CONCORDIA, Kan. – Coming back from a 4-0 deficit to walk things off in the bottom of the seventh, the Cloud County Community College softball team would earn an 8-7 win over Northeast Community College before dropping the second game of a Monday doubleheader by a score of 11-7 at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia, Kansas on February 28th.
The loss is the first of the year for CCCC, which now moves to 3-1 overall following the split while Northeast now sits at 3-5 overall.
Game One:
Working around a leadoff walk to start the game, Cloud County would be unable to do anything with a
Shayna Fila bunt single in their half of the first as a failed hit and run would see the inning end on a double play to keep things scoreless heading to the second. Northeast would not wait long to put the first run on the board as a solo home run to lead off the inning would be the lone hit of the inning for the Hawks as the final three batters of the inning would be retired after the home run and a walk.
Following another one-two-three inning for the T-Birds on offense, Northeast would manage to add to their lead as a two-out fielding error would set up back-to-back RBI doubles to account for a pair of unearned runs that would put NECC up 3-0 over CCCC. A prime opportunity would be missed in the bottom of the third as a walk and fielder's choice with an error that allowed both runners to be safe would put two runners in scoring position with just one out. With the top of the order coming up to the plate, the T-Birds would see their potential threat to score thwarted by Northeast however as a batted ball would hit their runner on second to put two outs on the board before a flyout to left field would strand two runners and keep the deficit at three.
NECC would add another run in the top of the fourth as two hits would provide another run of support before seeing Cloud County finally put together a strong offensive inning as
Ryleigh Jones would hit a leadoff solo home run to center field followed by a Kelsie Bohnsack hit-by-pitch and a stolen base to put a runner in scoring position. After
Alexis Billings would be brought in to pinch run for Bohnsack, Zoie Kincaid would draw a walk as
Delaney Exon would hit an RBI single to score billings and cut the Hawk lead in half. A
McKenna Mayhew RBI double would bring Kincaid in to score as the T-Birds would be poised to keep the inning going before a pair of baserunning mistakes and groundout would end the inning and allow Northeast to remain in the lead.
Two of the three runs given up by NECC in the bottom of the fourth would be given right back in the top of the fifth by CCCC as a leadoff single would be followed by a two-run homer to center field as the Hawks would look to return the favor with a big offensive inning. Two more base hits would put a pair of runners on with just one out, but Northeast would see their inning end on an infield fly and fly out to center field as two stranded runners would be part of a total of nine stranded runners in the game.
Not much would be done in the Cloud County half of the fifth which would send things to the sixth where the T-Birds would hold the Hawks scoreless and look to build on some momentum that would come from the scoreless top of the sixth. Three-straight hits from CCCC which included a Mayhew two-RBI double would knock Northeast starting pitcher Grace Lindberg from the game as the Hawks would now attempt to protect a 6-5 lead. One batter into the pitching change is all it would take for Cloud County to tie things as
Grace Utz would hit an RBI double to score Mayhew before getting stranded at third as strikeout to end the inning would leave the potential go-ahead run 60 feet away from scoring.
Neither team would be done offensively in the seventh as two-straight doubles to begin the inning for Northeast would once again put NECC back on top by a score of 7-6. Following two strikeouts, the Hawks would have another base runner reach base on a CCCC error but see a third strikeout in the inning end the opportunity to add any more to their lead as the game would sit at a 7-6 Northeast lead heading into Cloud County's final at-bat of the game. Getting aggressive on the base paths following a Jones leadoff single, the reigning Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference player of the week would steal two bases and come home on a throwing error by Northeast to tie things at 7-7. Following a flyout and two walks to put the game-winning run in scoring position, a second flyout would threaten to send the game into extra innings as CCCC would be down to their final out. With Utz at the plate, the freshman would come up big for a second-straight inning as a walk-off RBI single through the right side of the infield would score Kincaid to give the T-Birds a dramatic one-run win.
Five different players would record two hits each for Cloud County in the game as Utz and Mayhew would combine for five RBIs and four of the 12 hits by the T-Birds. Five of the 12 hits would go for extra bases as CCCC would also steal four bases and draw four walks to overcome three fielding errors. Picking up her first pitching win of the year would be Mayhew after throwing three innings in relief and striking out four while allowing just one run on four hits.
Kyra Meyer would start the game and throw four innings, striking out two on 74 total pitches.
Game Two:
A much slower offensive start to game two would see just one run scored through the first three innings of the game as Northeast would use a leadoff double in the top of the second to set up a sacrifice fly two batters later to drive in a run and take their first lead of the game. Held scoreless through the first three innings of the game would not come without opportunities for Cloud County as the T-Birds would strand three runners which included runners at second and third in the bottom of the third as both runners would reach base with one out before getting stranded.
The Hawks would add to their lead in the top of the fourth as a leadoff walk would allow for an RBI double from the next batter as two runs would be scored on two hits from NECC including an RBI infield single that would wind up deep in the hole at second and hit off the glove of Fila and end up in the outfield grass. Cloud County would respond with one run of their own in the bottom of the fourth to get on the board as Kincaid would hit a leadoff double before scoring on a throwing error after an attempt to back throw to third to pick off the Topeka, Kansas native would lead to the run.
The one run picked up by CCCC in the fourth would be given right back in the top of the fifth as two errors would lead threaten to make the inning become much larger than what it would end up for NECC as two runners would get stranded to keep things at a three-run deficit. Needing to try and get back into the game before being down to their final two innings of action at the plate, Cloud County would get a two-out RBI single from Jones to score Fila before picking up an unearned run thanks in part to a pair of errors by the Hawks that would allow Jones to make her way around the bases.
Northeast would be unable to add to their lead in the sixth but be able to keep the T-Birds from tying things up as a leadoff single would be squandered with three straight strikeouts to end the inning as another stranded runner for Cloud County would prove costly. Things would then unravel defensively for CCCC in the top of the seventh as 12 batters would come to the plate for the Hawks with two errors extending the inning and leading to a seven-run burst from NECC despite five of the seven runs coming as unearned runs. With the one-run deficit now ballooned to eight, the T-Birds would do their best to try and make a late rally as five of the first six batters would find their way on base with Jones, Kincade, and Mayhew all driving in runs to pull CCCC within four with a runner on third, but a pitching change would lead to back-to-back strikeouts to end the game as NECC would salvage a split on the day.
Nine hits for Cloud County would be offset by seven strikeouts and seven stranded base runners as three players (Jones, Kincade, and Mayhew) would account for seven of the nine hits and two of the three extra-base hits. Another five stolen bases would see Jones swipe three bags while teammate Mayhew took two bases to help lead to the seven-run outing. It would be defensive mistakes however that would prove to be the difference as just four of the 11 runs scored by Northeast would be earned with
Taylor Dekok and Mayhew both pitching in the contest and combining to strike out four.
What's Next?
Cloud County will play a single non-conference game at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 3rd when they host the Doane University JV team. The contest is the fifth game of a season-opening seven-game home stand for the T-Birds who will play their first road contests next week at Southeast Community College on March 9th.
