Wildcats roll KC-Washington in home victory

It was just another day at the office for Louisburg junior Bristol Barbour as he made another big impact on the mound, and at the plate, for the Louisburg baseball team.

For the second time in less than a week, Barbour got the win on the mound and homered — this time it was against KC-Washington. The Wildcats scored early and often as they cruised to a 16-0 win.

Barbour pitched the three innings and struck out six. However, he made a bigger impact at the plate as he hit a home run, doubled twice and had 6 RBIs.

Louisburg scored 11 runs in the first inning and never looked back in the 3-inning victory. It also improved the Wildcats’ record to 16-5 on the season.

“The guys came out and did a great job jumping on them early,” Louisburg coach Kade Larson said. “Bristol hit it well and pitched well. He has been seeing the ball well as of late and the team feeds off that energy.”

Wildcats senior Rylan Carty also had a big day at the plate with two hits and 3 RBIs, while sophomore Max Amren also finished with two hits. 

Luke Schultz made program history with one of his three hits on the night. The Louisburg senior recorded his 14th double of the year, which broke the old record for doubles in a season that was held by his coach — Larson.

“Luke is a great hitter,” Larson said. “It was awesome to see him break that record. I’ve told him, and others, I want to see them break every record we have, because that means we are probably doing pretty well as a team. Hopefully he continues extending the lead he now has throughout the rest of the season.”

The Wildcats will try and end their season strong as they host Paola on May 13 for a doubleheader. Every win counts for Louisburg as it tries to secure a top 4 seed to host the regional tournament. 

It is also Senior Night for the Wildcats as they prepare to honor their six seniors. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

Wildcats settle for split at Eudora

Louisburg was hoping to leave Eudora with a pair of wins following their doubleheader on May 6. 

It started out well as senior Meade Rutherford pitched a complete game shutout and led the Wildcats to a 9-0 victory over the Cardinals. 

In the second game, despite getting off to a strong start, the Wildcats couldn’t hang on in a 5-4 loss.

“It wasn’t what we wanted leaving Eudora,” coach Larson said. “We had our chances for a sweep, but a couple mistakes cost us. We had a good first inning and then couldn’t find a rhythm at the plate to get much going.”

Rutherford shut down the Cardinals’ offense in the first game as he allowed just two hits over seven innings and struck out nine. 

“Meade threw really well in game one,” Larson said. “He threw a lot of strikes and let his defense work behind him.”

Louisburg scored five runs in the third inning, which as more than enough for Rutherford. Senior Jayce Toms led the Wildcat offense with a double and a triple, while senior Rylan Carty and junior Bristol Barbour each had 2 RBIs.

In the nightcap, Louisburg jumped on Eudora for four runs in the first innings and took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth, where Eudora scored three runs. 

Wildcat senior Alex Saad had another strong start for Louisburg as he allowed just one earned run in 4 2/3 innings and struck out nine. Christian Owens came in for relief and struck out three of the four batters he faced. 

“Saad and Owens both pitched really well, too,” Larson said. “Saad has really done a great job pitching to contact this year and then knowing when to mix it up to get strikeouts, too.”

Junior Evan Moreland had 2 RBIs to lead Louisburg, while Rutherford and Toms each had a run batted in.