HOISINGTON — Hoisington/Central Plains pitcher Ellie Crawford (7-4) was brilliant with hard-fought 2-1 and 4-3 victories over Central Kansas League softball leader Halstead Friday.

The Cardinals (13-5, 9-5 CKL) handed Halstead (18-2, 14-2 CKL) its first two losses.

CARDINALS 2, HALSTEAD 1 (G1) — A trio of seventh-inning walks cost Halstead pitcher Kaci Young. K Maier scored on Marly Brewer's sacrifice fly for the game-winning run.

Halstead's Thea Boese ripped a third-inning homer. Brynn Tarlton singled, stole second base and scored on Gabby Reif's sixth-inning single.  

Crawford struck out 13 Halstead batters in a 4-hit effort. Crawford stranded two second-inning baserunners with a pair of strikeouts. 

CARDINALS 4, HALSTEAD 3 (G2) — Gabby Reif drove home three runs to spark Hoisington's 4-3 victory.

Boese singled in Addison Thompson and Kaci Young for a 2-0 first-inning lead before Crawford retired three consecutive batters.

Gabby Reif doubled home Tarlton and Brewer for a 2-2 tie. Reif scored on Mea Sneath's first-inning single off Thompson. Reif delivered again with a fifth-inning single to score Brewer.

Halstead's Brett Young scored on a sixth-inning wild pitch. 

Halstead 000 100 0 — 1 4 1

Hoisington 000 001 1 — 2 4 0

Kaci Young and Brett Young. Crawford and Hahn. W—Crawford, 6-4. L—K. Young. 2B—HOIS—Tarlton. HR—HAL—Boese.

Halstead 200 001 0 — 3 4 2

Hoisington 300 010 x — 4 7 2

Addison Thompson, K. Young (5) and Boese. Crawford and Hahn. W—Crawford, 7-4. L—A. Thompson. 2B—HOIS—Crawford, Reif; HAL—Engel.

CKL SOFTBALL

Halstead 14-2 18-2

Haven 12-2 15-4

Hesston 10-4 12-8

Hoisington 9-5 13-5

Pratt 7-5 10-8

Larned 4-8 13-9

Hillsboro 3-11 6-14

Smoky Valley 1-11 3-13

Nickerson 0-12 2-18

MONDAY—Haven 4-5, Wichita Trinity 3-11; Larned 6-12, Spearville 3-8; Kingman 22, Nickerson 1; Ellsworth 14, Nickerson 13

TUESDAY—Larned 13-12, Russell 2-2; Halstead 28-15, Douglass 1-0; Inman 13-10, Hillsboro 2-2; Smoky Valley 14-8, Lyons 11-5; Pratt 16-17, Dodge City 1-1

THURSDAY—SE Saline 12-14, Smoky Valley 0-0

FRIDAY—Hesston 5-15, Pratt 4-23; Hoisington 2-4, Halstead 1-3; Hillsboro 11-15, Nickerson 6-3