Barton softball sweeps games Sunday; ends weekend with 4-3 record
The Barton County Community College softball team finished strong over the weekend, winning all 3 games Sunday to return home from a 7-game weekend with a 4-3 record. Barton spilt games at Neosho Friday before going to Tulsa, Oklahoma for tournament play Saturday and Sunday. The Cougars dropped games Saturday to Cowley and Iowa Western before sweeping 3 foes Sunday in Coffeyville, Independence and Sauk Valley. The wins move Barton to 8-13 for the season. The Cougars will finally get to play at home March 26 when Pratt comes to Great Bend for Jayhawk West play. The Cougars are currently 2-0 in the West.
Highlights
Barton scored runs in bunches in several games, producing 64 runs in the 7 outings. One of those times wasn't in the opener Friday as Barton plated just 1 run in a 6-1 loss to the Panthers. The only Barton run of the day was a Roxanne Longoria homer in the 7th. Barton had 9 hits in the loss but left 10 runners on base. Whitney Boeh gave up just 5 hits and 2 earned runs in the loss as the Cougars committed 5 errors.
Barton bounced back in a huge way in the 2nd game scoring 22 runs in a 22-8 slugfest. The Cougars scored 3 to start the game added 3 more in the 5th and broke a 6-all tie with a 6-run 6th inning. The biggest inning was yet to come as Barton scored 10 times in the 7th. Whitney Boeh hit a 2-run homer in the 5th and Myra Ramos a 2-run shot in the 7th. Alicia Salazar and Erin Humphrey also had a big days at the plate as each collected 3 hits, drove in 4 runs and scored 4 times. Ramos scored 5 times in the win and drove in 3 as did Boeh. Brigette Hitschmann went the distance and picked up the win for Barton.
The Cougars again struggled to score run in the opener of the Broken Arrow Tournament in Tulsa as Cowley blanked the Cougars 10-0. Brittany Allen had the lone hit for Barton – a 2-out single in the 2nd – as Cowley pounded out 13 hits and 10 runs. Barton and Iowa Western had a slugfest to conclude play for Barton Saturday as the Cougars lost 21-13. Barton scored times in the bottom of the 1st for a 4-3 lead then watched as Iowa Western scored the next 15 runs to take an 18-4 lead into the bottom of the 4th. The Reivers led 21-5 going into the bottom of 5th when the Cougars scored 8 times but lost by 8. Allen, Boeh, and Salazar all homered in the contest with Allen driving in 4 runs.
The Cougars defense was much improved Sunday after committing 10 errors on Saturday and 9 on Sunday for nearly 5 per contest. On the final day, Barton had just 3 errors in 3 games as they gave up their 3 lowest run totals of the 7-game weekend. Barton started play with a 7-4 win over Independence with no errors. The Cougars took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st on the strength of a Cheryl Raesz 2-run single and never trailed. The Pirates did cut the lead to 4-3 before Salazar doubled in Ramos in the 3rd for a 5-3 lead. Barton added 2 more runs in the 6th as Allen and Ramos picked up RBI scoring Melissa Boller and Humphrey.
Christine Cervera tossed a solid game against Coffeyville, scattering 6 hits and allowing just 1 run to earn the win. Barton scored 4 times in the 3rd keyed by a Ramos 3-run homer. Allen added a 2-run blast for Barton in the 6th for the 7-1 final. The Cougars finished the day with a 14-5 win over Sauk Valley in 5 innings as the Cougars scored 11 times in the 3rd inning. Ramos had 3 RBI in the inning with a 2-run double and a sacrifice fly later in the inning. Boeh hit a 2-run homer in the 5th for the final margin.
The Cougars now off for Spring Break and will return to action March 26 with their 1st home game of the year when Pratt comes to Cougar Fields for a 2 pm start.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
March 26 – v Pratt, 2 pm (Jayhawk West action at Cougar Fields in Great Bend)