Cougars get sweep of Neosho; hit 3 straight homers in 1st game
The Barton County Community College softball team showed its power Saturday afternoon at Cougar Fields, sweeping Neosho, 14-9 and 10-0 in Region VI action. During the twinbill, Barton hit 7 homers, including 3 straight in the opener. The sweep broke a brief 4-game losing streak for the Cougars, improving their record to 10-17 on the season and 3-5 in Region VI play. Neosho fell to 9-14 on the season and 4-6 in the region. Barton will be in Salina Tuesday for a twinbill with Brown Mackie. The Cougars are back home Thursday to take on Cloud County in a 3 pm start.
Highlights
The Cougars and Panthers traded the lead in the opener 8 times with Neosho taking the lead in the top of the inning and Barton recapturing the lead in the bottom of the inning – usually thanks to home runs. It started in the bottom of the 2nd when Deanna Young hit a 2-run homer for a 2-1 Barton lead.
Neosho scored 4 times in the 3rd but Barton answered back with 4 of its own in the bottom of the inning – thanks to 2 errors – to take a 6-5 lead. Barton had just 1 hit in the inning and the only RBI was a bases loaded walk. A pair of 2-out errors allowed 3 runs to score. The Panthers went back on top 7-6 in the top of the 4th but Whitney Boeh doubled in a run in the bottom of the 4th and Barton was back on top 8-7. After falling behind 9-8 in the top of th3 5th, Brittney Allen belted a 3-run homer for the Cougars in the bottom of the inning for an 11-9 lead.
The Cougars pulled away in the 6th, scoring 3 more times after holding Neosho scoreless in the top half of the inning. This time is was back-to-back-to-back homers to start the inning that provided the runs. Boeh started the inning with a homer, followed by Cheryl Raesz and Young for the 2nd time in the contest. That gave Barton 5 homers in the contest. Boeh ended with 3 hits while Allen and Young each drove in 3. Raesz scored 3 times for the Cougars.
In the 2nd game, Boeh shut down Neosho on just 7 hits pitching for the Cougars. She was provided with a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning and never looked back, striking out 3 and walking just 1 in 5 innings.
Allen started the game with a homer for the Cougars and Raesz doubled in 2 more in the 1st as Barton took a 4-0 lead. The lead grew to 10-0 with a 5-run 3rd for the Cougars. After Roxanne Longoria singled in Melissa Boller in the 2nd for a 5-0 lead, Barton the game away in the 3rd. Myra Ramos singled in 2 runs in the inning then Allen belted her 2nd home run of the game – the 3rd of the day for the Barton third baseman – for the 10-0 lead. From there, Boeh shut down Neosho for 2 more innings for the win.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Tues April 1 – at Brown Mackie, 3 pm (non conference twinbill at Salina)