By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After suffering their first loss of the season last Friday against Olathe South, Washburn Rural softball coach Liz Stover was obviously curious to see how her Junior Blues would bounce back in Tuesday's Centennial League doubleheader at Hayden.
Washburn Rural senior Emmerson Cope hit a two-run home run in a 6-0 first-game win at Hayden and pitched a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Emmerson Cope (right) is congratulated by teammates after her first-game home run in Rural's 6-0 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
For the most part Stover liked what she saw out of her team, with Rural improving to 7-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 in the league with a 6-0, 13-4 sweep over the Wildcats.
"I'm happy that they did bounce back the way they did,'' Stover said. "I'm happy with a couple of wins but I do think that there's still some things to work on.
"We're a pretty young team overall. We've got a lot of kids that don't have a ton of playing experience for the varsity team so far, so really we're just trying to work on staying consistent and focused.''
Senior standout Emmerson Cope, a Nebraska signee, tossed a no-hitter in the opener with 14 strikeouts and also put the Junior Blues ahead to stay with a two-run home run in the third inning.
Hayden was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the first in the nightcap, but Washburn Rural crushed three home runs in a seven-run second and four in the game on the way to closing out the sweep.
Washburn Rural scored the only runs it would need in the first game when senior Chloe Carlgren singled and came home on Cope's homer.
The Junior Blues added their final four runs of the game in the top of the fifth, getting a double from sophomore Layla Collins and a single from senior Piper Titworth. Both Collins and Titsworth came around to score while Cope walked and scored and senior Kaci Bath also scored a run.
After Cope singled and scored in the top of the first in the second game, Hayden (2-5, 1-3) scored its first run of the day in the bottom of the inning, with junior Ava Delgado getting a leadoff single and scoring on a single from sophomore Keira Carswell.
The complexion of the game changed quickly, however, with Titsworth, freshman Reagan Chapman and junior Gabby Martinez all blasting home runs in the top of the second to stake the Junior Blues to an 8-1 lead.
Hayden fought back with three runs in the bottom of the second to cut its deficit to 8-4 and Wildcat freshman relief pitcher Lydia Dennis kept the score that way until Rural scored five runs in the top of the seventh, with Collins hitting the Junior Blues' fourth homer of the game while Bath tripled and scored and freshman Henley Rapp doubling and scoring.
Titsworth picked up the pitching win with relief help from Chapman and Cope.
Despite Tuesday's losses, Hayden coach Cody Reynolds said he saw a lot of positives out of his team against a Washburn Rural team that finished second in Class 6A a year ago.
"I was totally excited,'' Reynolds said. "We have a day by day saying and I don't worry about other teams as much as I worry about my own team and I want them to get better every day and we're doing that.''
Hayden will travel to Santa Fe Trail on Thursday to complete a non-league doubleheader while Washburn Rual will play Free State and Olathe West in Thursday tournament games at Olathe and will complete its tournament appearance with games against Lawrence and Shawnee Mission North on Saturday.
FIRST GAME
WASHBURN RURAL 6, HAYDEN 0
Washburn Rural 002 040 0 -- 6 7 2
Hayden 000 000 0 -- 0 0 4
Cope and Rapp. Droge and Keira Carswell. W -- Cope. L -- Droge. 2B -- Washburn Rural: Collins..HR -- Washburn Rural: Cope.
SECOND GAME
WASHBURN RURAL 13, HAYDEN 4
Washburn Rural (7-1, 6-0) 170 000 5 -- 13 12 5
Hayden (2-5, 1-3) 130 000 0-- 4 7 4
Titsworth, Chapman (4), Cope (7) and Rapp. Kylie Carswell, Collins (2) and Kiera Carswell. W -- Titsworth. L -- Kylie Carswell. 2B -- Washburn Rural: Rapp. 3B -- Washburn Rural: Bath. HR -- Washburn Rural: Titsworth, Chapman, Martinez. Collins.
