SALINA, Kan. – Kicking off the season with the first two games of a season-long seven-game road trip, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would score 11 runs in each game of a doubleheader against the Kansas Wesleyan University JV team to win by scores of 11-0 and 11-2 at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina, Kansas on Monday, February 13th.
 
Sweeping a season-opening road doubleheader for the third time in the past four seasons, Cloud County is now 2-0 on the season and has won 20 of their past 24 regular season non-conference games dating back to last season.
 
Game One:
Utilizing different ways to get runners on base in their first opportunity at bat in 2023, the T-Birds would take advantage of a leadoff Paul Schuyler walk followed by a fielding error and hit batter to load the bases with no outs before a Justin Johnson sacrifice fly would drive in the first run of the game for CCCC to take an early 1-0 lead. The very next batter in Kolden Howerton would turn Cloud County's 1-0 lead into a 4-0 lead on the first pitch of the at-bat with a three-run home run to left center field to account for the remaining three runs scored by the T-Birds in the top of the first to go up 4-0 on just one hit.
 
Working around a two-out walk and single to keep the Coyotes off the scoreboard in their end of the first inning, Cloud County would once again take advantage of a free baserunner with a hit batter setting up a two-run home run for freshman Landon Meyer before seeing Schuyler give CCCC back-to-back home runs with a solo shot that would just clear the left-center field fence and give Cloud County a 7-0 lead. Not yet done in the inning, the T-Birds would continue on with Danny Infante getting a base hit single before seeing Brock Wollin get hit by his second pitch in as many at-bats to put two more runners on that would come around to score on a pair of RBI groundouts to give CCCC a commanding 9-0 lead after an inning and a half.
 
Just like the bottom of the first, CCCC would get two quick outs defensively before being forced to work around a walk and single to end the inning and strand a pair of KWU base runners before stranding a pair of their own in the top of the third. The first one-two-three half inning would come in the bottom of the third to bring Cloud County back up to the plate in the fourth where back-to-back singles would lead to a pair of runs in the inning to push their lead to double-digits at 11-0 while putting the T-Birds in position to end the game after five innings by run-rule.
 
Shutting down Kansas Wesleyan for the second-straight inning would be the Cloud County pitching staff to send things to the fifth where CCCC would only be able to muster a two-out hit batter before ending the inning on a pop out. Needing just three outs to end the game, a hit-batter to begin the inning for KWU would be followed by three consecutive strikeouts for Liam Bates as the redshirt sophomore would ensure an early T-Bird victory with a hitless bottom of the fifth.
 
Offensively, Cloud County's 11 runs would come on 11 total hits with four of the 10 hits going for extra bases. Both Infante and Howerton would lead CCCC with two hits apiece with Howerton driving in a game-high four runs and scoring twice. On the mound, freshman Carson Latimer would pick up the win after throwing a scoreless first inning with one strikeout as Phil Brennamen (one inning), Blayne Fritcher (two innings), and Bates (one inning) would take care of the final four innings and combine for 10 strikeouts while allowing just one walk on 54 total pitches among them.
 
Game Two:
Held scoreless while stranding one runner in the opening inning of the game, Cloud County would open the scoring in the top of the second with a leadoff walk being issued to Howerton before a Gavin Roy RBI triple into the right-center field gap to start a four-run inning that would come on three hits and a Coyote error while knocking the starting KWU pitcher from the contest after just an inning-plus of work. Of CCCC's three hits in the inning, two would go for extra bases with Schuyler adding a ground-rule double to Roy's RBI triple.
 
Another one-two-three inning from T-Bird starting pitcher Mason McConnaughey would be followed by the T-Birds taking advantage of a hit batter and two wild pitches in the top of the third to create a situation for an RBI groundout from Roy to score Howerton with one out in the inning to put CCCC up 5-0 and in control after three innings of work. Adding a single run in the top of the fourth, Cloud County would use a hit batter and Walker single to put two runners on with no outs before seeing a strikeout and fly out put runners on the corners with two outs. A hard-hit ground ball right at the third-baseman by Brock Wollin would lead to an RBI infield single for the Cairns, Australia native as the T-Birds would continue to add to their lead with runs in three consecutive innings.
 
Having faced the minimum number of batters through three innings, Cloud County would see a one-out walk lead to the first stranded baserunner of the game for Kansas Wesleyan as a groundout and strikeout would leave the runner in scoring position to keep the Coyotes off the board. A one-out rally in the top of the fifth would see a hit batter and throwing error on a fielder's choice put two runners in scoring position for Cloud County as an Eric Foufoulas RBI single and Walker RBI groundout would tack on two more runs for CCCC to put their total at 18 runs through 10 innings on the day.
 
Issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth, Cloud County would finally be burned by issuing the free pass to KWU as a sacrifice bunt and single would put runners on the corners with just one out. Getting a big second out with a strikeout to be just one batter away from escaping unscathed, the T-Birds would get a ground ball to potentially get out of the inning but see the throw end up pulling the CCCC first baseman off the bag as the error would allow a run to come home and end a potential shutout. Cloud County would get out of the inning on the very next batter, however, getting a bunt groundout to end the inning and strand two runners with just the one unearned run coming home.
 
Nothing offensively would be working for either team in the sixth, with both having leadoff base runners lead to nothing as the T-Birds would hit into an inning-ending double play while the Coyotes would see back-to-back strikeouts with runners on first and third strand two runners that would ensure momentum staying with CCCC. Three insurance runs would be found for Cloud County in the top of the seventh and final inning as a leadoff ground-rule double from Howerton would lead to a run before a Roy Walk would set the table for Meyer to hit his second home run of the day with a no-doubt round-tripper to cap off a four-RBI day. KWU would get another unearned run in their final at-bat as two quick outs would be followed by an infield single and a throwing error would set up an RBI double for their second and final run of the afternoon.
 
Notching another 10 hits in game two, Cloud County would get five extra-base hits in the contest with Schuyler, Infante, and Howerton all hitting doubles and totaling all four hits coming from the top half of the lineup. Six pitchers would be used defensively by CCCC, with McConnaughey picking up the win after throwing the first two innings and throwing a game-high four strikeouts on 24 total pitches before turning things over to Will Yamka who would throw a scoreless third. Mason Munz, Scott Rienguette, Cole Askew, and John Green would also see time on the mound, throwing an inning each while recording a total of seven strikeouts while facing 16 total batters in the final four innings of work.
 
What's Next?
A long weekend on the road for the T-Birds will see CCCC start their weekend in Edmond, Oklahoma on Friday, February 17th with a pair of games against two opponents as part of the University of Central Oklahoma JUCO Festival. The revised schedule has Cloud County taking on Eastern Oklahoma State in a seven-inning game at 3 PM on Friday before playing Northern Oklahoma-Enid in a seven-inning contest slated for 5:30 PM to finish out the day. CCCC is then scheduled to head to Neosho, Missouri for a three-game series with preseason number-five ranked Crowder College beginning at 4 PM on Saturday, February 18th.