Wildcats put up 26 runs to roll past Harrisonville in opener

It may have just been one outing, but the Louisburg baseball team couldn’t have asked for a better start to its season.

The Wildcats scored 26 runs and came away with a pair of 13-3 and 13-1 victories Tuesday over Harrisonville at Lewis-Young Park. It was the type of performance they were hoping for to start their 2024 campaign.

“It’s always great to win your first two games of the season,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “I thought we hit the ball really well and pitched well all night. We have a few things we will clean up in practice that come with that first game of the season.”

Two Louisburg seniors came up big for the Wildcats in each game and it was Jack Anderson that got it all started in the opener. Anderson was 4-for-4 at the plate with 7 RBIs, that included a double and a 3-run home run. 

In the nightcap, it was Declan Battles turn. The Wildcat centerfielder had three hits, including a double, and had 6 RBIs in the 12-run win.

“Jack saw the ball really well all night,” Larson said. “He hit the ball hard and good things usually happen when you do that. Declan started seeing the ball well, too. He picked us up in some big situations and got the job done.”

Junior Alex Saad started the first game for Louisburg as he went four innings and gave up just one hit to go along with nine strikeouts. Harrisonville struck for three runs on him, but all three were unearned.

It was a tough third inning for Louisburg in which it committed three errors and led to three Harrisonville runs that tied the game. The Wildcats settled down after that as it took the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning, then scored five in the fourth and fifth innings.

“After that one inning, we played a pretty clean two games,” Larson said. “It was great to see the guys not let one bad inning turn into another. They played really well and moved on from it nicely.”

In that first game, senior Jackson Howard added a pair of hits, including a double, to go along with 2 RBIs. Junior Luke Schultz had two hits and a run batted in, while sophomore Bristol Barbour also had an RBI.

Schultz started the second game for the Wildcats as he was given a nice cushion. Louisburg scored eight runs in the first and four more in the second to pull away early. Schultz allowed one run in three innings and struck out five.

Along with Battle’s strong performance with the bat, sophomore Danny Napier had a double and 2 RBIs. Saad also had an RBI double to help the Wildcat offense.

Louisburg will try and keep its winning ways going Thursday when it travels to Spring Hill for one game. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.