Wildcats bounce back with sweep of Osawatomie

Louisburg junior Nathaniel Lamm celebrates with teammate Corbin Hamman after scoring a run last week. The Wildcats swept Osawatomie on Thursday.

Coming off a pair of tough losses earlier last week, the Louisburg baseball team didn’t waste much time getting back in the win column Thursday when the Wildcats hosted Osawatomie. 

Louisburg dominated both contests from the opening inning and never looked back in a 15-5 win in the opener and a 16-1 victory in the nightcap. The Wildcats improved their record to 9-5 on the season.

“It is always great to bounce back from a couple tough losses,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “The team responded well and took care of business.”

The Wildcats got their bats going early in the first game as they scored 12 runs in the opening frame to take the early lead and never looked back.

Junior Declan Battle started for the Wildcats and picked up the win as he allowed no earned runs and gave up just two hits and had three strikeouts. Senior Jackson Kush pitched an inning of relief and struck out the side.

Seniors Corbin Hamman and Cade Driskell came through with the bats as each of them recorded a double and had 3 RBIs a piece. Sophomore Alex Saad also had two hits, a double and 2 RBIs.

Juniors Nathaniel Lamm and Jackson Howard each drove home a pair of runs. Lamm also scored three times. Battle, from his leadoff spot, had two hits, an RBI and two stolen bases.

The Wildcats used one big inning to seal the win in the second game. Louisburg had a 13-run second inning that helped propel them to a 15-run victory in three innings.

Sophomore Luke Schultz recorded a rare inside-the park grand slam, which was one of several big hits on the night. He also started the game for the Wildcats and pitched three innings, gave up one unearned run and had two strikeouts.

Driskell and Hamman both had another big game as they had 4 and 3 RBIs, respectively, to go along with a pair of hits, including a double.

“Luke is swinging it really well for us,” Larson said. “He smoked that ball (grand slam) to the fence and took advantage of it. Corbin and Cade were seeing the ball well all night. Both had great at bats all night and were really good with runners on.”

Senior Kaleb Carter recorded a pair of doubles and drove home three, while freshman Danny Napier added a 2-run double. Battle tripled and also scored three times for Louisburg, as did junior Jack Anderson.

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

Ottawa takes two from Louisburg

Louisburg squared off with one of the top teams in the Frontier League last Tuesday when it hosted Ottawa.

The Cyclones, who placed fourth at the state tournament a year ago, handed the Wildcats a pair of 9-8 and 18-5 losses at Lewis-Young Park.

Errors were costly for the Wildcats as they committed 10 between the two games, which led to some big innings for the Cyclones.

“Ottawa is a great team,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “We battled all night long. A few mistakes ended up hurting us in the end. The good thing is we will learn from it and get better.”

In the opener, the Wildcats found themselves down 9-3 going into the fifth inning, but tried to battle back. Louisburg scored four runs in the fifth on RBI hits from Nathaniel Lamm, Corbin Hamman and Jackson Kush.

Lamm had a big day at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance and 3 RBIs, while Kush had 2 RBIs. Junior Wyatt Holland also drove in a run.

Louisburg added another run in the sixth to make it a one-run Ottawa lead, but could get no closer.

The Wildcats continued to hang with the Cyclones in the nightcap. Louisburg trailed just 6-4 after three innings, but Ottawa answered with four in the fourth and seven in the sixth to seal the win.

Junior Jackson Howard and freshman Bristol Barbour each had two hits to lead the Wildcats. Junior Declan Battle finished with 2 RBIs and Lamm also drove home a run. Sophomore Luke Schultz also tripled and scored a run.

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