Heavy Hitting Leads Seward Softball to Opening Sweep

Jay Daubenberger

Liberal, Kansas – After having to postpone their 2024 season opener for nearly a week, the Seward County Lady Saints softball team was finally able to step foot on their home field and start their season off on the right track as they knocked out home run after home run to take both games against the McCook Indians in a doubleheader for a 2-0 start.

The home run bombs started early for the Lady Saints as Samantha Gomez stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the second and slugged one out of the park to tie the game up 1-1 before a grand slam by McCook pushed them back in front 5-1. A pair of runs in the top of the fifth allowed the Indians to move ahead 7-1 entering the bottom of the inning where Seward County was able to answer with some firepower of their own. Noemi Tondi used her speed to steal home and get the Lady Saints back on the board while a big hit from Alyssa Morgan sent another one beyond the fences for a two-run homer to close the gap to three. A line drive to center field managed to drive in another SCCC score with Anberlin Odell making her way to home and putting the score at 7-5 before wrapping up the fifth. Odell added on some heavy hitting of her own in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game alive for Seward County with a big two-run home run of her own to lock the score up at 7-7 to climb back from down six runs and force the game into extra innings. Three runs in the top of the eighth for McCook allowed the Indians to regain the lead 10-7 which the Lady Saints were able to answer with two more runs of their own before coming down to their final out. One more out for the green and white meant certain doom but Odell once again stepped to the plate and slugged her way to victory for SCCC with a three-run homer to give Seward County a 12-10 win in game one of the doubleheader.

Just like in game one the scoring started early for both sides as McCook scored two early runs in the top of the first while Odell for the third time on the day hit one out of the park to tie the score back up 2-2 after one. Another three scores by the Indians in the second put them ahead once again 5-2 while the Lady Saints managed to drive in four more runs in the bottom of the third to overtake the Indians 6-5. Brooklyn Castagnetta slapped a double to left field which drove in a pair of runs for the Lady Saints to move even farther ahead 8-5 after the fifth, but McCook answered back with another three runs to tie the score up before Seward County responded with some more big swings to score three of their own and remain ahead 11-8 entering the final inning. SCCC needed three more outs and while they were able to get the first two with ease, the Indians managed to find their way home twice to bring the score within one but could not finish the job as Seward County struck out the final batter and claim an 11-10 win to sweep McCook and go 2-0 to start the season.

The Lady Saints now sit at 2-0 to begin the 2024 season despite a late start and will continue their hot streak tomorrow when Northeastern comes into town for another doubleheader with game one beginning at 12:00 and game two beginning at 2:00.