CONCORDIA, Kan. – A pitching gem from starter Kolby Dougan would allow the Cloud County Community College baseball team to take a 6-2 game one victory over Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division leading Hutchinson Community College before falling 6-4 in game two to split a Thursday doubleheader at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas on April 15th.

The split leaves Cloud County with a 21-13 overall record and 11-7 mark in the KJCCC while the Blue Dragons saw an eight-game winning streak snapped in game one before bouncing back in game two to move to 24-10 overall and 18-4 in conference play.

Game One:
Following a scoreless first, Cloud County would do most of their damage in game one in the bottom of the second as the T-Birds would see the first six batters of the inning safely reach base with two walks, a hit batter, and a pair of RBI doubles pushing across four runs. After a Williams Camacho-Soto RBI double to score Kayden Beauregard, it would be nine-hole hitter Adler Pierson turning the lineup over with a bases-loaded three-RBI double to break things open as part of a four-run inning.

A leadoff home run for the Blue Dragons would allow Hutchinson to get one run back in the top of the third, but Cloud County would have a response with a Beauregard double before advancing to third on a passed ball that would set things for Garrett Redden to hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1 after three innings of play.

Hutchinson would add another single run in the top of the fourth by putting together a walk and pair of singles to once again cut into the CCCC lead, but the T-Birds would have a response as Jose Luna would hit a leadoff triple before scoring on a Willie Ponce sacrifice fly.

Working with a four-run lead for most of the day, Dougan would turn things on in the late innings of the contest as the freshman would strike out four and get the Blue Dragons to turn over four ground outs to retire 10 of the final 12 batters. With the Topeka, Kansas native dealing on the mound for his third complete game of the year, CCCC would be able to take the game one victory despite being held scoreless in their final two at-bats.

Allowing just two runs on four hits, Dougan would strikeout eight in the contest to pick up his conference leading seventh win of the year to improve to 7-2 overall. Offensively, Cloud County would record just five hits but see the middle third of the lineup in Noah Olson, Beauregard, and Camacho-Soto account for three of the five hits with four of the five hits going for extra-bases. CCCC would also work four walks while striking out only once.

Game Two:
Unforced errors would allow HCC to jump out to three runs in the top of the first as three hits, a walk, an error, and passed ball on a dropped third strike would give Hutchinson their first lead of the day. Cloud County would be held scoreless in each of the first three innings as the Blue Dragons would add to their lead with a pair of runs to go up 5-0 as the T-Birds would see the deficit come as part of stranding four runners throughout the first three innings.

In the bottom of the fourth, CCCC would have each of the first four batters of the inning safely reach base by taking advantage of two HCC errors and a pair of singles. The inning would see the T-Birds finally get on the board with a pair of runs to cut the Hutchinson lead down to 5-2 despite stranding two more runners.

As the Cloud County pitching staff would settle in to hold the Blue Dragons scoreless in the fifth and sixth, CCCC would chip away at the Hutchinson lead with single runs in both innings to get back within a run at 5-4. The run in the bottom of the fifth would come from Olson with a leadoff double and stolen base to allow Williams Camacho-Soto to hit a sacrifice fly while the run in the sixth would come on a Pierson RBI groundout to score Luna.

Hutchinson would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh as a one-out triple and two-out RBI double would give the Blue Dragons some breathing room again after being held scoreless for the prior three innings. An inning-ending double play in the bottom half of the seventh would erase a potential one-out rally for CCCC following a Beauregard one-out single as Cloud County would be forced to try and make a comeback in the final two innings.

After a one-two-three top of the eighth would keep things at a two-run deficit for the T-Birds, CCCC would work a two-out walk and single to put runners on the corners but see the potential rally end on a fly out as the Blue Dragons would again avoid having their lead cut into. Cloud County would work another perfect inning defensively in the top of the ninth, but unfortunately be unable to do anything with a two-out hit batter in the bottom half of the inning as HCC would hold on for the victory and split of the day.

Missed opportunities would be the biggest problem for Cloud County in the game as the T-Bird would outhit Hutchinson 11-7 but only be able to push across four runs in the game. Ponce, Redden, and Pierson would all collect two hits in the game as the T-Birds would have another four extra-base hits in the game but see the two errors defensively lead to three unearned runs for HCC.

What's Next?
Cloud County and Hutchinson are scheduled to resume their series at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 17th down in Hutchinson in doubleheader action. Due to COVID-19 protocols within the KJCCC, Hutchinson is limiting attendance to a max capacity of 125 fans which is 25 percent of regular capacity at Hobart-Detter Field. Gates will open to fans at 12:30 PM with the first 125 fans being allowed entry into the stadium to catch the action in person.