Barton season comes to an end in District C Tournament

Barton season comes to an end in District C Tournament
The Barton County Community College softball team saw its season come an end over the weekend in Wichita at the District C Tournament. The Cougars went 2-2 at the event to finish 4th, losing in the loser's bracket semifinal to KCK 1-0. Barton's other loss was to the eventual champion Johnson County in the 2nd round, 2-0. Barton earned an 8-2 win over Cloud County to start the tournament and beat Highlands 16-2 in the loser's bracket. The Cougars finished their season with a 30-31 record.

Highlights
Barton, the 4th seed in the tournament, jumped off out to a good start in the tournament, scoring 7 times in the bottom of the 2nd in the Cougars' win over Cloud. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the 2nd, the Cougars put a 7-spot on the board, highlighted by a Brandi Gillette 3-run homer. Taylor Gorjiyan started the scoring with a 2-run single. Erin Morin picked up the win for the Cougars, going the first 4 innings and allowing just 2 hits. Karalea Closson threw the final 3 innings, giving up just 2 hits and 1 run. Gillette had 3 hits and 4 RBI in the game.

The Cougars quest for a shot in the winner's bracket finals came up short in the 2nd round as No. 1 seed Johnson County had just enough offense to win the game. Johnson scored single runs in the 2nd and 3rd for the 2-0 win. The Cougars had their chances in a couple of innings, but came up short both times. In the bottom of the 3rd, Barton left the bases loaded and in the 6th the Cougars put runners on 2nd and 3rd with just one out and failed to plate a run.

The loss sent the Cougars into the loser's bracket, where they faced the 7th seeded Highland Scotties. The Cougars in every inning of the shortened run-rule game, producing 16 runs in just 4 at bats. The 16 runs were a season high for Barton and the 16 hits were the 2nd highest total for the Cougars this season. Barton scored 3 times in the 1st, once in the 2nd, and 4 times in the 3rd. The Cougars then busted loose for 8 runs in the 4th inning. Gillette, Morin, and Ashley Muck each had 3 hits for Barton in the contest. Gillette also drove in 3 runs and Muck and Ruby Garza added 2 RBI. Gillette and Suiter each scored 3 times as well.

The season came to and end with a tough 1-0 setback in the loser's bracket semifinals to KCK, a team Barton split its two games with this year. Morin and KCK's Kaleena Michieli hooked up in a pitching duel that saw KCK score and unearned run propelled by a pair of Barton errors. The Cougars left two runners on base in the bottom of the 7th looking to tie the contest.

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

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Season ends with a 30-31 record.