GREAT BEND, Kan. – Defensive woes throughout both games of a road doubleheader for the Cloud County Community College baseball team would lead to a pair of defeats to Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division-leading Barton Community College by scores of 6-0 and 11-6 at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend, Kansas on Thursday, April 28th.
Falling in both ends of a conference doubleheader for just the third time this season, Cloud County drops to 37-14 overall and 20-10 in the KJCCC West Division while Barton holds their spot atop the division while improving to 35-14 overall and 20-6 in conference play.
"We didn't field the baseball very well today and Barton played incredible defense throughout the day" remarked head coach
Eric Gilliland in a post-game interview. "It really came down to the defensive play as they (Barton) were the team that played better today and won, which is usually how baseball ends up working out."
GAME ONE:
Leading the game off with a first-pitch bunt single from sophomore
Ian Riley to put a runner on for
Brock Wollin who would nearly give the T-Birds an early 2-0 lead as a would-be home run would be brought back into the field of play and caught by the Cougar left fielder for an out. Following the flyout, Cloud County would see a strikeout put a second out on the board before having Riley picked off at first to end the inning and allow Barton to avoid any damage. In the bottom of the first, a throwing error in the first at-bat for Barton before an infield single and fielder's choice with a second error bringing home a run for BCCC. Following the second error, Barton would get their second base hit of the game with a single into right field to put runners on the corners before seeing an inning-ending double-play allow CCCC to escape with just the one run of damage done.
Cloud County would be limited to just a two-out single in the top of the second before seeing Barton add another run with a one-out triple and sacrifice fly double the lead for the Cougars as the T-Birds would not have much of anything doing on the offensive side. A three-run inning for Barton in the bottom of the third would turn a 2-0 deficit for CCCC into a 5-0 deficit as the T-Birds would still be left looking for their first inning with more than one hit heading into the top of the fifth. An opportunity to try and get back into the contest, Cloud County would get a leadoff infield single from
Danny Infante before seeing
Karson Green draw a one-out walk. After an error would allow
Alexander Diaz reach base to load the bases, the T-Birds would see their final two batters of the inning strikeout as the bases would be left loaded.
With Barton keeping CCCC off the scoreboard and the bases left loaded in their end of the inning, another insurance run would come across for the Cougars with a leadoff double coming around to score on a two-out RBI single that would make the score 6-0 in favor of CCCC. Needing to try and cut into the lead in the sixth before heading into their final opportunity in the top of the seventh. Drawing a pair of walks in the inning, Cloud County would strand another two runners with a strikeout ending yet another inning for the T-Birds before going down in order in the seventh to end the game and be held scoreless for just the second time all year.
Held to just four hits (fourth-lowest total in 50 games), Cloud County would see Infante finish as the lone Cloud County players to record multiple hits as not a single hit would go for extra bases. Striking out 10 times and stranding seven runners, the T-Birds would see the Cougars manage to turn seven hits into six runs with only four runners stranded throughout the contest.
Taking the loss to fall to 3-2 overall would be
Conner Woods after throwing five innings and striking out three after throwing 84 pitches and allowing six runs (five earned).
Brady Kobitowich (one inning) would also see action on the mound for Cloud County, working a perfect bottom of the sixth.
GAME TWO:
After being shutout in game one, offensive struggles would carry over into the early stages of game two as the T-Birds would be put down in order in each of the first two innings but be able to keep Barton off the scoreboard despite allowing a hit in each of the first two innings. With two outs in the top of the third and a runner on first after
Ryan Gouldin would be hit by a pitch, Riley would give CCCC their first lead of the afternoon by hitting a two-run home run to center field in what would be Cloud County's only hit in the first three innings of play.
The two-run lead would not last long however as Barton would turn a hit batter and walk into a pair of runs in the bottom of the third as a wild pitch and error would bring the Cougars within a run before a game-tying RBI double. With a potential go-ahead run at third after a passed ball, Cloud County would manage to get out of the inning without any more damage done as a groundout would end the inning and keep things tied at 2-2 heading into the fourth. Turning a
Tom Poole leadoff double into their second lead of the day, CCCC would see an infield single from
Kolden Howerton move the Calgary, Alberta native to third before a double-play would drive home the run to put the T-Birds back on top.
Barton would threaten to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a one-out single and drawing a two-out walk before seeing a groundout end yet another inning with a runner on base. Unable to add to their lead in the top of the fifth, Cloud County would see BCCC push across a game-tying run with a sacrifice fly after a leadoff single and hit batter before seeing another throwing error put another runner in scoring position that would be followed by a walk and go-ahead single to make it 4-3 Cougars.
Battling back just half an inning later, CCCC would tie things back up at 4-4 as Wollin would ensure that a potential home run ball could not be caught at the wall with a deep shot to left field to bring the T-Birds back even. Following the solo homer, Cloud County would be put down in order as another inning with just one hit would occur to leave CCCC with four hits through six innings.
The 4-4 tie would not last long as Barton would turn another Cloud County error into offense as back-to-back infield singles would load the bases with no outs. After a flyout that would not be deep enough to drive home a run would keep things deadlocked, BCCC would catch a game-changing break as a ground ball that appeared to be a potential inning-ending double play would hit off a Cougar base runner on his way to third to put just one out on the board and keep the bases loaded with two outs. After a wild pitch would allow Barton to reclaim the lead at 5-4, a two-RBI single would provide a pair of insurance runs before a two-run home run would cap off a five-run inning with all five runs coming as unearned runs.
Facing a five-run deficit with just nine outs to work with, Cloud County would put together a two-out rally of their own in the top of the seventh as back-to-back walks would put two runners on for a Riley RBI single to continue the inning. Wollin would then drive in a run with an RBI single that would force a BCCC pitching change with the game-tying run in Poole coming to the plate. After the pitching change, the Cougars would induce a groundout back to the pitcher that would end the inning with two runners stranded as CCCC would only be able to cut the deficit to three.
Barton would get a run back in their half of the seventh as a hit batter and RBI double would put the lead back at four for the Cougars before a quick one-two-three top of the eighth for CCCC. One additional run for Barton would come across in the bottom of the eighth with a one-out walk coming around to score on an RBI single as the T-Birds would be unable to turn a pinch-hit single and pinch-hit walk into any offense in the top of the ninth to drop the back end of the twin bill.
Accounting for four of the seven team hits in the contest would be the duo of Riley and Wollin with Riley driving in three of CCCC's six runs. Wollin would provide the remaining two RBIs as the bottom five players in the lineup would combine for just one hit. Of Barton's 11 runs, only six would be earned as starter
Christian Womble would see a five-inning outing lead to a no-decision after allowing four runs on six hits and three strikeouts. Taking the loss on the mound would be
Giordano Mezzomo to fall to 4-3 overall after one inning of work that saw five unearned runs turn out to be the difference in the game as CCCC would commit five errors in the contest. Also seeing action at pitcher would be
Cole Askew (one inning),
Haden Dow (0.2 innings), and
Jacob Shaw (0.1 innings).
What's Next?
Cloud County will look to bounce back and gain ground on the Cougars in their final two KJCCC regular-season games of the year when Barton makes a return trip to Concordia for a 1 PM doubleheader on Sunday, May 1st. The doubleheader will mark the second-straight season where the T-Birds will end their regular-season home slate by hosting Barton.
