Grand slam sinks Louisburg softball

By Andy Brown, andybrown@miconews.com

Louisburg third baseman Bekka Campbell makes a throw to first during Monday’s first-round regional game in Paola. The Wildcats ended their season witha 4-0 loss to Paola, with all four runs coming on a grand slam in the second inning. (Gene Morris / gmorris@miconews.com)

All it took was one swing of the bat and the Louisburg softball team’s season was over.

A grand slam off the bat of Paola’s Rachel Hanf in the second inning of the Wildcats’ Class 4A regional Monday in Paola was all the No. 2 Panthers needed to put themselves into the semifinals with a 4-0 victory over No. 7 Louisburg. Hanf, who was the team’s No. 9 hitter, sent the Wildcats packing.

Other than the four-run second inning from Paola, it was a pitcher’s duel all the way.

Louisburg’s Trisha Stone and Paola’s Allison Wood went head-to-head on the mound, and both pitched well. Stone pitched a complete game and gave up just three hits, while Wood allowed just two hits in the complete game shutout.

“The girls played their best game all year last night,” Louisburg coach Rhonda Tyson said. “We were making contact with the ball, but we were hitting it right at them. It was obviously a tough loss for all of us, but especially for the seniors since it was their last high school softball game.”

Erin Gerken and Corrine Johnson had the lone hits for Louisburg. Johnson recorded a double, but the Wildcat offense wasn’t able to get anything going against the Paola pitching.

Paola opened the second inning by reaching on an error and then followed that up with back-to-back singles. Then came Hanf’s home run, and that was all the Panthers needed.

“We may have been short on numbers this year but I was definitely not short on talent,” Tyson said. “After getting the girls healthy from injury and illnesses along the way, I feel like we ended the season strong with the wins against Spring Hill and Anderson County. Last night’s game against Paola might have been a loss in the books, but they pulled together and played every ball hard. Paola got a couple of key hits, and that was the difference in the ball game.”

The Wildcats finished the season with a 7-13 record and had to deal with a lot of injuries from the season opener on. Louisburg split with Paola at the beginning of the season. Tyson knew her team had shot to upset Paola and it almost did.

“We came out on opening day and split with Paola,” Tyson said. “I felt good about that game. Then the next day I found out my starting shortstop had her leg in a cast due to tendonitis. So we had some shuffling to do. The girls who stepped up to fill the positions did a great job. Bekka Campbell was a great utility player all year. She could and would play anywhere I needed her to play.”