Lady Tigers sweep Labette, win two of five at Spring Fling

Coming off a dominating doubleheader sweep at Labette on Friday, the No. 8-ranked Cowley College softball team lost three of five games at the Johnson County Spring Fling played Saturday and Sunday in Overland Park.

On Friday, Cowley picked up 9-0 and 11-0 wins over Labette.

In game one, Jacey Juden struck out eight and allowed just one hit in the victory. Sophomore first baseman Kim Noble went 3-for-3 with a home run and six RBI’s.
In the nightcap, Heather Davis allowed just one hit in the five-inning run-rule win. Davis (14-1), who is battling an injury, failed to strike out a batter and walked six.

Davis was unavailable to pitch at the Johnson County Spring Fling and will likely miss her next two starts.

Kashilia Young homered and drove in four runs in the 11-0 win, while Sara Smith added a three-run homer, her third of the season.

With Davis unavailable to pitch over the weekend, freshman Breayle Tackett took Davis’ spot in the rotation. Tackett (1-2) was on the mound in the Lady Tigers 7-5 loss to Iowa Western and 8-2 loss to Crowder College. Tackett allowed just two earned runs in the loss to Crowder.

“The scores are not indicative of how well Breayle threw,” Cowley head coach Ed Hargrove said.

Kashilia Young’s two-run homer accounted for all of the team’s runs in the loss to Crowder. Cowley batters struck out 15 times in the defeat, which followed the Lady Tigers being no-hit in a 4-0 loss against Indian Hills (IA).

“All we are going to work on today is hitting,” Hargrove said.

Juden (13-4) took the loss against Indian Hills, but looked sharp in Cowley’s 8-0 win over Iowa Lakes and 5-1 victory against St. Charles. Juden struck out nine and walked just one, while tossing a four-hitter in the win over St. Charles.

“Jacey threw real well,” Hargrove said.

Young had two more home runs in the win over Iowa Lakes as she increased her school-record total to 20 home runs on the season.

Young drove in eight runs in the five games and now has 59 RBI’s on the season. Smith drove in three runs over the weekend, and Colby Hart went 5-for-15 with two doubles and four runs scored.

Cowley is now 28-7 overall and 10-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Lady Tigers will host Neosho County in a doubleheader Tuesday at 3 p.m. The Lady Panthers are 4-6 in the conference.

“Neosho has traditionally been one of the better teams in the conference, so it will be a tester for us,” Hargrove said.