By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings softball team split its home-opening doubleheader on Thursday night at Seaman High, defeating United Kansas Conference rival Basehor-Linwood 8-0 in the first game before falling to the Bobcats 13-4 in the nightcap.
Seaman senior pitcher Kaelyn O'Rourke twirled a four-hit shutout in Thursday's 8-0 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN]
In Game 1, the Vikings took advantage of a strong pitching performance from Utah-commit Kaelyn O’Rourke.
The senior struck out the first two Bobcats in the top of the first before allowing a two-out double to third baseman Trinity Deters. O’Rourke stranded Deters at second base by striking out catcher Adelyn Thom to end the half-inning.
The Viking offense went to work in the bottom of the first, with Anna McLaughlin and Raegan McConnell drawing walks to put traffic on the bases. Following a single from O’Rourke, sophomore Natalee Simpson singled to left field to drive in McLaughlin and give Seaman an early advantage.
After McConnell scored on a wild pitch, first baseman Lauren Glasgow put the finishing touches on the inning with a two-out, two-run double to put the hosts up 4-0 after an inning of play.
O’Rourke went back to work in the second inning, striking out the side, but the Vikings were unable to add on to the lead in their half of the inning.
The Vikings exploded again in the bottom of the third, with O’Rourke scoring from third base on a wild pitch.
A few batters later, third baseman Kayleigh Neill launched a towering three-run home run to left field, giving Seaman an 8-0 lead.
The hosts’ bats went cold from the fourth inning on, but O’Rourke continued to dominate in the circle, throwing a complete-game shutout with 16 strikeouts and allowing only four hits.
While his star pitcher’s talent is widely known, Seaman coach Dan Ruda praised O’Rourke’s mentality in the circle.
“The best thing about (O’Rourke) is her mindset,” Ruda said. “She believes in herself and has that attitude of, ‘I’m going to go right after you.’ ”
In Game 2, the Bobcats got to Seaman starting pitcher Addison Sibley early, tagging the junior for three runs in the top of the first.
Thom doubled into the right-center gap to drive in a run, while Lindsey Kuzmic drove in a second with a groundout and Addison Murphy finished the damage with an RBI single.
The Vikings answered in the bottom of the first, with a McLaughlin single setting up a two-run home run from Aubrey Warren to put Seaman back within one run after the first inning.
After a scoreless second inning, Basehor-Linwood erupted for five runs in the top of the third after the first two batters recorded outs.
Aubrey Ziolo capped off the inning by clearing the bases with a double to right field before being thrown out at third base to end the frame.
The Vikings tacked on a run in the bottom of the third, with Warren coming in to score after a line drive from Avery Phelps took an errant bounce off the third base bag.
The Bobcats put the contest out of reach in the top of the fourth inning, tacking on four more runs with help from three Viking errors.
Seaman added one more run in the bottom of the fifth, after Phelps took a pitch off the left foot with the bases loaded.
The Bobcats answered with a pitching change, and Avery Spellman struck out the next two Vikings to put an end to the threat.
Seaman committed seven errors in the contest, while leaving 10 runners on base.
Despite the difficult outing, Ruda expressed confidence in Sibley as a strong second option in the circle behind O’Rourke.
“(Sibley) came in last year, two or three games into the season, and established herself as that No. 2 for us, and we’re really proud of what she’s done,” Ruda said.
Seaman returns to action on Tuesday, with a home doubleheader against Lansing.
GAME 1
SEAMAN 8, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 0
Basehor-Linwood 000 000 0 – 0 4 1
Seaman 404 000 X – 8 8 0
Kuzmic and Spellman. O’Rourke and Dreher. W – O’Rourke. L – Kuzmic. 2B – Basehor-Linwood: Deters. Seaman: Glasgow. HR – Seaman: Neill.
GAME 2
BASEHOR-LINWOOD 13, SEAMAN 4
Basehor-Linwood (3-1) 305 400 1 – 13 11 0
Seaman (3-1) 201 010 0 – 4 9 7
Steineger and Spellman. Sibley and Dreher. W – Steineger. L – Sibley. 2B – Basehor-Linwood: Thom, Kuzmic. Seaman: Phelps. HR – Seaman: Warren.
