PRATT – After a rough start to the season, the Barton softball team has caught fire of late.
Barton made it five straight wins and a 4-0 record in the Jayhawk West with a road sweep of Pratt Friday.
The Cougars picked up run-rule wins in both games, winning 11-2 and 20-6. Barton is now 5-9 overall and that perfect 4-0 in the West. Pratt is 0-6 in the West and 3-23 overall.
A major factor in the resurgence of the Cougars has been the play of sophomore Andreana Reynolds. After collecting seven RBI in the final game of a sweep of Dodge City in the last outing, Reynolds had eight RBI in the finale at Pratt.
Reynolds slugged two home runs in the wins, going 3-for-4 with a double as well. She hit a 3-run homer in the second and another 3-run shot in the fourth. Between those, she drove in a pair with a double in the third. Reynolds has 29 RBI on the year.
Barton took a 2-1 lead after the first then put up five runs in the second, seven more in the third and four in the fourth to blow the nightcap wide open.
Four different Cougars had three hits in the win as Barton pounded out 19 hits.
Hailey Pop went a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and four runs scored. Emma Horsch drove in three and scored twice, going 3-for-5. Alexis Sharples finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Allison Panning was solid in the circle for the Cougars, going all five innings with three strikeouts to pick up the win. She is now 3-3 on the season.
In the first game, Barton scored three times in the third to break up a scoreless tie then plated six runs in the fifth to pick up the run-rule win.
Pop had a big game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBI on a 3-run homer in the fifth. Horsch also drove in three, two on a double in the third that got the Cougars going offensively.
Sharples scored three times from her spot at the top of the lineup, reaching base four times total.
In addition to a good game at the plate, Horsch was good in the circle as well. She threw all five innings, allowing just six hits and the two earned runs to pick up her second win of the season.
Barton will step out of conference for a pair of games against the Kansas Wesleyan JV today then travel to Colby for a pair of West games on Wednesday.

Game 1
Barton 11, Pratt 2
Barton 003 26 – 11 13 0
Pratt 000 11 – 2 6 2
Horsch and Michaelis; Perales and Jonas. W – Horsch (2-5). L – Perales. 2B – Sharples, Michaelis, Horsch, Barton; Courville, Loomis, Pratt. HR – Pop, Barton; Anderson, Loomis, Pratt.

Game 2
Barton 20, Pratt 6
Barton 257 41 – 20 19 4
Pratt 101 04 – 6 8 0
Panning and Reynolds; Garcia, Otto (3), Perales (4) and Whitmore. W – Panning (3-3). L – Garcia. 2B – Pop, Reynolds, Storer, Salazar, Barton; Jones, Loomis, Pratt. HR – Reynolds 2, Barton.