Tag: KCKCC softball

by Alan Hoskins

Kansas City Kansas Community College used some late inning dramatics to complete a doubleheader sweep of North Central College Wednesday.

A 4-1 winner in the opening game, the Lady Blue Devils trailed 6-1 before rallying to tie the game in the fifth inning and then winning in the bottom of the seventh 7-6.

The sweep came on the heels of 7-2 and 4-3 losses to Johnson County Tuesday, leaving the Blue Devils 10-4 overall and 6-4 in the Jayhawk Conference entering a four-game weekend home stand with Pratt Friday at 1 and 3 p.m. and Dodge City Saturday at noon and 2 p.m.

The Blue Devils rode the 3-hit pitching of Pitcher of the Week Leslie Ford to the 4-1 win over North Central. Ford struck out six and walked one and had a shutout until the seventh.

Justice Scales led a 9-hit attack with two doubles and a single while Amanda Holroyd drove in a pair of runs with two doubles.

KCKC jumped in front 1-0 in the first on a hit batsman, double by Scales and Maerra Morisette’s sacrifice fly and added two more in the third on singles by Lacey Santiago and Scales and Holroyd’s two-run double. The final run came on doubles b Emily Walsh and Scales in the fourth.

Tied 6-6 in bottom of the seventh in the nightcap, the Blue Devils won it by loading the bases on a walk to Morisette, a double by Ashley Henington and an infield single by Ford with one out.

Laura Vanderheiden then delivered the game-winner, a sacrifice fly to left with Morisette beating the throw to the plate.

Trailing 6-1, the Blue Devils tied the game with five runs in the fifth highlighted by a base-loaded double by Hanna Barnhart.

Singles by Vanderheiden and Scales sandwiched around a double by Santiago scored one run, Holroyd singled in another and Barnhart drove in three with her bases clearing double to right.

The rally made a winner out of Ford, who gave up a walk and then struck out two of the next three hitters in the top of the seventh in relief of Elizabeth Seimears and Myranda Ybarra.  Johnson County used its sweep to improve to 9-1 in the Jayhawk and 12-3 overall.

Justice Scales gave KCKCC a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run home run but the Blue Devils managed only two singles the rest of the way.

JCCC cut the deficit to 2-1 on a home run in the fourth and then went ahead to stay on a grand slam home run in the fifth off Ford.

The Cavaliers built a 4-0 lead in the nightcap and then held on as the Blue Devils rallied for three runs in the fifth.

Scales followed a single by Vanderheiden and a walk with a two-run triple and scored on one of Holroyd’s three singles.

Morisette added two hits as the Blue Devils collected nine hits but left eight runners on base. Seimars gave up eight hits in absorbing the loss including fourth in a 3-run third.

 by Alan Hoskins

Winner of three of four Region VI games on the road over the weekend, the Lady Blue Devils of Kansas City Kansas Community College return for the biggest home stand of the season – eight games in five days.

It all starts Tuesday when the Blue Devils host arch-rival Johnson County in a pivotal Jayhawk Conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

Tied for fourth in the region at 6-2 and 8-2 overall, KCKCC is just a game back of third place JCCC, 7-1 in regional play and 10-3 overall. North Central follows Wednesday for non-league games at 2-4 p.m. followed by regional foes Pratt on Friday (3-5 p.m.) and Dodge City Saturday (12-2 p.m.).

Outstanding pitching by Leslie Ford and Elizabeth Seimear carried KCKCC to a 2-0, 6-1 sweep at Hesston on Friday before the Blue Devils had to settle for a split at Hutchinson on Saturday, losing 2-0 before winning 7-3.

Ford allowed just three singles, striking out eight and walking one in blanking Hesston 2-0.

The Blue Devils provided all the needed support in the first inning, scoring on a leadoff double by Lacey Santiago, walk, wild pitch and Hanna Barnhart’s RBI double.

Barnhart, Santiago and Megan Dike each had a pair of hits in a 9-hit attack.

Seimear gave up just five hits and one earned run in the 6-1 second game win.

The Blue Devils again exploded in the first, scoring three times. After a leadoff single by Santiago and a walk, Mierra Morisette doubled in both and then scored on Ford’s ground ball.

The Blue Devils added three insurance runs in the seventh on Santiago’s third single, a triple by Morisette, single by Holroyd and double by Barnhart, each of which scored a run.

KCKCC outhit Hutchinson 7-6 but left seven runners on base in the 2-0 loss.

Hutch scored on a leadoff single and sacrifice fly in the third and a double and single in the sixth. Barnhart was the lone Blue Devil with more than one hit.

Ford came on in relief after Hutch had scored twice in the second inning and finished the 7-3 nightcap win by allowing just three hits and one run in the final 5.2 innings.

Justice Scales and Barnhart each had three hits, Morisette a double and triple, Santiago two doubles and Dike two singles in a 14-hit assault.

The Blue Devils again had a big first, scoring three times on four straight hits, doubles by Santiago and Justice Scales, a two-run triple by Morisette and Holroyd’s RBI single.

“Both Leslie Ford and Elizabeth Seimear pitched very well at Hesston,” said KCKCC coach Kacy Tillery. “Hutch’s runs in Saturday’s first game came on a couple of bloop hits. Defensively we played well and Barnhart, Morisette and Santiago swung big bats.”