Cougars finish home stand 1-3 against Hutch, Cloud

Cougars finish home stand 1-3 against Hutch, Cloud
The Barton Community College softball team finished up a brief home stand – the 1st of the season – with a 1-3 mark against Hutchinson and Cloud County at Cougars Fields. The Cougars' home opener was moved up one day due to weather conditions, with Barton splitting a pair with Hutchinson Thursday. The Cougars lost the opener by a 9-3 score then completed the nightcap with a 4-1 win over the Blue Dragons. Barton lost a pair of contest Saturday in another shuffling of the schedule. Barton hosted Cloud County after the tournament at Cloud was cancelled due to the weather in Concordia.

Highlights
The Cougars saw their hopes for a win in the home opener slip away as Hutchinson scored 6 runs in the 3rd inning to give the Blue Dragons a 9-1 lead. Barton battled back with 2 in the bottom of the inning but could draw no closer the rest of the way in the 9-3 loss. Ashley Newberry and Kayla Hoskins each had two hits for Barton while Kortney Friess drove in a pair of runs.

In the 2nd game against Hutchinson, Barton received a stellar pitching performance from Michelle Balliett, who went the distance allowing just 5 hits and the 1 run. Balliett struck out 5 and did not walk a single batter.

The Cougars took the lead in the bottom of the 1st when Balliett helped herself with a single that scored Danielle Dorosh. Barton pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 2nd inning as Ashley Newberry drove in a pair with a single, scoring her sister Asia Newberry and Chelsea Bauer. Barton capped its scoring in the 4th with another Ashley Newberry RBI single, this time scoring Kayla Becker.

Barton wasn't able to take that momentum into Saturday's twinbill, dropping games 14-3 and 8-5. In the opener, Cloud scored in every inning on its way to the run-ruled shortened 5-inning win. Becker had two hits in the game and Bauer drove in a pair.

The Cougars had their chances in the 2nd game leading 4-0 at one point and still holding a 4-2 lead into the 5th. Barton took a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning as four straight batters drove in runs. Hoskins gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead on a bases-loaded single that scored Bauer. Dorosh made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to scored Asia Newberry. Savanna Rutkowski then singled in Ashley Newberry but Hoskins was gunned down at the plate for the 2nd out. Balliett made it 4-0 with a double that scored Rutkowski.

Cloud cut the Barton lead to 4-2 in the 4th and scored 6 times in the 5th – 3 unearned – to take an 8-4 lead. Barton trimmed it to 8-5 in the 6th when Asia Newberry singled in Balliett with two outs after the Cougars put the 1st two batters on base.

The Cougars will be in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma this weekend for action in the annual Midwest Juco Classic. Pool play will take place Saturday with the event wrapping up Sunday.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
March 13-14 – Midwest Juco Classic (Tournament play at Broken Arrow, Oklahoma)