CONCORDIA, Kan. – Doing their best to match their Saturday efforts that led to a doubleheader sweep, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would again need only 10 innings of action to defeat Marshalltown Community College by scores of 13-2 and 13-3 to sweep a four-game series at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas on Sunday, February 27th.
The pair of wins by CCCC on Sunday sees the T-Birds improve to 10-1 overall as Cloud County has scored double-digit runs in eight of their 10 wins. Marshalltown will end their opening weekend of the 2022 season with an 0-4 record as the Tigers will look to rebound next weekend on the road once again.
Game One:
Marshalltown would put the first batter of the game on base thanks in part to an error as Ernesto Moreno Jr. would make his way to second on a passed ball. With the runner in scoring position, MCC would be unable to plate the run as a pair of flyouts to center field and strikeout of the Tiger designated hitter would end the inning. In their first opportunity at the plate, Cloud County would send eight batters to the plate as an infield single from
Ian Riley would get what would become a four-hit inning leading to four runs with both
Brock Wollin and
Willie Ponce hitting RBI triples.
The second inning would see T-Bird starting pitcher
Haden Dow strikeout the side as the redshirt freshman would pick up his second, third, and fourth punch outs of the game to allow the CCCC offense to get back to the plate where two hit batters and a single would load the bases with no outs. Left fielder
Tom Poole would then draw a walk to bring in a run as Cloud County would add two more runs in the inning with a Ponce sacrifice fly before seeing Poole picked off at first but eating up enough time to allow
Williams Camacho-Soto to score before the out was recorded.
Carrying their 7-0 lead into the bottom of the third after another one-two-three inning in the top half of the inning, Cloud County would tack on another four runs on just two hits as a walk and hit batter would be coupled with a pair of doubles and an RBI groundout to put Cloud County up 11-0. Marshalltown would finally be able to break through in the top of the fourth as a one-out single would break up a no-hit bid followed by a walk to put runners on first and second. Another strikeout would put two outs on the board and see CCCC threatening to strand another pair of runners, but the Tigers would not allow it to happen as an RBI single and fielding error would allow for two runs to come home and Dow's day after 3.2 innings. Bringing in reliever
Jacob Shaw, Cloud County would get a groundout on the first pitch thrown by the Hastings, Nebraska native to end the inning and preserve their now nine-run lead.
A pinch-hit leadoff double by
Griffin Stuewe would kickstart a two-run inning for the T-Birds to get both runs they had conceded in the top of the inning back with Ponce hitting an RBI double before coming home on an Alex Diaz RBI single. Cloud County would see the inning however in the next three at-bats as two strikeouts and a flyout would strand two runners in the inning. In the top of the fifth, Cloud County would work around a one-out double as two ground outs and a strikeout would end things for the third straight game after five innings with the 10-run rule put into effect.
Three different T-Birds (
Ian Riley, Ponce, Diaz) would all record two hits in the game as six of the 10 hits recorded by CCCC would go for extra bases. Ponce would be the lone Cloud County player to drive in more than one run with three RBIs in the contest as the T-Birds would strand just three runners. Between Dow and Shaw, the CCCC pitching staff would strike out eight of the 20 batters faced and issue just one walk while allowing one earned run on three hits. The win for Dow would be his second of the year after throwing 71 total pitches and accounting for seven of the eight strikeouts.
Game Two:
For the first time all weekend, Cloud County would be held scoreless in the first inning of action as both teams would send just three batters to the plate in their first at-bats. MCC would see a leadoff walk erased later in the inning on an inning-ending unassisted double-play by
Adler Pierson as the double play would provide some momentum for the CCCC offense. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the T-Birds would get a Wollin leadoff double before a Camacho-Soto one-out RBI single would break the scoreless tie and get Cloud County on the board. Diaz would then follow up with an RBI triple followed by a
Ty Wevers RBI double as CCCC would score three runs on four hits to go up 3-0 heading to the third.
Marshalltown would threaten to cut into the lead in the top of the third as two one-out walks and a hit batter would load the bases for with the two-hole hitter coming to the plate. A big strikeout from starting pitcher
Jack Mount would be followed by a fielder's choice to end the inning as the freshman would get Joel Suraganan to roll a pitch over Ponce at third who would step on the bag to end the inning. Sophomore
Garrett Redden would get in on the action in the bottom of the third as two quick outs would be followed by a Wollin single to extend the inning before the Sealy, Texas native would hit a triple into the right-center field gap to put a fourth run on the board.
A quiet fourth inning that would see just one batter reach base between the two teams would not quickly be pushed aside in the fifth as three of the first four Tiger batters would reach base with base-hit singles to load the bases. Cloud County would then commit their second error of the afternoon and first of the game as a potential inning-ending double-play ball would be misplayed to put Marshalltown on the board with two runs. Another base-hit single would load the bases once again as a wild pitch would bring home a third run to see MCC cut the once four-run lead down to one, but back-to-back strikeouts would end the inning and leave the go-ahead run on base in scoring position.
Things would not look like CCCC would be able to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth as two of the first three batters would record outs following a Ponce hit-by-pitch to start the inning. Redden would then put the ball in play just over the outstretched arm of shortstop Clayton Slack to extend the inning for Camacho-Soto who would hit an RBI single and advance to second as an aggressive approach on a hit and run would allow Redden to score from first. The inning would then be extended on an error that would have ended the inning as Camacho-Soto would score to put the T-Birds up 7-3 and the inning still alive. A Wevers walk followed by a Pierson two-RBI double would give CCCC a 9-3 lead with the top of the order due up following a Tiger pitching change. A hit batter and RBI single would put things at an 11-3 contest following another MCC error before seeing Poole end the game with a game-ending two-run home run in nearly the exact same spot as Wollin's game-ending grand slam on Saturday afternoon.
Pounding out another 12 hits, eight of the nine players for CCCC to record an at-bat would finish with at least one hit as Camacho-Soto (two-for-three, two RBIs) and Poole (one-for-three, two RBIs) would lead the way offensively. Another efficient outing would see Cloud County strike out just twice and strand a total of three runners as six of the 12 hits by the T-Birds went for extra bases.
Earning his first collegiate win would be Mount following a four-inning performance that would see Marshalltown limited to just one hit compared to four strikeouts as the Val Des Monts, Quebec, Canada native would throw just 52 pitches.
Brady Kobitowich would toss the final inning for CCCC, allowing three earned runs on four hits (all singles) despite recording three strikeouts.
What's Next?
Cloud County is back on the road for their next six contests and 11 of their next 13 games as the six-game road swing will take place over the course of the next six days beginning Tuesday with a 1 PM doubleheader at Highland Community College. Last season saw CCCC and HCC split a non-conference home-and-home series as both teams would win on the road. Highland is off to a 3-9 start this after splitting a pair of games in Sedalia, Missouri on Saturday by dropping a 7-6 decision to John Wood Community College before bouncing back to defeat State Fair Community College by a score of 8-4.
