Coffeyville Community College nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season yesterday in Overland Park, falling to nationally 15th-ranked Johnson County 9-8 in 10 innings to open the Jayhawk Conference softball playoffs.

 

Ravens softball coach Ashton Friend said this time of year, anybody can be beaten, and the Lady Ravens proved it against the tournament’s top seed.

 

CCC jumped on conference pitcher of the year Kyleigh Whitehurst early, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding two more in the second while capitalizing on a pair of Johnson County errors to build a 5-2 lead.

 

Newly named first-team all-conference selection Raya Eilert later homered to help Coffeyville carry a two-run advantage into the bottom of the seventh inning, just three outs away from a massive upset. But Johnson County rallied to tie the game and force extra innings.

 

The teams traded home runs in the ninth before Johnson County erased another two-run deficit and finally ended the three-hour marathon in the 10th on a two-out, bases-loaded single.

 

Whitehurst threw all 10 innings for Johnson County, totaling 183 pitches.

 

The thriller was a dramatic turnaround from the teams’ regular-season meetings on April 21, when Johnson County swept Coffeyville by a combined 24-1 score.

 

Despite the strong effort, the Lady Ravens now face elimination. CCC meets Labette this morning at 11 in a knockout game after Labette fell to Allen County 6-3. The matchup is another rematch that didn’t favor Coffeyville during the regular season, when Labette swept a doubleheader April 9 by scores of 5-1 and 8-7.

 

Neosho County also faces elimination today after being shut out by Cowley 4-0. Neosho takes on Cloud County at 1 p.m.

 

Photo Courtesy: Coffeyville Community College