For just the third time in Ryan Phillips’ 23 years as head coach of Labette softball, the Cardinals snagged a win over Division I Butler on Tuesday as they split a doubleheader at home. Labette dropped Game 1, 2-1, but won Game 2 in extra innings, 10-9.
However, Phillips felt the Cardinals should have left with a sweep.
“In the postgame, my talk to the team was more negative than positive. I thought we should’ve gotten two (wins),” Phillips said. “I wasn’t happy with the split with two onerun ballgames. We made several mistakes. All of those are huge against good teams. Then 30 minutes after I got home, I sent them all a message about how proud I am of how we’re playing. I don’t want us to get to the point where we settle for splits against good teams when we have opportunities to get sweeps.”
Labette’s last win over Butler came in 2019, when Parsons High School graduate Lindzi Pellock pitched a career-highlight day.
Defensive miscues were an issue for Labette in the series. The Cardinals committed six errors in Game 1, then three more in Game 2. In the second game, all nine of Butler’s runs came in the fourth frame.
“We’re getting into the groove of things,” Phillips said. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on our team to be clean. You can get away with a few mistakes if you don’t make them consecutively. All the errors in Game 2 came in the inning where they scored nine runs. Take those away and it’s not an extra-inning ballgame.”
Grace Strecker, who’s currently third in the nation in stolen bases with 22, notched four hits in the series and ripped four bags.
Strecker is currently on pace for 99 stolen bases, which would break the NJCAA Division II single season record of 89 set in 2015 by Katy Taylor, who played for Labette.
“She puts the ball in play and she can turn every single into a double,” Phillips said. “She laid down a couple of good bunts. With her speed, she forces defenses to make mistakes. Her speed puts pressure on any defense, even the best of them.”
In Game 2, Labette rattled off a dozen hits. Ella Heathman had three RBIs while Karly Loftis had three hits and as many RBIs.
Laney Taylor was charged with both decisions in the circle, tossing 11.1 innings while allowing 11 hits.
Up next
Labette heads south to face NEO A&M on Tuesday. The Cardinals are currently 7-5 to start the year, with three of their losses to Division I opponents.
“Playing a team five times isn’t ideal when we’re bumped and banged up,” Phillips said. “Our opportunities to throw something different at them are less than theirs. We’ve seen three or four of their five or six pitchers, and they’ve seen our two healthy ones. But we can compete with anybody. We’re playing great competition. We just have to cut down the consecutive mistakes.”
