Wildcats salvage doubleheader with Spring Hill to snap losing skid

Louisburg junior Mack Newell pitched the Wildcats to a 6-3 victory Tuesday over Spring Hill in the second game of the doubleheader at Lewis-Young Park

The first three games haven’t exactly gone like the Louisburg baseball team would have hoped.

The Wildcats were outscored by 22 runs in those three losses and they needed something positive to happen this early in the season. 

Louisburg’s second game against Spring Hill on Tuesday night gave the Wildcats the spark they were hoping for to get things turned around.

Down a run in the fifth inning, the Wildcats answered with four runs and they took advantage of two Spring Hill errors. When it was all said and done, they came away with a 6-3 victory over the Broncos in the second game of the doubleheader at Lewis-Young Park.

It was a refreshing ending after losing to the Broncos, 13-1, in the opener.

“Getting that second win against Spring Hill was huge for us,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “Bouncing back after losing the first game was really great to see.”

Junior Mack Newell kept the Wildcats in the game as he pitched five inning and gave up just the three runs on five hits and struck out four.

Senior Brandon Doles came in for relief and pitched two scoreless innings to get the save, and preserved the victory for Louisburg.

“Mack pitched really well for us in game two,” Larson said. “He did a great job keeping hitters off balance and working ahead.”

Sophomore Declan Battle got the Wildcats going early as he led off the game with a home run to left field to give Louisburg an early lead.

The Wildcats (1-3) got another extra base hit when Cade Driskell doubled home Maverick Rockers to give them a 2-run advantage.

Spring Hill eventually took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the third and another in the fourth, but the Wildcats put the pressure on the Broncos in the fifth.

Rockers opened the fifth with a single, and with two outs, Driskell reached on an error and allowed Rockers to score to tie the game. Brody McGreer followed with a walk and Jackson Howard was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Newell reached on another Spring Hill error, which allowed both Driskell and McGree to score. Junior Jackson Kush then singled to right field to score Howard and gave the Wildcats a 3-run adavntage.

“Putting pressure on Spring Hill led to that big inning in the fifth,” Larson said. “Finding ways on base and making them pay for a few mistakes ended up really helping us in the end. The guys did a great job of having team at-bats to keep the pressure on them. Once we got the lead our defense took over and did a great job keeping them off the scoreboard.”

Rockers led the Wildcats with a pair of hits offensively and finished with a team-high four hits between the two contests.

The first game was difficult for the Wildcats as it was tied at 1-all going into the fifth inning. From there, Spring Hill scored two in the fifth, two in the sixth and eight in the seventh to pull away.

Parker Hufferd and Rockers each had a double in the contest and Newell had the team’s lone RBI.

Louisburg will try and keep its winning ways going today when it hosts Wellsville for a doubleheader at Lewis-Young Park. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.