Seward Softball Sweeps Pratt to Begin Conference Season

Phillip Lee

All it took was a little home cooking for the Seward County Community College softball team to get into the win column as it swept Pratt Community College in a doubleheader, 9-5 and 9-5, on Friday at French Family Field. The Lady Saints opened conference play at 2-0 and improved 2-9 overall.

GAME ONE
With all the inclement weather at home, the Lady Saints have been road warriors this season, playing its first nine games on the road and not playing at French Family Field until Friday. Seward had lost all nine games, but a stint at home seemed to be the cure. The Lady Saints jumped out to an early lead and held on to earn its first victory of the season in the opener.
Jaci Oakley went 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored and Alyssah Pontoja drove in a pair runs to pace Seward’s 16-hit attack. Jordan Cordrey, Nissy Lechuga and Madeline Owen also added two hits apiece for the Lady Saints, who jumped ahead at 5-2 after three innings and took the lead for good in the fourth.
Cordrey went the distance for the win, allowing five runs on 11 hits, striking out nine and walking three over seven innings.
After Seward took a three-run lead in the third inning, Pratt came back and knotted the game with a three-run fourth. The Lady Saints answered back in the bottom of the inning when Oakley doubled in a run to break the tie and give Seward a 6-5 advantage. Seward added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to close out the scoring.

GAME TWO
Alyssah Pontoja went 2-for-3 and drove in a three runs and Madeline Owen also had two RBI as the Lady Saints rallied from a four-run deficit to win the nightcap.
Miranda Nester and Cassandra Esquibel each had two hits and drove in a run and Nicole Nelson chipped in with a pair of hits for Seward, which had 12 hits in the game.
Pontoja picked up the win for Seward, allowing five runs on seven hits, striking out one and walking three in a seven-inning complete game. Pontoja gave up four runs in the first two frames, but settled down and allowed only one run the rest of the way.
After falling behind 4-0 in the second inning, the Lady Saints scored twice in the bottom of the inning and tied it at four in the third on Pontoja’s two-run double. Seward used a five-run, fourth inning to break the game open at 9-4. Owen keyed the outburst with a two-run homer. Pratt added a run in the fifth to complete the scoring.