EDMOND, Okla. – Big innings due to a patient plate approach by the Cloud County Community College baseball team would lead to run-rule shortened wins over Seminole State College (12-1) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (13-1) to cap off day one of the University of Central Oklahoma JUCO Festival at Wendell Simmons Field in Edmond, Oklahoma on Friday, February 18th.
 
Off to a 6-0 start on the season, Cloud County has now outscored opponents 77-11 on the season which includes a whopping 28-4 in the first two innings of games. Seminole State falls to 1-7 overall with the loss to the T-Birds while NEO A&M is now 2-2 on the year.
 
"We got a pretty complete performance today from our team in all aspects of the game" said head coach Eric Gilliland in a post-game interview. "The guys played hard, and the pitching staff was lights out again as we've seen so far in the first few weeks of the season."
 
AGAINST SEMINOLE STATE:
An early pitcher's duel in the first three innings of the game would see both the Trojans and T-Birds manage to combine for just two hits (both by CCCC) and nine strikeouts as starting pitchers Giordano Mezzomo for Cloud County and Will Maynard of Seminole State would take the early spotlight. After Mezzomo would end the top of the fourth with back-to-back strikeouts, the T-Birds would be able to put together two base hit singles and a stolen base to put runners on the corners for Williams Camacho-Soto who would reach on a fielder's choice with SSC opting to throw home and cut down the first run of the game. Sophomore Garrett Redden however would be able to avoid the tag and put CCCC out in front by a score of 1-0 as the Trojans would be able to avoid any further damage by getting an inning-ending double-play to keep it a one-run game heading to the fifth.
 
SSC would break up a potential no-hit bid from Mezzomo in the fifth as a one-out single and two-out walk would put a pair of runners on before an RBI single would tie the game at 1-1 before seeing Cloud County get out of the inning on a strikeout to strand two runners. It wouldn't take long for CCCC to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Willie Ponce would hit a leadoff single before seeing Ian Riley hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with no outs in the inning. Following a pitching change for Seminole State, Brock Wollin would draw the second walk of the inning to load the bases before seeing Ponce score on a wild pitch to put the T-Birds back out in front 2-1. Tom Poole would manage to drive in one more run before the end of the inning as a sacrifice fly would drive in Riley as Cloud County would go up 3-1 after five innings of action.
 
Reliever Conner Woods would make an appearance in the top of the sixth, working a perfect inning with a fly out and back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning as momentum was slowly building in favor of CCCC. Another pitching change for the Trojans would prove costly as a leadoff double from Kolden Howerton and Ty Wevers hit-by-pitch would put SSC in the same situation as the bottom of the fifth with two runners on base and no outs. A bunt single from Adler Pierson would see Seminole State attempt to throw out the lead runner at third as a throwing error would allow Howerton to score while putting two runners in scoring position with still no outs in the inning. After a wild pitch would allow Wevers to score and make it 5-1, SSC would get a pop-out before a second wild pitch would make the game a 6-1 T-Bird lead. Riley would draw a walk and steal a base following the first out of the inning as Wollin would draw his second walk in as many plate appearances to force yet another pitching change.
 
The change on the mound would not make any difference however as a sacrifice fly from Poole would bring home another run before Camacho-Soto would be hit by a pitch to keep the bases loaded with two outs to bring up Wevers. Battling back to a 2-2 count after falling behind 0-2, the Lethbridge, Alberta native would get a fastball over the plate that he could send over the outfield fence to hit his first collegiate grand slam that would put the T-Birds up 12-1 and end the game with two outs in the sixth due to a 10-run rule being in effect.
 
Offensively, Cloud County would collect just eight hits with three of the hits going for extra-bases to go along with seven walks and five hit batters. The T-Birds would strand a total of six runners in the contest to make the most of the opportunities presented to them throughout the game as Ponce would finish as the lone CCCC player to record two or more hits. Wevers would drive in four runs on his grand slam while also scoring twice in the game in addition to being hit by pitches on two different at-bats.
 
Mezzomo picked up his second victory of the year after going five innings and allowing just one run on two hits while striking out 10 as the sophomore would also induce three ground outs on 80 total pitches. Woods would pick up his first save of the year after coming into the game when it was a 3-1 contest as the Winfield, Kansas native struck out two of the three batters he faced.
 
AGAINST NEO A&M:
The T-Birds would not wait nearly as long in game two to get on the scoreboard as CCCC would plate six runs on five hits with Ponce, Riley, Redden, Wevers, and Alexander Diaz all recording a hit in the inning. Wevers would once again come through with a big hit at the plate, driving in two of the final three runs of the inning with a single before eventually coming around to score later in the inning.
 
An early strikeout followed by three walks would put CCCC starter Aaron Hayes in a bind as the Norsemen would threaten to cut into the lead that was just built, but a strong response would see consecutive strikeouts that would end the inning and allow Cloud County to hold their 6-0 lead heading to the second. Cloud County would then be unable to create any offensive opportunities over the course of the next three innings but managed to return the favor to NEO A&M as eight straight batters would be set down by Hayes.
 
Northeastern Oklahoma managed to push across a single run in the bottom of the fourth as two doubles and a walk to start the inning would appear to put CCCC in a bit of a bin. Remaining calm however would prove to be beneficial as NEO would only manage to push across one run despite being held hitless through the first three innings of play. Unable to get their run back in the top of the fifth, both teams would go down in order in the fifth to keep the Cloud County lead at 6-1 heading to the sixth.
 
The big inning for the T-Birds would once again come in the sixth as a Ponce leadoff double would be followed by a Riley home run and Redden walk with the first five batters of the inning safely reaching base to eventually plate a total of five runs on three hits. NEO A&M would attempt to offset some of the offensive power that CCCC would show in the top-half of the inning as a walk and single would put the two batters of the inning aboard before seeing a double-play and strikeout end any potential comeback opportunity.
 
Two insurance runs would be tacked on in the top of the seventh by Cloud County as both Ponce and Riley would draw walks before a throwing error would bring home the first run of the inning. Poole would cap things off with an RBI sacrifice fly. With a 12-run cushion to work with, CCCC would start to make substitutions to prevent any injuries among their starting lineup with the Norsemen hitting a leadoff single followed by a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to end the game with the T-Birds up by 12.
 
Seven of CCCC's 10 hits in the contest would come from the top-four of the lineup (Ponce, Riley, Redden, and Poole) with each of the first three putting together a two-hit game. Seven of the 10 hits in the game for Cloud County would go for extra-bases Redden, Camacho-Soto, and Wevers would all drive in two runs.
 
A total of three pitchers would be used by Cloud County in the contest, with Hayes going four innings and striking out seven before turning the ball over to freshman Jack Mount. Mount would work two innings and allow one hit while putting together four strikeouts of his own before seeing Cameron Burford close out the final inning by allowing one hit. Hayes would qualify for the win to improve to 1-0 on the year as the pitching staff would record a total of 25 strikeouts.
 
What's Next?
Cloud County will close out their three-game weekend down in Edmond tomorrow morning with a 10 AM game against Coffeyville Community College on Saturday, February 19th. The game, which is a non-conference contest between the two Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference foes, will mark just the second time on record in the past 20 years that the two teams have squared off. Coffeyville defeated Cloud County by a score of 9-3 in the previous meeting on February 16th, 2020 and is off to a 3-1 start this year after dropping an 8-6, seven-inning contest to Butler on Friday afternoon.