The Humboldt High School Lady Cubs made their presence known in the Tri-Valley Conference after demolishing rival Neodesha 30-7 and 11-1.
Neither contest made it to the seventh inning as the Lady Cubs picked up their first and second victories of the season while kicking off 2025 undefeated in league play.
“Our pitching was good and we started hitting the ball,” Humboldt coach Brad Piley said. “When we start seeing some consistent pitching moving toward us, I think we’ll hit the ball even better. It’s hard to hit when there is one in the strike zone and five outside of it.”
The box score for the opener read more like an almanac than a sports brief. The Lady Cubs racked up 15 runs in the first inning, 11 in the second and four in the third to end the contest after the fourth inning.
Junior Taevyn Baylor got the win in the opener. She tallied four strikeouts over three innings with five earned runs and three walks.
Offensively, nearly every Lady Cub registered a hit, RBI or run, but junior shortstop Laney Hull’s six RBIs made her a standout among her peers. Sophomore first baseman Kinley Hart and junior second baseman Skylar Hottenstein picked up a trio of RBIs.
“That first game, honestly it was a struggle to sit back and wait,” Hull said. “Once I got in the groove and got the timing down, it helped a lot more. Once we get to teams with faster pitchers, I think we’ll do good.”
In the finale, the Neodesha Bluestreaks narrowed the margin of victory, but suffered the same outcome.
A first inning RBI by senior catcher Chanlynn Wrestler was the only RBI the Lady Cubs needed to take control. Humboldt took advantage of a slew of errors on the mound to score their remaining runs to take a 5-0 lead.
As the offense lit the scoreboard, sophomore pitcher Jo Ellison kept the Bluestreaks off the scoreboard until the fourth inning. She ended the night with eight strikeouts in the complete-game effort while allowing just three hits and two walks.
“It was easy for me. I trust my field. I know they make plays, so I just throw strikes and they do the rest,” Ellison said.
Ellison also accounted for one of three RBIs in game two with Wrestler and an RBI triple by freshman Bailey Daniels in the third inning. With the win the Lady Cubs improved to 2-1.
They will put their record to the test Thursday when they head on the road to face the Erie Red Devils. “When we play Erie on Thursday, some of our girls were on the same summer league team as some of their girls. It’s going to be fun,” Piley said.
