LYONS — The Bearcat softball team finished their season at the regional tournament May 16. Their first game ended in a victory over the Ellinwood Eagles, 11-0, but the team lost the second game to Hoisington/ Central Plains 6-0, ending their season.

To start off the night, Ellsworth had to get a win against Ellinwood. The Cats played outstanding defense from the first pitch of the game to the last, allowing the Eagles zero base runners. Junior Emma Moore led the way, pitching a perfect game with three strikeouts.

“As a team, we showed up with winning attitudes,” Moore said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy night, so we brought our best. Coming off a week of practice before the game, we were prepared and had worked hard in order to show everyone who we were.”

Clean defense was not enough to win the game, however. The Cats were able to take control from the batter’s box as well. By scoring 11 points in the first four innings, all the team needed was three outs on defense to seal the 10-point run rule in the fifth and that’s just what they did, beating the Ellinwood Eagles 11-0.

Advancing to the next round of the tournament, the Bearcats played a second game the same night, taking on the Hoisington/Central Plains Cardinals. However, they were not as successful as they had been earlier in the day.

While the Cats’ defense tried their best and had minimal mistakes, the Cards’ bats thrived.

Junior Kashlynn Beck of Central Plains hit an out-of-the-park home run in the first inning, bringing in two other base runners. She hit another in the third, bringing in one base runner.

By the end of the third inning, the Cardinals were up 5-0. The Cats did not allow any additional points in the next two innings, but were unable to put any points on the board themselves.

Hoisington scored 1 final point in the sixth inning. When Ellsworth did not score in the top of the seventh, the Cards sealed the victory 6-0.

The Bearcat softball team finished their season 16-6.