Lady Beaver softball sweeps Ulysses
Ulysses, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The second half of the season began on Tuesday for the Scott City Lady Beaver softball team. It was also a stretch in which they will play five doubleheaders in a 10-day span. Sitting in second place right now in the regional standings, the Lady Beavers came in riding an eight-game winning streak, and haven’t really been challenged in those games. Tuesday at Ulysses, they faced their toughest tests since dropping their season-opening games at Goodland. This time, it was Scott City on the winning end of a pair of close games, taking home wins of 1-0 and 6-2.
Scott City 1, Ulysses 0, Game 1
They say it only takes one run to win a game. That held true for the Lady Beavers. The only scoring took place in the first inning, when Amanda Kough connected on a two-out RBI double that scored Bailey Latta. From there on, it was the defense that took over. Ulysses threatened several times, leaving two runners on in the first and seventh innings. Scott City was only able to collect four hits in the game as each team had one error each. The Lady Tigers made one final push in the bottom of the seventh inning, getting their first two batters on base. However, the Lady Beavers dug deep and found a way to win, getting a strikeout, and a pair of flyouts. The final out saw second baseman Aspyn Nix dive into shallow center field to make the catch to end the game. Kaitlyn Roberts improved to 5-1 on the year, scattering six hits, and striking out two. It was Scott City’s first shutout win of the year. Dene Watie took the loss, giving up four hits and the only run in the first inning, while striking out three. She had two of the teams six hits.
Scott City 6, Ulysses 2, Game 2
The Lady Beavers played with a little more of a cushion in the second game, scoring two runs in the first and one in the third to take a 3-0 lead. Ulysses took advantage of a Beaver error to pull to within 3-1. In the top of the fifth, Scott City took control of the game, pushing three runs home to extend their lead to 6-1. They had three of their five hits in that inning. The Lady Tigers scored on another Scott City error in the seventh, but it was too little too late. Nicole Latta had two hits for the Lady Beavers, both on bunt singles, and scored two runs. Bailey Latta also scored twice, as Amanda Kough and Kaitlyn Roberts drove in a run each. Nicole Latta went all seven innings to pick up the victory, giving up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. For Ulysses, Dene Watie took the loss, giving up six runs on five hits with two strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Natalie Bower and Gabby Gutierrez had two hits apiece.
With the wins, Scott City has now won 10 games in a season for only the second time in school history, as they continued on their school-record 10-game winning streak. They are now 10-2 overall, 4-2 in the GWAC. Ulysses drops to 4-10 on the year, and 2-6 in the league.
Scott City will travel to Stanton County for a makeup doubleheader on Thursday, before going to Hugoton on Friday. Next Tuesday’s final home doubleheader of the year against Colby will be played at 10 am on Senior Day. Ulysses is at Elkhart on Thursday.
Coach Erin Myers postgame
