INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - The Independence Softball team remains winless in conference play as they fell to 19th-ranked Johnson County 8-0 and 10-2 Tuesday afternoon.
In game one, Johnson County got on the board early, in big thanks to a two run homerun to grab a quick 3-0 lead. Indy would answer with a homerun of their own, a solo shot off the bat of Alexis Yarnell. The Pirates would plate another run in the second inning, as Riley Hayes drew a walk and would come around to score. With just a one run lead now, Johnson County would chip away for the rest of the game as they plated runs in each inning, highlighted by a three run home run in the sixth inning to push their lead to eight, leading to the run rule. Indy would struggle to muster up any more offense as they only got one more base runner and struck out six times. Sarah Wrape had the only other hit for the Pirates, and also pitched six innings, striking out two.
In game two, Indy was hanging tough but struggled to ever get any offense going as it wasn’t until the fourth inning the Pirates got their first hit. At that point they had kept the Cavaliers at bay, surrendering just single runs in the first and third innings to trail 2-0. The Pirates only real threat in game two, came in the fourth inning when they had the tying run on base, but left the two runners stranded with a strikeout to end the inning. Johnson County finally broke through, as a three run home run in the fifth propelled them to six more runs across the last two frames, leading them to the 8-0 run-rule victory.
Kylie Dennison and Maddison Wammock had the two hits in game two for Indy, while Bryndl Biggs and Kynleigh Henson both reached base once apiece. Laci Jensen threw a complete game for the Pirates, only surrendering five hits and two runs, while striking out two in her first four innings before Johnson County broke the game open in the fifth.
The Pirates will now hit the road for their next two series, heading to take on Cloud County on Thursday to round out the week.