Lady Cats find positives in close losses to Wellsville

Louisburg freshman Jenna Cauthon tags out a Wellsville runner at third base Thursday during the Lady Cats’ doubleheader in Wellsville.

WELLSVILLE — The results might not have been what the Louisburg softball team wanted, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

The Lady Cats lost a pair of road games, 5-1 and 5-4, to Wellsville on Thursday, but they battled back through adversity in both games. As much as they would have liked the wins, there were a lot of positives according to coach Nick Chapman.

“We lost two games but this was one of our best nights that we have had,” Chapman said. “I think this was the first time we put together a 14-inning night. We had one bad inning, but I can’t really call it a bad inning because our pitcher got drilled in the face and there were runners on base because of little bloop hits that we just couldn’t get to. We limited our errors for the first time and we saw that we can play really good softball when we do that.”

Louisburg suffered a scare in the second inning of the first game when junior pitcher Mia Wilson was hit in the face with a line drive that sent her mask flying.

Wellsville ended up scoring four runs in that inning, but Wilson was able to stay in the contest and struck out four batters over three innings. Freshman Megan Quinn came in for relief and pitched three scoreless innings and also struck out four.

“Mia is one tough cookies” Chapman said. “Since I have known her, she has always been the one that takes hits and gets back up from it. It was an amazing thing that she was wearing a mask because it was hard hit. Once she gathered herself, she wanted to stay in and finish the inning. 

“In the second game, she came in and had one of her best nights hitting the ball. Funny enough, she jammed her finger really bad sliding back into first in the middle of the game. She took a beating Thursday night but she has so much love for this game, that she just wants to play, no matter how she feels or how hurt she is. That’s the kind of player I want on my team.”

The Lady Cats (1-17) scored their lone run the next inning when senior Brooklyn Diederich singled home Rylee Hickey. Freshman Jenna Cauthon had the team’s other lone hit in the opener.

In the nightcap, the Wildcats found themselves down a pair of runs going into the top of the seventh. 

Diederich nearly provided some heroics, as with a runner on, she sent a shot to the outfield and appeared it might be long enough for a game-tying home run.

Instead, the ball bounced off the top of the fence and back in play. Freshman Ashley Moreau later scored on a sacrifice fly from Wilson, but the Lady Cats couldn’t tie the game up.

“I’m very proud of the girls to see where we have come from to now,” Chapman said. “Our record doesn’t show the progress we have actually made as a very young team.”

Wilson led the Lady Cat offense with two hits and an RBI. Freshman Izzy Moreland also had a double and 2 RBIs and Emily Gephart had a run batted in. 

Moreland also started for the Lady Cats and pitched a complete game. She allowed three earned runs and struck out six batters and walked just one.

“Izzy hadn’t pitched in awhile because I’ve needed her to catch,” Chapman said. “I pulled up Emily Gebhart from JV and she came in and did her job as a catcher so that Izzy could get some innings and she pitched a heck of a game.”

Louisburg will play its regular season finale today when it hosts Paola for Senior Night. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

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