timely hitting,” Louisburg coach John Ozier said. “Our table-setters did a nice job of getting on base for our run-producers. We had them on the ropes until they started to capitalize with some big hits and some runs on a few of our errors.

“We continue to go through some growing pains with some of our younger, less-experienced players. However, the older girls are very, very positive with their younger teammates. We continue to learn and get better on offense and defense.”

Louisburg junior Molly Rison led the Lady Cat bats with three hits and 3 RBIs, which included a double. Another junior, Maddie Svoboda, finished with two hits, including a 2-run home run in the fourth inning.

Karson Griggs, Kayla Willey and Lauren Cutshaw also had two hits each for Louisburg. Willey finished with 2 RBIs and Griggs also drove in a run.

In the second game, Svoboda again swung a hot bat for Louisburg as she added two more hits and 3 RBIs, including a 2-run home run in the third inning to help cut into the Ottawa lead. It was Svoboda’s fourth home run in as many games.

Griggs also had a pair of hits to help the Lady Cat offense, but unfortunately for Louisburg, Svoboda and Griggs were the lone players to get a hit.

The Lady Cats (3-15) trailed by just one run going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Ottawa scored six times in the frame to pull away for a win. For the second game in a row, Louisburg committed five errors, which helped lead to six Ottawa runs.

Diederich started the second game for Louisburg and gave up four earned runs in 5-plus innings and Kelsey Higginbotham came on to provide relief in the sixth inning.

“Brooklyn pitched great until she ran out of gas after pitching in both games,” Ozier said. “Kelsey Higginbotham did a nice job in relief. As we have all season, the girls have used each and every great play or mistake made to learn and advance forward with their game.”

Louisburg will play its final regular season game today when it hosts Spring Hill for a Senior Night doubleheader. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. at Lewis-Young Park.