EMPORIA, Kan. – Chances to tie the game in both the top of the seventh of game one and top of the ninth of game two would be turned away for the Cloud County Community College Baseball team as the T-Birds would drop two, one-run decisions to Colby Community College by scores of 4-3 and 4-3 at the Trusler Sports Complex on the campus of Emporia State University on Monday, March 14th.
The two defeats drop Cloud County to a 16-5 overall record and 1-3 mark following the opening series of Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play while the Trojans pick up three wins in four games against CCCC to improve to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the KJCCC.
"We didn't do the things that you have to do to win tight games in the KJCCC" said head coach
Eric Gilliland in a post-game interview. "I made some bad decisions, we didn't make plays behind our pitchers, and we didn't drive runners in when we had chances." "Our pitching staff continues to be a strength and was great all day long."
GAME ONE:
A quick one-two-three top of the first by CCCC would allow for Colby to get their first opportunity at the plate where the Trojans would turn a one-out single and two-out RBI double into their first lead of the game as a second run would come home with an RBI triple on the next at-bat. Cloud County found a way to respond in the top of the second as a leadoff single from
Brock Wollin and
Ian Riley single would put two runners on with no outs for
Williams Camacho-Soto who would hit a fielder's choice but see the relay throw on a potential double-play get thrown out of play which allowed both the sophomore and Wollin to advance with Wollin coming home to score. Following a groundout to the pitcher that would force Soto to stay at second, a second throwing error in the inning would bring home a second unearned run for the T-Birds to tie things up heading into the bottom of the second.
Both starting pitchers would then settle in as the next 10 batters in the game would go hitless with the lone base runner from the bottom of the second through the end of the third coming from a
Kolden Howerton one-out walk for CCCC. The T-Birds would manage to break the hitless streak with an
Alexander Diaz two-out infield single to extend the inning in the top of the fourth before seeing a groundout end the inning and keep things knotted at 2-2 at the midway point of the game.
Colby would find a hit of their own in the bottom of the fourth but strand a leadoff single as two fly outs and a strikeout would end the inning without any true threat from the Trojans as offense would prove to be much more difficult to come by than the 30 runs put up between teams just a day earlier. As things reached the bottom of the fifth, Colby would turn a one-out single and stolen base into a pair of runs as an inside-the-park home-run would put the Trojans back out in front by a score of 4-2 with just two innings left in the contest. A quick response from Cloud County would see sophomore
Garrett Redden blast a leadoff solo home run to cut the Colby lead in half as the T-Birds would be unable to put another base runner aboard in the sixth to face a minimum of a one-run deficit heading into the seventh.
Managing to keep the deficit at just one run would be CCCC in the bottom of the sixth as relief pitcher
Cole Askew would manage to work around a leadoff single and hit batter as a potential jam with two runners on and just one out would be thwarted with a fielder's choice to put out the lead runner and groundout to end the inning.
In their final attempt to try and mount their second comeback of the game, Cloud County would get a second infield single from Diaz to put the game-tying runner on base before a pinch-hit walk for
Willie Ponce would put the go-ahead run on with no outs. After a failed sacrifice bunt attempt would be caught for the first out of the inning, the T-Birds would see the game end in controversial fashion as a line drive into left field would be ruled to have been caught before seeing Diaz doubled off at second for failing to tag up in what would be a game-ending double-play.
For the second-straight day, Cloud County would be held to one of their lowest hitting outputs of the year by finishing with just five hits in the game while drawing just two walks to go against eight strikeouts. Diaz would be the only T-Bird to finish with multiple hits as Redden would drive in the lone RBI for CCCC. Taking his first collegiate loss of the year would be
Jack Mount following a five-inning outing that saw four runs come across on six hits despite seven strikeouts. Askew would pitch the final inning of work for Cloud County, allowing one unearned run on no hits.
GAME TWO:
Looking to avoid a series loss in their opening conference series of the year, it would be the T-Birds in game two who would open the scoring in the top of the first as a leadoff walk from
Tristan Tenorio and one-out walk for Redden would be followed by a
Joel Benes walk to load the bases for Howerton. A clutch early hit from the Topeka, Kansas native would come in the form of a two-RBI double as both Tenorio and Redden would score to put CCCC up 2-0 before stranding a pair of runners in scoring position to end the inning.
