Wildcats fall to Wellsville in home opener

Louisburg freshman shortstop Maverick Rockers tries to turn a double play Thursday during the Wildcats’ home opener against Wellsville.

The Louisburg baseball team had
hoped a change of scenery might turn around their recent string of bad luck.

Louisburg hosted Wellsville on
Thursday in its home opener after playing six consecutive games on the road. Unfortunately
for the Wildcats, they weren’t able to turn it around.

The Wildcats are still looking for
their first win of the season after a pair of 5-0 and 7-3 losses to the Eagles
at Lewis-Young Park. Louisburg was also missing a couple starters due to a
class trip, which made a young team even younger.

Wellsville took a two-run lead in
the opener and never looked back and the Eagles had a perfect going until the
sixth inning when junior Kaden Oehlert broke it up with a single. Kolby Kattau,
a freshman, added another single later for the Wildcats’ only two hits.

Freshman Maverick Rockers provided
the Wildcats with a quality start as he gave up three earned runs on five hits
and struck out two over five innings.

In the nightcap, the Wildcats had
a 2-1 lead going into the fifth inning after an RBI single from Kattau scored
Michael Rogers in the third. A.J. Drew then tripled in the fourth inning and
scored on a wild pitch to give the Wildcats the lead.

Wellsville then answered with
three runs in the fifth and three more in the seventh to secure the win.
Louisburg scored another run in the fifth when Oehlert scored on a Wellsville
error, but the Wildcats could get no closer.

The Wildcats (0-8) were able to
pound out 11 hits, but stranded several of those runners. Five errors also cost
the Wildcats.

Freshman Brandon Doles led the
Wildcat bats with three hits, while Andrew Krause and Kattau each finished with
two.

Junior Garrett Harding provided
the Wildcats with a strong start as he didn’t allow an earned run in his four
innings of work, gave up two hits and struck out two. Krause gave up two earned
runs in three innings of relief and struck out four.

Louisburg will try for that first
win tonight when it hosts Bonner Springs in a doubleheader at Lewis-Young Park.
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG DROPS TWO GAMES TO SPRING HILL

The Louisburg baseball team
continued its long road schedule on April 2 when the Wildcats traveled to
Spring Hill for a Frontier League doubleheader.

Although the Wildcats put up a
fight in both games, they fell to the Broncos, 5-2 and 4-2.

The Wildcats got good starting
pitching in the opener as Andrew Krause and Brandon Doles combined to allow
just three earned runs in nearly six innings and gave up nine hits.

Offensively, the Wildcats just
couldn’t get much going. Junior Madden Rutherford finished with a pair of RBI
doubles to lead the Louisburg offense, while Beckett Rasmussen and A.J. Drew
also had two hits.

Spring Hill jumped out to a 4-0
lead after four innings and never looked back.

In the nightcap, the Wildcat
offense racked up 10 hits, but couldn’t the big one when they needed it. Kolby
Kattau had the lone extra base hit with a double and finished with two hits for
the day.

Doles and Krause also had two hits
each to help the Louisburg cause and Doles drove home the Wildcats’ other run.

Logan McClellan, Maverick Rockers
and Drew combined to throw six innings as they gave up three earned runs on
just five hits.

Louisburg held a 2-1 lead going
into the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Broncos scored two in the frame
and another in the sixth to get the win.