Lady Cats lose pair to Ottawa in home opener

Louisburg junior Olivia Fercho makes contact with a pitch Thursday during the Lady Cats’ home opener against Ottawa.

It wasn’t the outing the Louisburg softball team had hoped for in its home opener Thursday against Ottawa.

Louisburg couldn’t keep up with the Cyclones in a pair of 14-6 and 9-1 losses at Lewis-Young Park. Still, despite trailing in both games, the Lady Cats played hard to the end.

“We never gave up,” Louisburg coach Nick Chapman said. “We had a chance in the first game to make a huge comeback. Our bats finally got hot in the sixth and seventh innings. We just gave them too much to start the game.”

In the first game, Ottawa started with five runs in the top of the second and eventually took a 10-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning. The Lady Cats avoided the run rule when junior Ashley Moreau singled home Shyloh Waite for the team’s first run.

Louisburg added four more runs in the sixth inning when Megan Quinn doubled home Izzy Moreland and Jenna Cauthon. Sophomore Katie McKain singled home Quinn and then scored on an RBI single by Waite to make it an 11-5 game.

Ottawa added three more runs in the seventh inning to all but seal the win for the Cyclones.

Cauthon, Moreland, Quinn and Waite each had two hits to lead the Lady Cat offense. Quinn’s 2-run double was the lone extra base hit for Louisburg.

In the nightcap, the Lady Cats struck first as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Moreau tripled and scored on a sacrifice by freshman Delaney Nelsen. 

Moreland started the game on the mound for the Lady Cats and didn’t allow a run till the fourth inning when Ottawa scored three in the frame. She also struck out three.

Quinn pitched the rest of the way for Louisburg and gave up just one earned run, but the Lady Cats committed six errors that hurt them down the stretch.

As a team, the Lady Cats had just four hits in the nightcap and Moreau had three of those as she scored the team’s lone run.

Louisburg will try and rebound today as it travels to Spring Hill for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

“We are going to get back to work at practice and get some things cleaned up and take on a very good Spring Hill, where we are going to have to play clean softball to beat them,” Chapman said. “I think we are very capable of doing that. We just have to do it.”