From RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
The No. 19-ranked Cowley College baseball flexed its muscle in a pair of wins at Neosho County on Thursday. The Tigers won the opener 5-0 before taking game two 21-1. The victories, which coincided with Johnson’s County’s split of a home doubleheader against Allen County, move Cowley into a tie with the Cavaliers for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.
Cowley is now 28-12 overall and 16-2 in the Jayhawk East. Neosho County (28-13) falls to 14-8 in the conference.
“It is always a bonus when you can go on the road and get a pair of wins,” Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.
In Thursday’s opener, Cowley freshman Iziah Salinas ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings by striking out 10 in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Salinas allowed only one hit, a one-out double by Brenden Fry in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he improved his record to 5-0.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning, Cowley got a two-run homer from Keaton Campbell to give the team some breathing room. The home run by Campbell was his fourth of the season.
Cowley would tack on two more runs in the seventh inning as they took game one 5-0. Cole Martin had two of the Tigers’ eight hits in the victory.
Neosho starting pitcher Chayse Gruber (7-2) went the distance for the Panthers, allowing eight hits and five runs. Tiger reliever Barrett Morgan came on in relief of Salinas and retired all four batters he faced to go along with three strikeouts.
In game two, Cowley got a pair of grand slam home runs from catcher Breck Romero and first baseman Jarrett Flaggert and cruised to the 21-1 win.
Romero went 2-for-5 with six runs batted in, while Dane Harvey added his seventh home run of the season as he and Flaggert drove in five runs apiece.
Eight of the Tigers’ 15 hits in game two went for extra bases.
“We were able to get a lot of guys into the game, and it was good to see them swing the bats the way they did,” Burroughs said.
Cody Airington (4-2) started on the mound for Cowley and allowed five hits and one run in four innings. Cade Perkins followed Airington on the mound and struck out six in three scoreless innings of relief.
Neosho starting pitcher Cooper Hayden (2-3) took the loss after allowing nine runs in three innings.
The Tigers and Panthers will conclude their four-game series by playing a doubleheader in Arkansas City on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“Now the goal for us is to win the next two games and sweep the series,” Burroughs said.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Cowley 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 – 5 8 0
Neosho 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 0
Game two R H E
Cowley 3 0 4 6 6 2 0 – 21 15 1
Tigers softball tallies four home runs in doubleheader sweep of Cloud County
Running its winning streak to 10 games in a row, the No. 18-ranked Cowley College softball team swept a doubleheader against Cloud County on Thursday at the Ed Hargrove Field in Arkansas City. The Lady Tigers won the opener 10-6 before shutting out the T-Birds 5-0 in game two.
Cowley (31-10) remains the lone unbeaten team in the Jayhawk East, as they are now 8-0. Fort Scott is in second place with a record of 7-1, and three teams are tied for third at 6-2. Cloud County (15-15) is 1-7 in the conference.
In Thursday’s opener, sophomore Karleigh Bell hit her eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning to give Cowley a 3-0 lead. However, Cloud County answered with four runs in the top of the third to lead 4-3.
The Lady Tigers regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Bell walked and scored on a two-run homer by Harper Hancock. The home run by Hancock was her first of the season and gave Cowley a 5-4 lead.
The lead would not last long as Cloud County third baseman Kaylee Pinneo belted a solo home run off Mikah Vann (15-3) in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 5-5.
Hancock would put the Tigers back in front when her sacrifice fly scored Lyric Perry from third in the bottom of the fifth. Cowley would then get a solo home run from Shayne Roberts in a four-run sixth inning that helped the Tigers pull away for the 10-6 win. The home run was Roberts’ fifth of the season.
Bell led Cowley’s 11-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with a home run, double, three runs scored, and two batted in.
“I felt like the back side of our lineup really stepped up with Karleigh and Harper coming up huge in game one,” Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said.
Vann allowed 11 hits but just three earned runs as the right-hander struck out six and walked one.
Keira Brack (8-7) took the loss for Cloud, allowing 11 hits and 10 runs in six innings.
Game two was all about Cowley starting pitcher Jaiden Swanson (14-6) as the right-hander struck out 10 in the complete game shutout.
“Jaiden had a great outing in the circle, and our defense was really strong behind her,” Hoyt said.
The Lady Tigers out-hit Cloud 6-3 and were led by Jamie Molina and Paige Scanlin, finishing with two hits apiece.
Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Perry blasted a three-run homer to help Cowley go on to the 5-0 win. The homer was the sixth of the season for Perry.
“It was definitely good to see the team get two more conference wins,” Hoyt said. “We still need to sharpen up on executing with runners on and in scoring position.”
Cowley will remain home to play a doubleheader against Allen Community College on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Red Devils are 13-19 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
“We need to stay locked in on our opponent and know what we can do to apply pressure and keep the momentum on our side,” Hoyt said.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Cloud 0 0 4 0 1 0 1 – 6 11 2
Cowley 2 1 0 2 1 4 x – 10 11 2
Game two R H E
Cloud 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 3
Cowley 0 0 0 2 3 0 x – 5 6 0
