CONCORDIA, Kan. – Early deficits in both game one and game two of a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference doubleheader would lead to a pair of defeats for the Cloud County Community College softball team to a red-hot Highland Community College squad at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia, Kansas on Thursday, March 24th.
Cloud County drops to 10-11 overall after losing game one by a score of 4-0 and game two by a score of 11-4 while holding a 0-6 mark in the KJCCC. Highland has now won their past 15 games following a 0-3 start to the season to improve to 15-3 overall and remained perfect in league action at 6-0.
GAME ONE:
Being unable to string hits together would be the undoing of the T-Birds in the opener as CCCC would be held to just five total hits in the contest as no inning offensively would feature more than one base hit for Cloud County. Both teams would be held scoreless in the first before seeing a one-out solo home run for Highland give the Scotties a 1-0 lead that would be doubled four batters later as a fielding error would come back to hurt the T-Birds to give HCC a 2-0 lead. CCCC would then strand an infield single from McKenna Mayhew before seeing a one-out RBI triple and two-out RBI single plate two more Highland runs to put the score at 4-0 which would be all the offense that would be found for either team in the contest.
Catcher Shayna Fila would account for two of Cloud County's five hits in the game as the T-Birds would strike out seven times while being unable to draw a walk or hit batter. Highland managed to record a total of 10 hits in the game despite eight strikeouts from the CCCC pitching duo of Kyra Meyer (3.0 innings) and Taylor Dekok (4.0 innings) as nine runners would be stranded by the Scotties.
GAME TWO:
With the weather continuing to warm up throughout the afternoon, so would the offense for both teams as HCC would take advantage of big innings in both the top of the second and the top of the fourth while scoring the first nine runs of the game in what would be their largest lead of the afternoon. The five-run top of the second would come on three-straight singles to start the inning before a sacrifice fly would break a scoreless tie and make it 1-0 in favor of the Scotties. A walk would then load the bases again as a bases-clearing double would break open the game to spot Highland to a 4-0 lead that would become 5-0 three batters later as two more walks and an RBI groundout would cap off the inning.
Six of the first seven CCCC batters in the game would go down via strikeout as the T-Birds would see the Scotties plate another run in the top of the third with a two-out rally that would be started by a walk and stolen base before an RBI double would add to the HCC lead. Highland would continue to come up with big hits at the plate in the fourth as two walks to begin the inning would come around to score on a two-RBI double followed by an RBI single two batters later as the Scotties would threaten to end the game early by holding a nine-run lead.
Cloud County's offense would finally awaken in the bottom of the fourth as a Rae Ann Hartwig one-out single would be followed two batters later by a Grace Utz two-run homer over the center-field fence to get the T-Birds on the board and bring the deficit back under eight heading to the fifth. Highland would get both runs back in the top of the fifth with a two-run home run of their own, but CCCC would have another response in the bottom half of the inning with a Mia Kelly infield single to lead things off coming around to score two batters later on a Delaney Exon RBI double. Exon would manage to take both third and home on wild pitches in the next at-bat as Mayhew would draw a walk in what would be the final offense of the inning for the T-Birds with a flyout and two strikeouts ending the rally.
Neither team would have much going in the sixth or seventh as 12 of the final 13 batters of the game would be retired in order with Highland recording the final hit with a two-out double in the top of the sixth as four of the final 12 outs would come by strikeout to allow Highland to sweep the doubleheader.
Six players for CCCC would account for the six hits by the T-Birds in the game with Utz and Exon both driving in runs with extra-base hits. Both Dekok (4.2 innings) and Mayhew (2.1 innings) would see time on the mound in the contest, managing to strike out six batters and allowing 11 total hits.
What's Next?
Cloud County gets their first taste of KJCCC cross-division play on the division two side this Saturday as division "A" leaders Johnson County Community College will visit Concordia for the first time since 2018 with a 1 PM doubleheader at the CCCC Softball Field. The Cavaliers are the lone remaining team with an unblemished conference record in the "A" division, sitting at 10-6 overall and 4-0 in the KJCCC ahead of a home doubleheader with Labette on Friday afternoon.
