Cougars win 5 of 7 over 3-day weekend; sweep Cloud, 3-2 at Johnson Tourney

Cougars win 5 of 7 over 3-day weekend; sweep Cloud, 3-2 at Johnson Tourney
The Barton County Community College softball team is beginning to string together its best softball of the season. With a sweep of Cloud County in Great Bend Friday and a 3-2 showing at the Johnson County Tournament over the weekend, Barton has now won 9 of its last 11 contests. The 13-0, 17-0 sweep of Cloud Friday run Barton's winning streak to 6 before it ended in Johnson, where Barton's only losses were to No. 7 ranked Crowder College (Mo) and No. 16 Iowa Western. The Cougars are now 17-19 on the season after stumbling out to a 4-11 start and standing at 12-17 before the current 11-game stretch. Barton will get another test Tuesday in a doubleheader when No. 11 Butler comes to Cougar Fields for a 3 pm start.

Highlights
Barton easily won the two games against Cloud Friday in Region VI action blanking the Thunderbirds both contest and allowing just 5 total hits in the 2 games. In the opener, Myra Ramos belted a 3-run homer in a 6-run 2nd as Barton coasted to the 13-0 win. Cheryl Raesz had 3 hits in the game and Erin Humphrey added 2 RBI. Brittney Allen, Raesz and Humphrey all doubled in the win. Whitney Boeh allowed just 3hits and struck out 6 in the 5-inning win. Barton made it a run-rule game in the 2nd contest, winning 17-0 in 5. Brooke Pearce allowed just 2 hits in the game to pick up the win. Megan Wedel drove in 4 in a 3-for-3 effort at the plate while Boeh connected on a 3-run homer in the 4th and drove in 4 for the game. Alicia Salazar drove in 3 and scored 3 times. Humphrey and Ramos each scored 3 times as well.

The Cougars took the No. 7 team to the limit to start off the Johnson County Tournament Saturday, losing 9-6 to Crowder. The Cougars had their chances, leaving 8 runners on base and allowing 4 unearned runs on 3 errors. Boeh hit a 2-run homer in the 1st to tie the game at 2-all and Barton rallied from 8-2 down with 3 runs in the 5th to get back in the game. Barton got the tying run to the plate in the 7th inning but couldn't make it all the way in the loss.

The Cougars bounced back with a 6-4 win over Jefferson in the 2nd game Saturday. Boeh scattered 7 hits and allowed 4 runs on the mound while belted a homer in her 3rd straight game and driving in 2 at the plate. Her home run came in the 5th following a solo shot from Ramos. The Cougars took a 4-1 lead in the 4th as Boeh and Deanna Young both doubled in runs and Raesz singled in a run. Jefferson scored once in the 7th and had the tying run at the plate but Boeh shut then down for the Barton win.

Barton ended Saturday with a 5-1 win over St. Charles (Mo) as Pearce threw another good game for the Cougars, allowing just 6 hits and the 1 run while striking out 6 and walking none. Young doubled in Boeh in the 2nd for a 1-0 lead. Barton pushed it to 4-0 in the 5th as Allen hit a solo homer and Ramos and Boeh each drove in runs. A Ramos homer in the 7th capped the scoring for Barton.

Barton scored just once against the No. 16 ranked Reivers of Iowa Western – a Boeh 2nd inning homer. By that time, Barton already trailed 12-0 on its way to a 15-1 loss. Boeh, Allen and Young collected the only 3 hits in the contest for Barton in the loss.

The Cougars capped the weekend with a bang – 5 home runs worth of a bang – in an 11-5 win over Kirkwood. Ramos hit a 2-run homer in the 1st for a 2-0 lead and Allen hit a 3-run shot in the 2nd followed by solo homers from Humphrey and Salazar as Barton went back-to-back-to-back for the 2nd time this year and retook the lead at 7-4. The Cougars led 7-5 heading into the 7th when Roxanne Longoria gave Barton some breathing room with a 3-run homer for an 11-5 lead and eventual win.

With its 10 home runs in Johnson and 12 over the full weekend, Barton now has 49 home runs in 36 games. Boeh leads the way with 12, followed by Ramos with 10. Allen isn't far from double digit homers with 9. In all, 8 different Cougars have homer with 6 having at least 4. Five different Cougars have driven in 30 runs with Ramos leading the way at 36. Boeh has 34, Salazar, Allen,  and Raesz each have 33.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next 
Tues April 8 – v Butler, 2 pm (Jayhawk West, Region VI games at Cougar Fields in Great Bend)