The two runs put up by Cloud County in the first half-inning of the contest would prove to be the only offense produced by either team through the first four innings of play as the T-Birds would muster just one base runner over the next three innings while stranding Colby runners in the bottom of the first, bottom of the second, and bottom of the third to maintain their two-run lead. A two-out RBI single for the Trojans in the bottom of the fifth would see Colby manage to figure out CCCC starter
Haden Dow who had struck out nine of the first 19 batters he faced before finally giving up the one run in the fifth.
Back-to-back one-out walks for Cloud County in the top of the sixth would not lead to any runs for the T-Birds as another hitless inning would keep the score at 2-1. Returning the favor in the bottom of the sixth, CCCC would manage to strand a Colby leadoff double as three-straight strikeouts to end the inning from reliever
Rans Sanders would slam the door on a potential game-tying opportunity for the Trojans in the sixth.
With the momentum swing that occurred on the strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth, Cloud County would be able to turn a one-out hit batter into a run in the top of the seventh as Tenorio would draw a walk before seeing Pierson hit a flyout to center field that would move
Tom Poole into scoring position. Taking advantage of runners on the first and third situation, the T-Birds would put Tenorio in motion on a delayed steal to draw a throw as the Fort Worth, Texas native would manage to evade the Trojan defense long enough to allow Poole to score and put Cloud County back up by a two-run margin.
The two-run lead for CCCC would not last long however as a hit batter and walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh would prove costly with an RBI double bringing home a run while moving the game-tying run into scoring position. After an RBI single tied the game and put runners at first and third, Cloud County would respond with a strikeout to put two outs on the board. The T-Birds would then issue a passed ball that would move the runner at first into scoring position and leave first base open for an intentional walk to set up a force out at any base to end the inning. A force out would not be necessary however as a pinch-hit opportunity in the very next at-bat would wind up being a fly out to right field on a 1-0 pitch to end the inning and leave the bases loaded to keep things tied at 4-4.
Looking to reclaim the lead with a run in the top of the eighth, the T-Birds would have a prime opportunity as a leadoff double and one-out hit batter put two runners on to force a Colby pitching change. After falling behind 3-0 in the count, the Trojans would then elect to issue an intentional walk to load the bases and set up a possible inning-ending double play as the inning would end with a strikeout and infield pop out to see Cloud County strand three runners of their own. The missed opportunity proved to be a momentum-swinging moment back in the favor of Colby as a hit batter and walk for the second-straight inning allowed Colby to put runners on first and second before a strikeout would put an out on the board for the T-Birds. Inducing a ground ball to set up a potential inning-ending 3-6-3 double-play, Cloud County would be able to turn the front end of the play before seeing the relay throw get away from the first baseman as the error would allow the Trojan runner that started the at-bat at second to come around a score a go-ahead run.
In their final opportunity at the plate, Cloud County would get back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and put the game-tying run at second and go-ahead run at first before a strikeout looking put the T-Birds down to their final two outs in the game. A fly out that would move both runners up 90 feet would now see CCCC have the game-tying run at third with their cleanup hitter due up. Falling behind 0-2 in the count, Benes would manage to see two more pitches after taking a pitch that would just miss off the plate that would be followed by a called strike three to end the game and see the T-Birds on the wrong end of a second-straight one-run defeat.
Tallying just five hits again in the game, Cloud County would have just one player record multiple hits as Tenorio would go two-for-three in the leadoff spot while drawing two of CCCC's eight walks. The two-RBI double for Howerton in the first would wind up being the only runs batted in by the T-Birds in the contest as three of the five hits would go for extra bases while seeing 10 runners get stranded by Cloud County.
On the mound, Dow would see a five-inning performance and 10 strikeouts lead to a no-decision in his sixth appearance of the year. Sanders would throw two innings and allow two runs on three hits while striking out four before seeing
Jacob Shaw take the defeat after allowing an unearned run on no hits that would be the deciding run in the game.
What's Next?
Cloud County will need a short memory from Monday as a quick turnaround has the T-Birds taking on 10th-ranked Iowa Western Community College in non-conference action for a single, nine-inning game at Lee Doyen Field beginning at 3 PM on Tuesday, March 15th. The game will the fifth in three days for CCCC, who will then play a four-game series against Pratt Community College to close out what is scheduled to be nine games in a six-day stretch for Cloud County.
