Lady Cats win nightcap to split with Bonner Springs

Louisburg freshman Mia Wilson makes a pitch during the Lady Cats’ game with Bonner Springs on Tuesday at Lewis-Young Park.

It was a tale of two games for the
Louisburg softball team Tuesday when it hosted Bonner Springs for a Frontier
League doubleheader.

Coming off their first sweep of
the season, the Lady Cats fell to Bonner Springs in the opener, 6-1, and had
hard time getting things going offensively. Louisburg turned things completely
around in the nightcap.

The Lady Cats put together an
offensive barrage in the second game at Lewis-Young Park as they rolled the
Braves, 12-2, to get their third win of the season.

Louisburg’s three seniors, Madison
Svoboda, Karson Griggs and Molly Rison, got the Lady Cats going offensively.
Svoboda led the way with a pair of doubles to go along with 3 RBIs and Griggs
had three hits, including a double, and 2 RBIs. Rison also had two hits, 2 RBIs
and a double herself.

The Lady Cats (3-7) scored two
runs in the first and third innings, three in the fourth and five more in the
fifth to complete the run-rule win in the fifth inning.

Sophomore pitcher Brooklyn
Diederich got the win for Louisburg as she allowed one earned run on seven
hits. Juniors Lauren Cutshaw, Kayla Willey and sophomore Alyse Moore also had
RBI hits for Louisburg.

“I challenged the girls to move on from game one and strike early,”
Louisburg coach John Ozier said. “We did just that, scoring two in the first,
and never really looking back. Brooklyn did a nice job of locating her pitches.
Neither she or Mia (Wilson) have overwhelming velocity, so they have to pitch
to contact and avoid bad pitches in key situations.

“Our defense in game two was outstanding both in the infield and
outfield. Our three seniors really stepped it up with their hitting,
especially with runners in scoring position.”

In the opener, the Lady Cats had a
tough time getting going offensively against starter Emily Ashford. The Bonner
Springs sophomore struck out 10 batters, but the Lady Cats did have
opportunities as they walked seven times, including three from Svoboda.

Louisburg just couldn’t string
hits together as Griggs and Moore had the Lady Cats’ only two hits in the loss.
Bonner Springs broke open a scoreless game in the third with three runs and
added three more in the fourth to pull away.

Freshman Mia Wilson started the
game for Louisburg and gave up three earned runs on six hits over seven
innings. She also struck out three batters.

“I was hoping we would come out with some
momentum from our games last week,” Ozier said. “Unfortunately, we were as flat
as a pancake. We did squander some great scoring opportunities early that came
back and really hurt us. I thought Mia pitched a great game. We had a couple of
defensive lapses that lead to some unearned runs.

“Their pitcher did a nice job of locating
her pitches against all of our hitters. Softball is a game where timely hitting
and solid defense can produce wins. That is exactly what Bonner Springs was
able to do in game one.”

Louisburg will return home tonight for a
single game against Frontier League foe Tonganoxie. First pitch is set for 4:30
p.m. at Lewis-Young Park.