The Barton Community College softball team closed out the regular season slate Sunday with a 24-1 and 8-0 sweep at Northwest Kansas Technical College.
The Cougars mounted a 16-run second frame in rolling to the big opening victory, following with eight runs in the first two innings of the nightcap for the sweep.
Barton concludes the conference season in 4th at 22-10 and 29-20 overall while NW Tech falls to 1-31 and 1-35 on the year.
Next up is the Region VI Tournament held May 5-7 at Dodge City's Legends Park, the 4th seeded Cougars taking on 5th seeded Garden City in the 3:00 p.m. Friday game. The result will pair against top seeded 14th ranked Hutchinson or 8th seeded Pratt, the victors playing at noon Saturday while the losers of the first round matchups play the prior 10:00 a.m. elimination game to get the day started.
While the offense was pumping out 32 runs on 29 hits, KayLee Richardson and Jenna Henderson kept the Maverick offense in check by each scattering four hits. Richardson improved to 4-2 on the year behind four strikeouts, the lone run scoring following a triple and single, while Henderson struck out a career high eight to get the game two win improving to 6-10.
Calli McConnell led the hit parade with a 5-of-8 performance, becoming the fourth Cougar with 10 or more home runs on the season by leading off the 5th inning with her 10th of the year on a no-doubter to left center to cap Barton's game one scoring. McConnell would later connect on her 20th double of the year for 5th most in a single season, clearing the bases for a program 4th most 64 runs batted in on the year.
Three Cougars had four hits on the day, one of Jaysa Anderson's coming on a 2-run home run in Barton's 16-run second inning, moving the sophomore into 8th all-time on the career list. Leadoff batter Halie Stoneking moved into the single season top ten list on her 4-of-7 day, crossing the plate four times in breaking into the top five list. Kayden Smith solidified the middle of the lineup on her four hits while playing solid second base including a diving catch robbing a lined potential hit in game one.
As the team and individuals have been making climbs and impacts on the program record book, Sydni Williams has also been quietly etching her name in the book. Connecting on two doubles in the Cougars' big second inning of game one, Williams drove in five runs in the frame to move into the top ten single season achievement while also sliding into the top five of career achievements. Drawing three walks to lead the team on the day with a .714 on-base percentage, Williams also broke into the single season achievement list while solidifying her place in the top three of the all-time free pass earners.