Lady Cats get first wins of season with sweep of Wellsville
Louisburg senior Karson Griggs slides safely into home plate Thursday during the Lady Cats’ doubleheader against Wellsville at Lewis-Young Park.
The Louisburg softball team had a lot of pent up frustration after losing its first six games to start the year.
Louisburg decided to take it out
on Wellsville on Thursday during the Lady Cats’ home opener at Lewis-Young Park
– more specifically the Eagles’ pitching. The Lady Cats exploded for 25 runs in
the two games as they rolled to an 11-1 and 14-4 victory.
Not only were the Lady Cats able to
get their offense going, but they got good pitching performances in both games
and the Lady Cats played solid defense in the process.
“After getting through the extremely
difficult front end of the schedule, we continued to work very hard in our
practices, and for the most part, kept a positive frame of mind,” Louisburg
coach John Ozier said. “A huge weight was lifted after the victory in game
one. The girls played more aggressively and relaxed in every aspect
of the game once we established some breathing room. We were able to put together some
great at-bats in key situations with runners in scoring position. We had
struggled mightily with that in our first three double-headers.”
The Lady Cats (2-6) got things going early in the opener as they used a 7-run second inning to stake them to an early lead they wouldn’t give up.
Louisburg got a lot of production from
the top of its order as the first five batters combined for nine of the team’s
12 hits in the contest. Senior Madison Svoboda led the way with three doubles
and an RBI, while Lauren Cutshaw and Karson Griggs each added a pair of
singles. Griggs also drove home two runs and Cutshaw added another.
Senior Molly Rison provided the Lady Cats with a big hit in that second inning as she connected on a 2-run home run over the centerfield fence. Junior Reilly Ratliff-Becher also had a 2-run single in the inning and junior Kayla Willey added an RBI hit.
Freshman pitcher Mia Wilson kept the Wellsville hitters in check most of the evening as she allowed one earned run on three hits to go along with four strikeouts in the complete game effort.
“Mia demonstrated great focus and tremendous resolve in battling
through some tough situations in game one,” Ozier said. “The coaching staff has
emphasized the importance of trusting the defense, and aggressively attacking
the hitters. She did just that.
“Our defense all night was tremendous. Instead of playing to not
make mistakes, we attacked the ball and made plays.”
In the nightcap, the Lady Cats actually found themselves down a
pair of runs in the third inning before tying it. Wellsville answered with a
run in the fifth to take the lead again, but the Lady Cats made sure they ended
it in the bottom of the inning.
Louisburg responded with 11 runs in the bottom of the fifth to
secure the run-rule victory as they took advantage of several Wellsville errors
in the frame.
Rison had another big performance for the Lady Cats as she
recorded a single, a double and 4 RBIs in the win. Cutshaw also had a pair of
hits, while junior Paige Eccher had a two-run double.
Svoboda, Griggs, Willey and Jordan Mynsted each added a single
in the win, while Griggs, Willey, Mynsted and Brooklyn Diederich each drove
home a run.
Diederich picked up the win in game two for the Lady Cats as she
pitched a complete game. The Louisburg sophomore gave up one earned run on
eight hits.
“Brooklyn battled through some tough situations, allowing us to
stay close until we got our bats going,” Ozier said. “Like Mia in game one, she
maintained a warrior like mentality throughout the game. Up and down the
lineup in both games, we had timely hitting, great base running and great
discipline at the plate.”
Louisburg will try and keep its winning ways going today when it
hosts Bonner Springs for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m., at
Lewis-Young Park.
LOUISBURG DROPS PAIR TO SPRING HILL
On April 2, the Louisburg softball team traveled to Spring Hill for a Frontier League doubleheader and the Lady Cats had hard time getting its offense going in a 7-0 and 11-1 loss.
In the opener, the Lady Cats tallied just three hits from Karson
Griggs, Lauren Cutshaw and Paige Eccher. Unfortunately, Spring Hill took
advantage of three Louisburg errors as the Broncos used a 5-run third inning to
pull away.
Runs were also hard to come by in the nightcap for Louisburg.
The Lady Cats scored one run on four hits, while the Broncos scored four runs
in the third and five more in the fourth to help complete the sweep.
Sophomore Alyse Moore led the Louisburg bats with a pair of hits
and Griggs accounted for the Lady Cats’ lone run with a solo home run in the
third inning. Rison also had a single for Louisburg.