ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. – A lack of run support coupled by four errors would lead to eight unearned runs as the Cloud County Community College Softball team would drop a pair of games to Cowley Community College by scores of 12-2 and 10-1 at Ed Hargrove Field in Arkansas City, Kansas on Sunday, March 21st. 

Cloud County has now dropped three-straight to fall to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Tigers have now won 10-straight to improve to 15-5 overall and 4-0 in the KJCCC.

Game One:
Putting together three of their seven hits in the ball game, Cloud County would manage to work a one-out Shayna Fila single into a run as a Emily Dunaway single and Taylor Burks walk would load the bases for Rae Ann Hartwig who would drive home Fila to put the T-Birds up 1-0 after half an inning of play.

Cowley would then take advantage of a CCCC error, wild pitch, and three extra-base hits including a two-run home run with two outs in the inning to plate seven runs and take a six-run lead into the second.

Following a scoreless second, Fila would manage to collect her second hit of the game to lead off the top of the third for Cloud County as the freshman would move to second on a Taylor Glause walk before advancing to third on a groundout. A Taylor Burks single would drive home Fila as the T-Birds would manage to cut into the Tiger lead but see the inning end on a pair of ground outs to strand two runners.

Cowley would add three runs in the bottom of the third as another error would prove to be costly for CCCC as the Tigers would score all three runs with one out in the inning. Cloud County would be unable to get anything going in the fourth as Cowley would take on two more runs to go up 12-2 heading into the fifth where the game would end following a one-two-three inning from the T-Birds offensively.

Fila would be the lone bright spot for CCCC in the game as the Grand Island, Nebraska native would go three-for-three at the plate and score both of Cloud County's runs in the game with the three hits accounting for nearly half of the T-Bird total. Cloud County would strand six runners in the game offensively and see three errors lead to four unearned runs as Delaney Miller (2.1 innings) and Kyra Meyer (1.2 innings) would both see action in the circle.

Game Two:
A lack of offense would again be one of the primary issues for Cloud County in game two as the T-Birds would strand a runner at second in the top of the first inning before working around a leadoff single in the bottom of the first to keep things scoreless heading to the second. CCCC would then see another hitless inning allow Cowley to come back to the plate offensively where the Tigers would manage to have their first four batters of the inning all record hits as four runs would come across in the inning to put the T-Birds in a 4-0 hole.

The lone Cloud County run in the contest would come in the top of the third as CCCC would use two-straight singles from Kayla Lee and Fila to put runners on the corners before an RBI groundout from Glause put the T-Birds on the board. A scoreless bottom of the third from Cowley and top of the fourth from Cloud County would keep things at a 4-1 deficit for CCCC heading into the bottom of the fourth where the Tigers would erupt for five unearned runs as part of a six-run inning thanks to a Cloud County error that would make it a 10-1 game. Needing at least two runs to extend the game, The T-Birds would see a leadoff single and wild pitch on a third strike put two runners on before a groundout and back-to-back strikeouts would end the game.

All three of Cloud County's hits would come from the top two batters in the lineup as Lee would go two-for-three with a run scored while Fila would add one hit in the back end of the doubleheader to finish the day with four. Despite the lack of hits, Cloud County would draw three walks and end up stranding seven runners while the Tigers would only strand four.

What's Next?
The T-Birds will return home to the CCCC Softball Field for a 2 p.m. doubleheader against number nine nationally ranked Highland Community College on Thursday, March 25th. Highland is off to a 15-3 start to the season and is 2-0 in the KJCCC ahead of a Tuesday doubleheader with the Ottawa University JV team.