Jay Daubenberger
Conference action has had a strong start for the Lady Saints of Seward County who continued their success on the road Wednesday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep over the Pratt Beavers as SCCC grabbed a 7-4 win in game one and a high scoring 18-13 win in game two behind four home run bombs to put them over the top.
The first few innings of the day were slow paced with both sides making their way around the bases just one time in three innings before Seward County was able to connect on a couple of hits in the top of the fourth to stretch out their lead. A fly ball from Raeana Ortiz drove home Samantha Gomez and a double on a line drive by Kamryn Martinez drove another pair of runs in to increase their lead out to 4-1. Another run in the bottom of the inning by Pratt added to their total but a triple in the fifth from Gomez allowed the Lady Saints to match the Beavers and remain ahead by three. Pratt answered again with two more scores to slash the SCCC lead down to one at 5-4 entering the sixth where Martinez stepped to the plate and once again connected on a big hit that brought Brooklyn Castagnetta and Ortiz home for two more scores that pushed the Lady Saints lead to 7-4 to grab the win in game one of the doubleheader.
In game two it was the Beavers who scored first off a solo home run out to left field to move in front for the first time all day before Seward County responded with a four run inning in the top of the second thanks to two home run bombs of their own from Ortiz and Jayah Tellez to move in front 4-1. Another hard hit in the fourth by Anberlin O’Dell landed beyond the fences again for the team in green to put SCCC one run shy of the mercy rule as they led Pratt 8-1. The Beavers however never allowed the run rule to go in affect as they stayed in reach off of some key hits of their own including another homer in the bottom of the fifth to put the score at 10-6 Seward County. Both sides exchanged blows over the next few innings with Pratt trimming the lead down to as little as two until Martinez hammered out the fourth home run of the game for the Lady Saints to score three more runs for Seward County and advance their lead out to 18-11. A pair of runs for Pratt in the bottom of the seventh was not enough to overcome the high power hitting of SCCC who completed the doubleheader sweep with an 18-13 win in game two.
Over the course of both games, Aaliyah Gutierrez went a total of 7 for 10 at the plate for a batting average of .700 while recording 4 runs, 3 RBIs, and 4 doubles combined with Martinez who also drove in a good chunk of the Lady Saints’ scoring with 7 RBIs on the day.
Seward County improves to 13-9 on the 2024 overall season and now moves up to second in the KJCCC standings at 9-1 after sweeping the Beavers on the road. The Lady Saints will now take on their toughest foe yet in conference action in the Hutchinson Blue Dragons on Saturday with game one of the doubleheader beginning at 1:00 PM.