Louisburg 11, Wellsville 1

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

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 that 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 also added an RBI hit.

Freshman pitcher Mia Wilson kept the Wellsville hitters in check most of the evening as she allowed just 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.”