Opening the softball season at home on Saturday afternoon, the Labette Cardinals split a doubleheader against the Pratt Beavers — Labette won Game 1, 8-0, before dropping Game 2, 9-6.
Labette’s ideal makeup shined in the first game. The Cardinals’ offense showed a blend of speed and power — they had three stolen bases while first baseman Jaden Jordan blasted a home run, a double and tallied four RBIs.
Taylor Palmer delivered an ace outing in the circle, tossing all five frames of the run-rule shortened contest with four hits allowed and three strikeouts.
“Taylor did Taylor. That’s why she went Game 1,” Labette head coach Ryan Phillips said. “She spun the ball well and had a ton of quick innings. We had pitchers on pitch counts today and she didn’t have to go past the fifth inning. She threw great, kept hitters off balance and changed speeds.”
As Game 2 arrived, so did Dark Labette. The Cardinals committed a pair of errors that compounded big innings for the Beavers while pitchers Lily Beery and Cheyenne Cramer — both making their debuts — combined to allow 10 hits and four walks.
“We didn’t work ahead in the count,” Phillips said. “We gave their better hitters opportunities in hitters’ counts and they took advantage. And then we made mistakes on defense. We talk about minimizing to one mistake in an inning — you can’t have an error and a walk. You can’t give up extra bases.”
While the Cardinals scored six runs — Hailey Presley, Kinsley Powell and Karly Loftis all had two-hit games — they stranded over half-adozen runners on base.
“Offensively, I thought we did a decent job with the short game,” Phillips said. “That’ll have to be our identity at times. But we have to hit pitching that’ll be this caliber in the conference. We’re struggling with timing. If they want to work to get better, they’ll be really good. They can’t settle with being OK.”
Saturday’s season opener was reminiscent of how Labette looked through much of last year — the Cardinals won multiple games against ranked opponents but also dropped head-scratchers. Pratt, the last-place team in the KJCCC Division I standings last year, didn’t appear threatening in Game 1 before sniping the nightcap.
“I hope this was an eye-opener,” Phillips said. “Since the fall, we’ve talked about being inconsistent. We have an opportunity to be really good. We need to quit being average — be elite. That means working ahead in the count and being on time. That takes us from good to elite.”
Up next
Labette is scheduled to travel to Hutchinson on Friday.
Lily Beery, a graduate of Labette County High School, made her pitching debut with the Labette Cardinals on Saturday. Sean Frye/Sun photo
