Cougars go 3-2 at Colby Tournament
The Barton County Community College softball team went 3-2 over the weekend in Colby at the Colby Classic, finishing in 3rd place. Barton went 2-1 the opening day, defeating Lamar (Colo.) 10-2 and McCook (Neb.) 6-1. Sandwiched between the wins was a 3-0 loss to eventual champion Otero (Colo.). Barton wrapped up pool play Sunday with a 2-1 loss to K-State Club, then won the 3rd place game 8-0 over McCook. Barton is now 19-25 overall.

Highlights
In the opener against Lamar, Barton trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the 4th when the offense exploded. The Cougars scored 5 times in the 4th and 4 more in the 5th for the 10-2 run-rule win in 5 innings. Taylor Gorjiyan, Maggie McCoy, and Brandi Gillette all drove in runs in the 5-run 4th for the Cougars. Karina Ramirez, McCoy, and Ruby Garza drove in runs in the 5th. The game ended when Garza singled in Ramirez with just 1 out in the 5th. Erin Morin allowed just two runs to pick up the win.

Barton and Otero battled scoreless for the first 6 innings as Ramirez and Otter's Amber Garrett hooked up in a pitching duel. Through the first 6 innings, Ramirez had scattered 4 hits. Barton, meanwhile, had just 3 against Garrett. But in the top of the 7th Otero finally broke through, scoring 3 runs for the win.

The Cougars rebounded to end Saturday with a 6-1 win over McCook. Barton scored single runs in the 2nd, 4th, and 5th innings to take a 3-1 lead. A Megan Suiter single to score Gillette gave the Cougars the 3-1 lead in the 5th. The Cougars opened things up in the 7th inning, doubling their run output for the 1st 6 innings for a 6-1 lead. Suiter and Gillette each had two hits in the game and scored twice. Martysha Mosley also scored twice for the Cougars. Karalea Closson picked up the win for Barton, going 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 unearned run. Morin pitched the final 2 innings for the save.

Barton lost another close contest to start Sunday, falling to the K-State Club team 2-1. The Cougars led 1-0 when Garza drove in Gillette in the 3rd. That would last just over an inning as K-State Club scored twice in the 4th for the 2-1 lead that held up to the end.

The tourney ended with 8-0 blanking of McCook in the 3rd place game. Barton scored runs in the first 3 innings to take a 4-0 lead. The Cougars scored 4 more times in the 6th to end game by the run rule. A Mosley 2-run double scoring Suiter and Brenda Myers highlighted the inning. Suiter and Ramirez each had 2 hits and Ramirez scored twice as well. Mosley also scored twice and drove in 2 runs. Ramirez allowed just 4 hits to pick up the win.

Stats
Stats can be found on the Barton County website at www.bartonccc.edu/sports.

Next
April 16 vs. Hutch at Cougar Fields, 3 p.m.