By RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
The Cowley College softball team continued its winning ways with a pair of road victories Saturday at Kansas City Kansas Community College. The Lady Tigers made it 15 wins in a row with victories of 10-6 and 11-5 over the Lady Blue Devils.
No. 19 Cowley (30-12), winners of 26 of its past 27 games, kept pace with Johnson County for first place in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 14-0. The teams will meet Thursday in Overland Park.
Trailing Saturday’s opener 4-3, Cowley would score five runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to win 10-6. Karleigh Bell doubled and drove in three runs, while Aaliyah Ahmed and Kyla Bonnarens drove in two runs apiece.
Saige Smith was not at her best but managed to go the distance on the mound. Smith (17-5) allowed seven hits and five earned runs as she won her 15th straight decision.
“Defensively, we had a lot of balls hit at our infield and outfield and thought we performed strongly and made some important plays to get us out of innings,” Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said.
Cowley had another five-run inning, this time in the second inning of game two, as they went on to the 11-5 win. Bonnarens homered twice and drove in five runs, while Shayne Roberts was just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.
“Shayne and Kyla were huge for us,” Hoyt said. “Kyla’s two home runs in the second game really helped relieve some pressure.”
Bonnarens is now batting .500 with 13 home runs and 66 runs batted in on the season.
Jaala Nowlin picked up her seventh straight win as she allowed three hits and three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Smith came in to pitch the final 1 2/3 innings and help preserve the win.
Cowley will now focus on facing No. 19-ranked Johnson County (25-5) in a doubleheader Thursday at 2 p.m. in Overland Park. With eight conference games remaining, Thursday’s doubleheader holds great importance in the race for the conference title.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Cowley 0 3 0 0 5 2 0 – 10 7 3
KCK 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 – 6 8 0
Game two R H E
Cowley 0 5 1 0 0 4 1 – 11 16 1
KCK 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 – 5 4 1
Tiger baseball team gets blanked as Cavaliers sweep four-game series
The No. 6-ranked Johnson County baseball team emphatically capped a four-game series sweep over the Cowley College Tigers by shutting out Cowley by scores of 9-0 in both games of a doubleheader played Saturday in Arkansas City.
The Cavaliers out-scored Cowley 38-14 in the four-game series, as they are now 41-7 overall and 25-3 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Tigers, who have dropped five games in a row, are now 27-17 overall and 17-7 in the conference.
Cowley managed just five hits in the two games while being shutout for the first time since March 5.
“Johnson has a nice club,” Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. “They played good and we did not respond very well. We did not hit or pitch it well.”
Cowley starting pitchers Brigden Parker (3-1) and Danny Satterlee (3-3) combined to surrender 12 runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers’ Ty Blecha tossed a four-hit shutout in game one before Gabe Nutter and Michael Infranca combined on a one-hit shutout in the nightcap.
Cowley’s single game at No. 5-ranked Barton Community College was postponed Tuesday due to weather. The Tigers will return home to play a doubleheader against Labette Community College on Thursday at 1 p.m.
“We have just got to get back to work and try to get better,” Burroughs said.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Johnson 0 0 5 2 1 0 1 – 9 9 0
Cowley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 4 1
Game two R H E
Johnson 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 – 9 15 0
Cowley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 2
