CONCORDIA, Kan. – A stalled offense in the late innings of both games one and two would prove to be the difference for the Cloud County Community College softball team on Thursday in a pair of 11-5 and 9-2 home losses to number-14 ranked Cowley Community College at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia, Kansas on Thursday, April 15th.

With the second-half of Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division B action now underway, Cloud County falls to 6-16 overall and 1-15 in the KJCCC while Cowley remains atop Division B with a 26-8 overall record and 14-2 mark in the conference.

Game One:
A hit and an error would lead to an unearned run for the Tigers in the top of the first, but Cloud County would respond with a leadoff walk and infield single to put two runners on with no outs. Following a stolen base from Kayla Lee and fielder's choice to move Shayna Fila to second, Rae Ann Hartwig would deliver with an RBI single to pull CCCC even at 1-1. The inning would continue following a strikeout as another fielder's choice would see all runners safely advance with Fila scoring to give Cloud County a 2-1 lead after an inning of play.

Cowley would manage to pull even in the top of the second as another error from the T-Birds would lead to a run for CCC. No more damage would be done however as Cloud County would get out of the inning by stranding two runners before reclaiming the lead in the bottom of the second with a Lee one-out triple and Taylor Glause RBI single to right field to make it 3-2 after two.

The scoring would continue in the third as Cowley would again push across a single run in the inning to make it 3-3 before holding Cloud County scoreless for the first time in the game. Each of the first three batters would then safely reach for the Tigers in the fourth as a big inning for Cowley would allow two runs to come across on two hits to go along with a pair of errors as CCCC would now face a 5-3 deficit heading to the bottom of the fourth.

It would be a short-lived deficit for Cloud County as the T-Birds would get things going themselves in their half of the fourth with a leadoff walk and single putting a pair of runners on before a fielding error on a bunt would load the bases with no outs. After a shallow fly out to right would not allow any runners to advance, CCCC would take advantage of a second Cowley error on a fielder's choice as the throw home would beat Ella Caudill but be dropped when applying the tag as all runners would be safe to allow Cloud County to pull within a run. A Hartwig RBI single would then bring home another fun for the T-Birds, but that would be all that CCCC could muster as the bases would be left loaded with a fielder's choice and fly out ending the inning.

Cowley would waste little time reclaiming the lead in the fifth as two-straight singles and a sacrifice bunt would put two runners in scoring position. A two-RBI single would allow the Tigers to retake the lead at 7-5 before seeing CCCC get out of the inning without conceding any more runs to Cowley.

Having put up five runs in the first four innings, Cloud County would struggle offensively the rest of the way as the T-Birds would muster just two hits while seeing the final eight batters of the game retired in order. Cowley would go on to add four insurance runs in the seventh as CCCC would be unable to get back into what would become a six-run defeat.

Errors and stranded runners would be a problem for Cloud County as the T-Birds would see seven of Cowley's 11 runs score as unearned due to seven CCCC errors. Cloud County would also strand 11 baserunners while collecting nine hits in the game as Lee would have three hits while Hartwig would have two hits.

Game Two:
A defensive battle early on would be broken up late as Cowley would score a pair of runs in the top of the first before seeing Cloud County use an Emily Dunaway RBI double to get Cloud County back within a run at 2-1 after an inning of action. Following a scoreless second, CCCC would tie things up with a Glause RBI groundout to score Lee who had a single and two stolen bases earlier in the inning as the game would remain tied after four innings of play.

The Cowley offense would come alive in the fifth as the Tigers would push across four runs on five hits while taking advantage of a T-Bird error with nine batters coming to the plate in the inning. What was a four-run deficit for CCCC would then become a seven-run deficit in the sixth as Cowley would string together four more hits to plate another three runs and put the game out of reach as a scoreless seventh would make the 9-2 score a final.

Limited to just six hits in the game, Cloud County would get extra-base hits from Dunaway and Hartwig while Lee would record the only two stolen bases of the game for CCCC. The Kearney, Nebraska native would also record two hits as the remaining four hits for the T-Birds would come courtesy of four different players.

What's Next?
Cloud County is on the road Saturday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Hesston College to close out their final slated games against the Larks. Hesston entered action on Thursday against Coffeyville with a 12-10 overall record and 4-6 record in conference play. Earlier this season, Cloud County and Hesston split a doubleheader in Concordia with CCCC taking game one 9-1 in five innings before seeing the Larks take game two 15-12.