Wildcats begin season with sweep of Harrisonville

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — It was a perfect start for the Louisburg baseball team Tuesday in Harrisonville — albeit a sweaty one.

The Wildcats swept Harrisonville in a pair of 7-6 victories in their season opener and did so by winning in different ways. Louisburg rallied from a 4-run deficit in game one, and held off a late Harrisonville rally in the nightcap to earn the sweep. 

“It is always great to leave the field with a sweep,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “We had some positives and some things that we need to clean up to take a step in the right direction for (today’s) game.”

Harrisonville took advantage of some opportunities in the opener as it forced Louisburg starter Alex Saad out of the game early. Harrisonville scored all six of their runs in less than three innings.

The Wildcats got good pitching from their bullpen, namely Evan Moreland. The Lousiburg junior pitched the final 4 and 2/3 innings and didn’t give up a hit. He also struck out seven and walked just one. 

“Evan threw really well for us,” Larson said,. “He did a great job of coming in and throwing a ton of strikes. He kept them off balance really well.”

Moreland’s performance allowed the Wildcat bats to play catch-up and they did that with a run in the fifth and sixth innings, and followed it up with three runs in the seventh to take the 7-6 lead.

Senior Meade Rutherford led the seventh inning off with a triple and later scored on a wild pitch. Moreland singled home Jayce Toms and then Ayden Spradling scored on a wild ptich to give the Wildcats the lead for good.

“We got down 6-2 and the guys didn’t flinch,” Larson said. “They knew what they needed to do and kept chipping away to get back in the game.”

Another senior, Luke Schultz, was big at the plate in both games for the Wildcats. Schultz had three hits in the opener, including a double and a home run, and had 3 RBIs.

In the second game, Schultz came through again with two more doubles and 3 RBIs to help get the Wildcats out to a lead.

“Luke saw the ball well all night and really came up clutch when we needed him to,” Larson said. 

Junior Danny Napier, who caught both games for the Wildcats, had a single and an RBI, and walked twice. Toms also had an RBI single for Louisburg as the Wildcats built a 5-3 lead after four innings.

Rutherford started the game for Louisburg and gave up just one earned run in three innings and struck out six. Christian Owens came in for relief and pitched three innings and struck out seven.

With the Wildcats holding a one run lead in the bottom of the seventh, Max Amren pitched a scoreless final inning with a strikeout. 

“Christian and Meade threw really well for us in game two,” Larson said. “Both gave us some great innings on the mound.”

Louisburg will try and make it three straight wins as it hosts Spring Hill in its home opener. It is a single game and first pitch is set for approximately 6:15 p.m., at Lewis-Young Park.

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