by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s softball hopes of a top two finish in Division A in the Jayhawk Conference came to an end with a thud Thursday.
No. 8 ranked Highland, the leader in Division B, swept the No. 10 Blue Devils 7-3 and 11-1 to drop the Blue Devils to fifth in the overall Jayhawk standings.
Highland (19-3) and Cowley College (17-7) lead Division B; Labette (17-3), Johnson County (19-5) and KCKCC (16-8) are atop Division A. The top seven teams in the two divisions will advance to the regional playoffs.
At 37-11 overall, the Blue Devils have just four games remaining. They’ll be at Allen County next Thursday and then play host to Johnson County at Sophomore Day Saturday, May 8.
The outcome of the 7-3 opening game swung on one inning.
The Blue Devils loaded the bases with none out but failed to score in the bottom of the fourth; Highland scored four times in the top of the fifth for a 4-0 lead.
KCKCC bounced back to close to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. After singles by Devin Purcell and Alexis Rymer, Lindsey Gettle doubled in two runs and scored on Hannah Maurer’s single. However, the Blue Devils left two runners on in both the fifth and sixth before the Scotties put the game out of reach with four runs in the seventh.
Breanna Droge (14-6) went the 7-inning distance, allowing seven runs on 11 hits. She struck out six, walked four. Four Blue Devils had two hits each – Purcell, Gettle, Mauer and Bradi Basler.
Basler’s 14th home run of the season was the lone highlight of the 5-inning, 11-1 loss. Basler’s homer gave KCKCC a 1-0 first inning lead but Highland homered twice in scoring seven runs in the second. Basler (18-5) gave up 11 hits and nine runs (seven earned) in four innings. Nerida Elson pitched the fifth, allowing two runs on two hits.