HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt Lady Cubs earned their first win of the season while splitting a Tri-Valley League doubleheader with Neodesha.
After opening the day with a 15-0 mercy rule, the Lady Cubs sustained their first loss 22-15 in the finale Monday at the Humboldt Sports Complex.
“We had 14 errors in the second game and you’re not going to win very many games with 14 errors,” Humboldt coach Brad Piley said.
“We’ve got to clean it up. We were seeing the ball good and we didn’t have a lot of errors (in game one). I told them, ‘Don’t get complacent when you win the first game.’ I’ve seen it before.”
After steadily increasing their lead through the first three innings, the Lady Cubs busted the contest wide open in the fourth with 10 runs to secure the mercy-rule shortened contest.
Junior catcher Carlie Weilert had a team-leading four RBIs, followed by senior shortstop Skylar Hottenstein with three and senior shortstop Laney Hull with two.
Junior pitcher Jo Ellison tallied six strikeouts in her debut. She allowed just one hit and a walk over four innings.
“Our pitching is going to get better, so I feel alright,” Coach Piley said. “I don’t like splitting. I don’t think we should lose a game in our league. I don’t feel good about it.”
In the finale, the Lady Cubs could not close an early gap in time as Neodesha evened the score thanks to scoring 14 runs in the first three innings.
Humboldt more than held their own in the batter’s box but could not capitalize once they had runners in scoring position.
After a quiet opener, junior third baseman Leah Carman had a team-leading five RBIs, followed by Weilert and junior designated hitter Camry De La Torre with three RBIs each. Making her high school debut, freshman Jadey Ellis posted six strikeouts over six innings and allowed 16 runs on 16 hits and four walks.
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