by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s nationally ranked softball team enjoyed a walk-off win so much in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday, the Blue Devils did it again.
Piper’s Alexis Rymer’s single in the bottom of the seventh gave the Blue Devils a 5-4 opening win over Neosho County Saturday; Alaina Howe drove in the tying and Savannah Maynard the winner as KCKCC rallied in the eighth inning for an 8-7 nightcap win.
The sweep came on the heels of 12-2 and 17-0 wins at Cloud County Thursday and propelled the 13th ranked Blue Devils into striking range of first and second place in the Jayhawk Conference DII Division A. Labette (15-3) leads followed closely by Johnson County (15-5) and KCKCC (16-6).
At Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Nebraska, Monday, the Blue Devils (35-9) return home Thursday as hosts of No. 11 ranked Highland at 2 and 4 p.m. They’ll close out regular season play at Allen County May 6 and then will be hosts to Johnson County May 8 (noon-2 p.m.).
KCKCC led Neosho 4-2 only to have the Panthers tie the game in the top of the seventh. Maynard was hit by a pitch to start the Blue Devils’ eighth. Devin Purcell singled and after an intentional walk to Bradi Basler, Rymer rapped a game-winning single to right for the 5-4 win.
Basler earlier had hammered a 2-run home run while Purcell had three hits and Maynard a double. Breanna Droge (13-5) went the distance for the win, allowing eight hits, three earned runs, walking two and fanning five.
Neosho took a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth of the second game. Jenna Daugherty started the KCKCC eighth with her second hit of the game, took second on Madison Pope’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Howe’s game-tying single and Maynard ended it with her third hit of the game and third RBI.
Basler also homered in the nightcap, her 14th of the season, and got her 17th pitching win (17-4), striking out seven, walking two and surrendering 13 hits.
Basler had three home runs in the sweep at Cloud. Basler drove in four runs with two homers in the first game while Maynard doubled and singled twice,
Purcell doubled and singled and Daugherty and Howe had two hits each. Leading 5-1, the Blue Devils scored seven times in the seventh. Droge allowed eight hits and one earned run, striking out five and walking none.
Devin Purcell’s first out-of-the-park grand slam highlighted the 17-0 nightcap, a game in which KCKCC scored 11 times in the seventh.
The Blue Devils’ 19-hit attack included eight players with two or more hits. Rymer homered and singled twice; Hannah Maurer singled three times and Basler homered and singled. Each drove in two runs.
In addition, Maynard doubled twice; Leah Seichepine and Howe each doubled and singled; and Purcell added a single to her slam. Basler allowed just two hits, striking out five and walking none in pitching a shutout.