Lady Cats get first wins of season with sweep of Wellsville

Louisburg senior Karson Griggs slides safely into home plate Thursday during the Lady Cats’ doubleheader against Wellsville at Lewis-Young Park.

The Louisburg softball team had a lot of pent up frustration after losing its first six games to start the year.

Louisburg decided to take it out on Wellsville on Thursday during the Lady Cats’ home opener at Lewis-Young Park – more specifically the Eagles’ pitching. The Lady Cats exploded for 25 runs in the two games as they rolled to an 11-1 and 14-4 victory.

Not only were the Lady Cats able to get their offense going, but they got good pitching performances in both games and the Lady Cats played solid defense in the process.

“After getting through the extremely difficult front end of the schedule, we continued to work very hard in our practices, and for the most part, kept a positive frame of mind,” Louisburg coach John Ozier said. “A huge weight was lifted after the victory in game one.  The girls played more aggressively and relaxed in every aspect of the game once we established some breathing room. We were able to put together some great at-bats in key situations with runners in scoring position. We had struggled mightily with that in our first three double-headers.”

The Lady Cats (2-6) got things going early in the opener as they used a 7-run second inning to stake them to an early lead they wouldn’t give up.

Louisburg got a lot of production from the top of its order as the first five batters combined for nine of the team’s 12 hits in the contest. Senior Madison Svoboda led the way with three doubles and an RBI, while Lauren Cutshaw and Karson Griggs each added a pair of singles. Griggs also drove home two runs and Cutshaw added another.

Senior Molly Rison provided the Lady Cats with a big hit in that second inning as she connected on a 2-run home run over the centerfield fence. Junior Reilly Ratliff-Becher also had a 2-run single in the inning and junior Kayla Willey added an RBI hit.

Freshman pitcher Mia Wilson kept the Wellsville hitters in check most of the evening as she allowed one earned run on three hits to go along with four strikeouts in the complete game effort.

“Mia demonstrated great focus and tremendous resolve in battling through some tough situations in game one,” Ozier said. “The coaching staff has emphasized the importance of trusting the defense, and aggressively attacking the hitters. She did just that.

“Our defense all night was tremendous. Instead of playing to not make mistakes, we attacked the ball and made plays.”

In the nightcap, the Lady Cats actually found themselves down a pair of runs in the third inning before tying it. Wellsville answered with a run in the fifth to take the lead again, but the Lady Cats made sure they ended it in the bottom of the inning.

Louisburg responded with 11 runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the run-rule victory as they took advantage of several Wellsville errors in the frame.

Rison had another big performance for the Lady Cats as she recorded a single, a double and 4 RBIs in the win. Cutshaw also had a pair of hits, while junior Paige Eccher had a two-run double.

Svoboda, Griggs, Willey and Jordan Mynsted each added a single in the win, while Griggs, Willey, Mynsted and Brooklyn Diederich each drove home a run.

Diederich picked up the win in game two for the Lady Cats as she pitched a complete game. The Louisburg sophomore gave up one earned run on eight hits.

“Brooklyn battled through some tough situations, allowing us to stay close until we got our bats going,” Ozier said. “Like Mia in game one, she maintained a warrior like mentality throughout the game. Up and down the lineup in both games, we had timely hitting, great base running and great discipline at the plate.”

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

LOUISBURG DROPS PAIR TO SPRING HILL

On April 2, the Louisburg softball team traveled to Spring Hill for a Frontier League doubleheader and the Lady Cats had hard time getting its offense going in a 7-0 and 11-1 loss.

In the opener, the Lady Cats tallied just three hits from Karson Griggs, Lauren Cutshaw and Paige Eccher. Unfortunately, Spring Hill took advantage of three Louisburg errors as the Broncos used a 5-run third inning to pull away.

Runs were also hard to come by in the nightcap for Louisburg. The Lady Cats scored one run on four hits, while the Broncos scored four runs in the third and five more in the fourth to help complete the sweep.

Sophomore Alyse Moore led the Louisburg bats with a pair of hits and Griggs accounted for the Lady Cats’ lone run with a solo home run in the third inning. Rison also had a single for Louisburg.

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