The Barton Community College softball team had their 2014 season come to an end Sunday at Wichita State University's Wilkens Stadium as the Lady Cougars lost 5-2 to Seward County Community College. The loss to the Saints was the second straight season Seward County has ended the Lady Cougars' season in the final three of the Region VI Tournament. Barton ends the season under first-year head coach Marc Benjamin at 21-24 while Seward County improves to 47-11 and advances to the Region VI Championship game against No. 7 Butler Community College.
Pulling off a come-from-behind win over Garden City Community College twenty minutes earlier, the Lady Cougars started off looking like a team poised to reach the championship game. With the Saints leadoff Andrea Sitter reaching base, freshman catcher Allison Smith threw out Sitter trying to steal second. Ashlyn Osborne, pitching her second consecutive game and fourth of the tournament, then struck out Pokey Ewell and despite a nation's second best 26th double by Becky Allen, Osborne induced an infield popup to end the inning.
In what was a game of missed opportunities for the Lady Cougars, Barton stranded the first two of its eleven runners left on base as Candace Bollig and Allison Smith singles went for nought.
After the Saints stranded a leadoff walk in the second, Barton wasted little time taking the early lead in the home half. Erika Harper got things started with a single to right center then trotted home as Brittney Meyer blasted her seventh homerun of the season flying well beyond the 215' mark in centerfield.
Getting a Felisha Vogelaar leadoff walk, Sitter cut the Seward deficit in half with a triple to right center then tied the contest on Ewell's subsequent groundout.
Barton had an opportunity to capitalize on two Seward County two-out errors but Brittany Hopkins crossed up Harper to induce the inning ending groundout to second.
Having committed only three errors in three games, the Lady Cougars committed two costly errors in the fourth allowing Seward to take a two-run lead.
Following a three-up three-down fourth, Barton got consecutive one-out singles in the fifth by Smith and Osborne but a double-play quickly erased the hope of cutting into the deficit.
Osborne and the Lady Cougar defense kept the Saints off the board in the sixth but two quick outs in the home half made a rally hard to produce. But as the case throughout the tournament, Barton refused to go down without a fight and got a little help from the Lady Saints. A single by Darby Grizzard got things going, Bailey Hensley reached via a Seward County error, then Bollig was hit by pitch to load the bases. In stepped the nation's No. 3 hitter in doubles Emilia Davies but Hopkins got Davies to ground out to third to end the inning.
The Saints tacked on an insurance run in the seventh getting a two-out double by Vanessa Oakden to score Danielle Orr who walked earlier with one-out. Seward County opened the door for a Barton rally in the home half as Smith reached on the Saints' fourth error of the game but Hopkins shut the door on Barton's season getting the last three batters to send Seward County to the title game.
Going the distance for her second straight game, Osborne took the loss as the sophomore ended her Lady Cougar career at 13-14. Despite Barton outhitting the Saints, Hopkins handcuffed Barton when it counted while striking out six to improve to 19-5.
Sophomore Darby Grizzard led Barton in her final game going 2-3 while freshman Allison Smith also had a multi-hit day going 2-4.