Conqs Leave Liberal Empty Handed, Swept by Seward County

The Dodge City Community College softball team traveled to Liberal to take on the Seward County Saints in a Thursday afternoon doubleheader, leaving with back-to-back losses by scores of 10-9 and 12-1.

Game one saw the Conquistadors fall behind 2-0 after the 1^st inning, maintaining that score until the Conqs exploded for a six-run 5^th inning thanks to some surgical at bats by the offense.

The Conquistadors took a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the 7^th and final inning, looking to close out the contest. The Seward County Saints had other plans. The Saints brought in two runs with no outs in the 7^th to pull within two at 9-7. Then, with runners on the corners, the Saints' Alyssah Pontoja unloaded a three-run walk-off home run to complete the comeback, winning 10-9.

With the Conquistadors needing a quick start in game two for morale's sake, it was the Saints who came out with the offense still reeling from the walk-off win. Seward County scored three in the 1^st and four in the 2^nd, while the Conqs were only able to score one of their own leading to a 7-1 deficit.

Both teams went scoreless in the 3^rd but it was the Saints who completely took the wind out of the Conquistadors' sails with a five-run 4^th inning to take a 12-1 lead. The Conqs couldn't score any runs in the 5^th to eliminate the run rule, giving Seward County the 12-1 victory through five innings.

"We had an absolutely gut-wrenching loss in game one, which unfortunately carried over to the early innings of the second game," said head coach Howie Smith. "Before we knew it, game two was all but over. It has been a tough year for us holding on to leads in the late innings. We have put ourselves in really good positions to win, but just haven't been able to seal the deal. Our girls are still playing hard and giving everything they have, which I'm proud of. At this time in the year, that's all you can ask for."

The Conqs fall to 14-18 on the season and 9-13 in KJCCC play as they are now locked into the 4^th seed out of the KJCCC West ahead of next weekend's Region VI tournament. With two doubleheaders still left in the regular season, the Conquistadors will play their last two home games of the regular season on Saturday, May 1^st when they welcome archrival Garden City Community College to town. First pitch is set for 11:00 am at Legends Park.

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