HIGHLAND, Kan. – A late scoring surge would propel the Cloud County Community College softball team to an 8-6 victory over Highland Community College in game one of a Saturday doubleheader before being walked off as part of a 9-8 defeat to split a pair of games at Scottie Park in Highland, Kansas on Saturday, April 1st.
The game one win would run CCCC's winning streak to a season-high six games before the game two defeat to move to 10-14 overall and 3-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while Highland is now 16-9 overall and 1-1 in the KJCCC.
GAME ONE:
Never trailing despite seeing three ties throughout the game, CCCC would grab an early 2-0 lead after two innings of play with an
Emily Kvasnicka RBI single to score
Ryleigh Jones in the top of the first before taking advantage of two Scottie errors to plate another run in the top of the second. Maintaining their lead heading into the bottom of the third, Cloud County would see Highland get on the board with a two-out walk followed by a game-tying home run Jaslyne Williams as things would become even at 2-2 heading to the fourth.
It wouldn't take long for the T-Birds to reclaim the lead as a leadoff double from
Zoie Kincade and an error that would allow the sophomore to move to third leading to a run on a Jones RBI single two batters later to plate a run on three hits in the top of the fourth. Another home run for Williams in the bottom of the fifth would see the CCCC lead once again get erased as HCC would tie things up at 3-3 as the Scotties would have another response after trailing.
Not to be outdone, Cloud County would come right back in the top of the sixth with a Highland error allowing Jones to reach on a dropped third strike to set up a Kvasnicka two-out RBI double to put the T-Birds back up 4-3. CCCC would go on to add one more run in the inning with a
McKenna Mayhew RBI single to score Kvasnicka before leaving the bases loaded to see their lead only reach two at 5-3. Highland would manage to get a run back two batters into the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double and passed ball leading to a sacrifice fly to bring HCC within one with just one out before a game-tying home run that would even things yet again. The Scotties would threaten to take their first lead of the game as a hit batter and error would extend the inning and put runners on the corners before seeing a fielder's choice allow Cloud County to strand both runners.
Having plated three of their five runs over the past three innings of play, CCCC would manage to finally put together a big inning in the top of the seventh as three-straight one-out hits would include a Jones go-ahead two-run home run to allow the T-Birds to take the lead for the fourth time of the afternoon. Following the home run, freshman
Kaitlynn Baca would continue the rally with a single and come around to score three batters later as
Jayden Rehlander would push across another run for CCCC on an RBI single to cap off a three-run, five-hit inning for the T-Birds.
In the bottom of the seventh, Highland would attempt to make things interesting as a one-out single and walk would set up an RBI double to put the game-tying run in scoring position as Cloud County would need to lock down defensively to try and secure a victory. Turning to their pitcher on the mound in sophomore
Taylor Dekok, CCCC would see the Topeka, Kansas native get a strikeout and infield popout to end the game and strand both runners for the win.
Throwing her second-straight complete game, Dekok would pick up her third win of the year after allowing six runs on seven hits while striking out 10 to finish just one shy of her season-high set back on March 21st against Central Community College. Offensively, CCCC would see four different players finish with at least two hits each with Mayhew recording a team-high three hits and driving in one while Jones would go two-for-three with three runs scored and three runs driven in.
GAME TWO:
Unable to avoid a big inning by Highland would ultimately be the undoing of the T-Birds in the back end of the day as CCCC would see a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third turn into an 8-1 deficit after three innings as five hits, three walks, and a hit batter would lead to an eight-run inning for the Scotties. The three runs for Cloud County would come with a single run in the top of the first as a
Emily Kvasnicka two-out single would come around to score two batters later on a Rehlander RBI single before pushing across another two runs in the third with a Jones solo home run and Kincade bases-loaded RBI walk.
With the deficit at five heading to the fourth, CCCC would make a big push in their next at-bat with a
Mia Kelly leadoff single setting up the third home run of the day for Jones to bring Cloud County within three before adding another un later in the inning on another Kincade bases-loaded RBI walk to put the go-ahead run on base before seeing the bases left loaded with back-to-back strikeouts ending the threat and the inning for the T-Birds.
Things would remain an 8-6 deficit for Cloud County until the top of the sixth when a leadoff walk drawn by Mayhew would allow the T-Birds to tie things up with a Rehlander two-run home run as CCCC would manage to completely erase the deficit. Following a pitching change, HCC would retire the next three batters in order to avoid any further damage and get back up to the plate offensively to try and reclaim the lead.
Managing to work around a one-out walk and two-out stolen base, Cloud County would keep the Scotties from breaking the 8-8 tie in the bottom of the sixth as things would enter the final inning of the game all knotted up for the second time of the day. After retiring the T-Birds in order to set up a potential walk-off scenario in the bottom of the seventh, Highland would string together three-straight singles to lead off the inning and load the bases with no outs before an infield fly to end the run of hits and get CCCC a double-play away from sending the game into extra innings. In what would ultimately become a 14-pitch at-bat to catcher Molly Nicas, the Scotties would put the ball in play with a fly ball into center field that would be caught for the second out of the inning but also deep enough to allow for a tag-up with the throw home coming in late as HCC would win in walk-off fashion.
Matching Highland offensively with 10 hits, CCCC would score four of the seven innings while allowing the Scotties to push across runs in just the third and the seventh but leave nine runners stranded in what would prove to be the biggest issue of the game for the T-Birds. Kvasnicka, Rehlander, and Jones would wind up accounting for seven of the 10 hits recorded by Cloud County including all three extra-base hits for the T-Birds with Jones and Rehlander each driving in three runs.
What's Next?
CCCC will have a quick turnaround, with their next action coming on Monday, April 3rd with a 2 PM doubleheader at Pratt Community College. The Beavers are 3-31 overall and have lost their past 20 games following a pair of home losses to Butler Community College on Saturday afternoon.
