Lady Cats get road sweep of Osawatomie

Louisburg shortstop Alyse Moore stretches out to get a ground ball last week at home against Ottawa. On Thursday, the Lady Cats beat Osawatomie in two games on the road.

OSAWATOMIE – It wasn’t always easy for the Louisburg softball team on the road Thursday in Osawatomie, but the when the Lady Cats needed runs, a pair of Louisburg seniors came to the rescue.

Molly Rison collected seven hits in the two games, including three doubles, as she helped the Lady Cats to a 6-5 win in the opener and later came through again as Louisburg took the nightcap, 6-4.

Karson Griggs, along with Rison provided a lot of the spark offensively in the second game as she tallied three hits, including a double and a solo home run.

“Offensively, our seniors were able to ignite their younger teammates with great at-bats,” Louisburg coach John Ozier said. “We stranded runners all night, but were able to get just enough run support to pull off two much-needed wins. Karson broke out of a mini-slump with a towering home run in game two that got us going. Molly was consistent all night with her great hitting.”

Louisburg jumped out on top in the opener as it scored two runs in the third inning on an RBI single from Rison that scored Madison Svoboda and Brooklyn Diederich followed that up with an RBI single that scored Rison.

Osawatomie answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the third to take the lead, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

The Lady Cats tied the game in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Rison that scored Laruen Cutshaw and then took the lead in the top of the fifth. With Kayla Willey on third, Reilly Ratliff-Becher bunted on a squeeze play to score Willey and then Alyse Moore scored on a fielder’s choice a batter later to give Louisburg a 5-3 advantage.

“There is no more exciting play in softball and the girls executed it to perfection,” Ozier said of the squeeze play.

Eight of the nine Lady Cat players recorded a hit in the opener. Rison finished with three hits, while Cutshaw and Svoboda each had two hits.

Diederich kept the Lady Cats in the game on the mound as she pitched a complete game and gave up just two earned runs on seven hits and struck out three.

Pitching was strong again in the second game as freshman Mia Wilson started and allowed one earned run in five innings. Diederich came on to pitch the final two innings as she gave up two unearned runs on three hits.

“I thought Coach (Megan) Balke did a nice job calling pitches all night long,” Ozier said. “Brooklyn had a great night locating her pitches in game one. She really battled when Osawatomie made a few runs at us.

“In game two, Mia came out firing and had great stuff, keeping their hitters off balance through five innings. When she wavered late, Brooklyn picked up where she left off in game one. She was able to get their hitters to hit her pitches to certain locations that gave our defense a chance.”

Louisburg (5-10) got out to a great start in the nightcap as it scored four runs in the top of the first inning and added another in the third to go up 5-0. 

Rison had a two-run double, Diederich had an RBI double and Willey had an RBI single to account for the runs in the first inning. Griggs hit a solo home run in the third to keep the momentum going.

The Trojans tried to rally as it scored two runs in the fourth and two more in the seventh, but the Lady Cats were able to hold off the Osawatomie charge.

“Overall, our defense was outstanding,” Ozier said. “There were so many great plays turned in by our infielders, outfielders, and catchers that it would take all day to recognize each one of them. We did have to battle to the final out in both games. Osawatomie had runners in scoring position at the end of both games that could have won it for them. Our defense and pitching dug in and finished strong.”

Along with Rison’s and Griggs’ performance at the plate, Paige Eccher and Alyse Moore each had two hits to help the cause and Eccher added a double.

Louisburg will try and keep its winning streak going Thursday when it travels to Garnett for a doubleheader with Anderson County. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

OTTAWA SWEEPS LOUISBURG

The Louisburg softball team had its hands full with a power-hitting Ottawa program when the Lady Cats hosted the Cyclones on April 16.

Ottawa scored nine runs to begin the opener, and the Cyclones got out to an early lead in the nightcap, as they handed the Lady Cats a 13-8 and 7-4 defeat.

In the opener, the Cyclones scored four runs in the first and five in the second to take a 9-0 lead, but the Lady Cats didn’t back down as they scored three in the bottom of the third to try and get back in it.

Ottawa answered with three more in the fourth to all but seal the win for the Cyclones despite a four-run fourth inning from Louisburg.

Louisburg senior Madison Svoboda led the Lady Cat offense with a pair of hits and an RBI, while Molly Rison and Karson Griggs both finished with a hit and 2 RBIs. Griggs and Kayla Willey had the lone extra base hits as each finished with a double, while Willey scored three runs.

Lauren Cutshaw also had an RBI base hit and scored two runs along with Svoboda.

In the nightcap, Ottawa took a 3-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. The Lady Cats did try to rally in the bottom of the seventh with three runs, but couldn’t get any closer despite pounding out 14 hits.

Rison had three hits and a double to lead the way for Louisburg, while Alyse Moore, Paige Eccher, Cutshaw and Svoboda all added two hits each. Brooklyn Diederich, Moore and Willey each had RBIs.

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