EMPORIA, Kan. – A three-day delay to the start of Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference action for the number-18 ranked Cloud County Community College baseball team would see the T-Birds split a series-opening doubleheader with Colby Community College with Colby winning game one 14-0 in six innings before seeing Cloud County bounce back for a 13-3, seven-inning win at the Trusler Sports Complex on the campus of Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas on Sunday, March 13th.
The Sunday split allows the T-Birds to move to 16-3 overall through their first 19 games of the year and a 1-1 start to KJCCC play while Colby is now 9-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
GAME ONE:
Fans in attendance for the series opener would be treated with pitching dominance through the first three innings of action in what was scheduled to be a seven-inning contest as CCCC starter
Aaron Hayes would strike out the side on 13 pitches before seeing Colby starter Alex Cook get three strikeouts of his own to work around a one-out double from
Garrett Redden. Hayes would then add another three strikeouts to his total while issuing a two-out walk in the second as both pitchers would manage to strike out six batters apiece through two frames before adding another three strikeouts each in the third to see all 18 outs in the first three innings coming by way of strikeout.
With neither team able to produce anything offensively in the early going, the Trojans would find a way to break through in the top of the fourth while chasing Hayes from the contest following a one-out walk and two-run home run that would be followed by a double and hit batter for Colby. Continuing the inning with a single to load the bases, Cloud County would nearly escape without any more damage as an infield fly would put a second out on the board. Back-to-back two-RBI doubles from the Trojans however would blow the game open as seven runs would come across on five hits and an error to give Colby a 7-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Now tasked with trying to produce some offense against reigning KJCCC West Division Pitcher of the Year, Cloud County would be unable to turn a leadoff single from Redden into anything positive in the fourth before allowing another run to Colby in the top of the fifth. The best chance on the offensive end for the T-Birds would come in the bottom of the fifth as a leadoff double from
Willie Ponce and balk call would put a runner 90 feet away from scoring for the first time in the game for CCCC. Two strikeouts and a hit batter would limit Cloud County once again however as another strikeout would end the inning and strand both runners to take away any potential momentum swing from occurring.
Colby's eight-run lead would be extended in the sixth as the Trojans would put the game out of reach with a two-out rally that would be extended on a fielding error that would lead to six unearned runs to become the first team this year to score double-digit runs on Cloud County. Needing at least five runs to extend the game into the seventh, CCCC would be shut down on the offensive end one final time as a one-out walk would be followed by a strikeout and groundout to end the game.
Held to just three hits, Cloud County would be held to just five total base runners while striking out a season-high 13 times while being shut down for the second-straight year by Cook. Using four different pitchers in the contest. Hayes would take the loss for his first defeat of the year after allowing four runs in 3.1 innings of action despite striking out nine of the 16 batters he faced.
Conner Woods (0.2 innings),
Brady Kobitowich (1.2 innings) and
John Green (0.1 innings) would also see action out of the bullpen for the T-Birds in the contest.
GAME TWO:
Working around a leadoff base runner and two-out single in the top of the first, Cloud County would finally manage to break through in the scoring column in the bottom of the first of game two as a two-out rally would be started with a six-pitch walk from
Tom Poole who would work his way back from a 1-2 count to earn his way on-base. A throwing error would then allow
Joel Benes to reach base and extend the inning as a Ponce Walk would load the bases for
Williams Camacho-Soto who would hit a two-RBI single to give CCC their first lead of the day.
Back-to-back two-out hits for Colby in the top of the second would lead to a run for the Trojans in the top of the second as things would remain a 2-1 contest until the top of the fourth when a solo home run would tie the game at 2-2. Turning the tables on Colby from game one would be Cloud County however as a leadoff walk and another Trojan fielding error would lead to a six-run inning for the T-Birds on just three hits. In total, nine batters would come to the plate in the inning with
Ty Wevers (double),
Alexander Diaz (single), and
Ian Riley (home run) accounting for five of the runs on the three hits.
Now able to work with a six-run lead, CCCC starter
Christian Womble would end his outing with a one-two-three top of the fifth to shut down the Trojans one final time before exiting and in line for the win. Neither team would be able to push across another run until the top of the seventh as two-base-hit singles to start the inning would allow Colby to plate a run on an RBI groundout that would get the score back within five.
The lead for Cloud County would not stay at five for long as a leadoff hit batter would set up a
Kolden Howerton two-out two-RBI home run to extend the T-Bird lead to their largest of the day and begin a two-out rally that would see a Diaz two-run homer and Poole RBI single end things with a run-rule victory for CCCC to return the favor to Colby and earn a doubleheader split.
Earning the win for his third of the year would be Womble with a five-inning, eight-strikeout performance that would see Colby held to just two runs on seven hits and one walk.
Mason Munz would finish off the final two innings by allowing one run on three hits while throwing 41 pitches in his fourth appearance of the year that allowed CCCC to be able to save some of their arms for Monday's doubleheader.
Scoring 13 runs on just eight hits, Cloud County would finish one walk shy of tying a season-high with eight while stranding just three base runners and seeing four of their eight hits go for extra bases. The eight hits would come courtesy of eight different T-Birds, with Diaz producing a game-high three RBIs.
What's Next?
Cloud County and Colby will conclude their conference-opening four-game series in Emporia on Monday afternoon with a 1 PM doubleheader that will see CCCC serving as the road team for the back end of the series. Including last year's four-game series that took place in late April, the T-Birds and Trojans have traded the last six games in the all-time series with the last time a team won back-to-back games in the series coming in 2019. The games will be the only games yet to be played in the opening weekend of KJCCC West Division play the other three series finishing up on Sunday.
