Wildcat pitching shuts down Bonner Springs in sweep

By Andy Brown
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: April 11, 2024

***Louisburg junior Jayce Toms pitched the final four innings of the opener and struck out seven batters to help the Wildcats on Thursday to a win against Bonner Springs.***

BONNER SPRINGS — Louisburg couldn’t have asked for a much better start to its season as the Wildcats won seven of their first eight games.

Nothing much changed on the road Tuesday at Bonner Springs.

The Wildcats cruised to a pair of 7-0 and 5-1 victories over the Braves. Louisburg has now won seven straight games and are now 9-1 on the season.

“It’s always great to go on the road and get a sweep,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “We played really well on defense and had some timely hitting.”

Louisburg’s pitching staff held the Braves’ offense to just one run on seven hits over two games and the Wildcats got it started in game one.

Junior Meade Rutherford started the opener and allowed no runs on three hits. Junior Jayce Toms came on in relief and dominated the Bonner lineup.

Toms breezed through four innings of work as he gave up just one hit and struck out seven.

“Jayce came in and gave us some great innings on the mound,” Larson said. “He really shut the door and didn’t give Bonner Springs a chance to come back.”

Louisburg scored a run in the first, fourth and fifth innings, but broke the game open with four runs in the sixth.

With the bases loaded, Brody McGreer scored on a balk and Declan Battle went home on a passed ball. Sophomore Danny Napier followed up with a double that scored Luke Schultz, while senior Jackson Howard ended the inning with an RBI single.

***Louisburg shortstop Bristol Barbour tags out a Bonner Springs runner Thursday after a throw from centerfielder Declan Battle.***

Napier led the Wildcat offense with a pair of doubles and 2 RBIs and both hits just missed being home runs.

“Danny swung it really well,” Larson said. “He’s had a great approach at the plate and it is showing.”

Senior Nathaniel Lamm had three hits, including a double and Schultz had two hits with a triple and an RBI.

In the nightcap, Schultz got the start for Louisburg and pitched five innings gave up just two hits and struck out four. Battle came in and pitched the final two innings to preserve the win.

One inning was all it took for the Wildcats to seal the win as they scored five runs in the fourth inning.

Senior Conner Heston got the scoring started with an RBI single. Bristol Barbour scored on a passed ball, then Battle singled home Heston and Rylan Carty. Battle went on to score on a wild pitch to complete the inning.

“The fourth inning of that second game was huge for us,” Larson said. “We found a way to put some runs on the board and our defense played really well to shut them down from there.”

Battle led the Wildcat bats with two hits and 2 RBIs, while Napier had his third double of the night.