Barton softball goes 4-2 in Johnson Tourney

Barton softball goes 4-2 in Johnson Tourney
The Barton County Community College softball team continued its steady improvement with a 4-2 record during the Johnson County Tournament in Kansas City this past weekend. The Cougars defeated Iowa Lakes and Hutchinson Saturday around a loss to Seminole State (Okla.). Sunday the Cougars sandwiched wins over Fort Scott and Brown Mackie around a loss to Labette.

Barton is now 11-15 overall this season.

Highlights
With cold temperatures (30's) and a brisk wind, some of the teams went home from the tournament, forcing the organizers to reshuffle the schedule. That gave the Cougars Iowa Lakes to start things off Saturday. Barton jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the 3rd and never trailed in the contest on its way to an 8-3 win. Angela Tarasoff gave the Cougars 2-0 lead with a single that scored Taylor Gorjiyan and Karina Ramirez. An Erin Morin double cleared the bases later in the inning, driving home Tarasoff, Brandi Gillette, and Martysha Mosley. Those were plenty of runs for Karalea Closson, who picked up the win for Barton, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs.

The Cougars bats were cold in the 2nd game Saturday as Barton managed just 4 hits -- 2 by Ramirez and 2 by Gillette -- in the loss. Erin Morin only gave up 4 hits herself, but 4 Cougar errors allowed 3 unearned to score and cost Barton a shot at the win. Barton fell to Seminole State by a 4-0 score.

In the final game of the day Saturday, Barton rallied back for a 10-5 win over Jayhawk West foe Hutchinson. The ball was traveling well early for the Cougars as Ramirez, Ruby Garza, and Mosley all hit 1st inning home runs. After Hutch made it 3-2 in the bottom of the 1st, Barton put 3 more runs on the board in the 3rd. Morin drove in 2 of the runs with a single, scoring Gillette and Garza. Garza had driven in Ramirez earlier in the inning. Another 3 run outburst in the 5th inning by the Cougars put the game away. Morin and Garza each had 3 hits with Morin driving in 3 runs for Barton. Closson picked up the win for Barton.

Sunday saw the Cougars notch another win in their opener, this time drilling Fort Scott by a 13-0 score. Morin and Gillette combined for 7 RBI in the game. Morin got the Cougars off to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st with a single that scored Gillette and Garza. Barton pushed that lead to 7-0 in the second, keyed by a 2-run single by Gillette that scored Ashley Much and Ramirez. Barton scored 6 times in the top of the 6th to win by the run rule, giving Morin the win on the mound.

As active as the bats were in the win over Fort Scott, they were inactive in the loss to Labette. Barton allowed the Cardinals to take a 4-0 lead with a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. The Cardinals scored the runs on just 2 hits. Barton did not plate a run until the 7th and final inning. There it looked as if Barton was going to challenge the Cardinals lead as the first three batters all reach base to give Barton a bases-loaded, no outs set up. But a pair of ground balls produced a pair of outs and just one run as the Barton rallied was thwarted. Closson was the hard-luck loser on the mound, allowing just 3 hits. Barton, meanwhile, had 9 hits in the game but just 1 run to show for it.

The Cougars ended the tournament with their 3rd win of the season over Brown Mackie, 10-3. Barton scored 8 runs in the opening two innings to grab an 8-1 lead on the Lions. Morin's 2-run triple in the 1st gave Barton a 3-0 lead. Jamie Reel had a key 2-run double in the 2nd inning as the Cougars built that big early lead. Barton added 2 unearned runs in the 6th and Tiffany Sallee scattered 11 hits on the mound for the Cougar win.

Stats
Stats can be found on the Barton County website at www.bartonccc.edu/sports.

Next
April 2 -- vs. Brown Mackie, 2 p.m. at Cougar Fields in Great Bend.