CONCORDIA, Kan. – Missed opportunities with stranded baserunners would lead to a 3-2 loss in game one for the Cloud County Community College softball team before seeing a 1-0 lead erased in the top of the sixth as Johnson County Community College would score the final seven runs of the game in the final two innings to win game two 7-1 and sweep a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference doubleheader at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia, Kansas on Thursday, April 6th.
The losses leave Cloud County with a 12-16 overall record and 3-3 mark in the KJCCC while the Cavaliers improve to 15-5 overall while remaining as one of three unbeaten teams in the Jayhawk Conference with a 4-0 mark in conference play.
GAME ONE:
Settling in for a pitcher's duel to start the doubleheader, two hits by JCCC in the top of the second would amount to the only two runs of the game through the first three innings of play as a leadoff single would be followed by a two-run home run to center field to put the Cavaliers up 2-0. After being limited to just one hit through three innings, CCCC would manage to use an
Emily Kvasnicka one-out double to center field followed by a single back up the middle by
Jayden Rehlander to put runners on the corners for
Hannah Hotalen who would battle with a nine-pitch at-bat to eventually hit an RBI groundout to score Kvansicka and cut the Johnson County lead in half.
Following the run by the T-Birds in the bottom of the fourth, Cloud County would work around a one-out single from Johnson County in the fifth before threatening with a pair of walks in their end of the inning before seeing a double-play end the inning on a fly ball that would be caught on a diving effort before doubling off the runner at first to eliminate the threat. The Cavaliers would follow up their defensive play by taking advantage of a CCCC fielding error that would lead to a run as a sacrifice bunt and an RBI double would put JCCC back up two at 3-1.
An error by Johnson County to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning would allow Cloud County to return the favor as Kvasnicka would hit her second double of the day on a ball that would hit off the top of the left field fence and stay in play to put runners at second and third with no outs to set up an RBI single from Rehlander to score
Mia Kelly. With still no outs in the inning, Rehlander would steal second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with the game-tying run at third but ultimately see a groundout to first be followed by back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and strand both runners.
In the seventh, Cloud County starting pitcher
Taylor Dekok would retire the Cavaliers in order with a strikeout and two flyouts but see the T-Bird offense also be retired in order to end the game with CCCC coming up a run short of forcing extra-innings. Offensively, the T-Birds would collect five hits with two hits each coming from Kvasnicka and Rehlander in addition to walks drawn by
Brooklynn McCormick and
Kaitlynn Baca, but five stranded base runners would prove to be the difference as Johnson County would be limited to just four hits but strand only two base runners in the game. In the circle, Dekok would throw a complete game and strikeout six while allowing just three runs (two earned) but be tagged with the loss to fall to 4-4 on the year following a 97-pitch outing.
GAME TWO:
Action being dominated by the pitching staffs would carry over into game two as Johnson County would be limited to just two hits through the first three innings of play while seeing Cloud County take advantage of a leadoff walk and stolen base to eventually plate a run in the bottom of the first on a Kvasnicka RBI double to take their first lead of the afternoon. Each of the next four innings of action would go scoreless for both squads as the bats for both JCCC and CCCC would go quiet with a total of three hits between the two teams not allowing for real threats to change the score of the game to keep things at a 1-0 T-Bird lead heading into the sixth.
Having shut down the Cavalier offense the first two times through the batting order, Cloud County would run into trouble in the top of the sixth as a leadoff double would be followed by a single and two-RBI double to put Johnson County up 2-1 with a runner at second and still nobody out. After a flyout that would not allow the JCCC base runner to advance, CCCC would induce an infield popup in foul territory and a strikeout that would allow the T-Birds to get out of the inning without any more damage done by the JCCC to hold their deficit to just one.
With momentum flipped in the favor of Johnson County following the two runs in the top half of the inning, Cloud County would be retired in order in the bottom of the sixth before seeing the first three batters for the Cavaliers safely reach base in the top of the seventh which included a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-1. Opting to make a pitching change, CCCC would see two more hits, a fielding error, and a walk in the inning allowing Johnson County to push across three more runs to take a 7-1 lead as the game would finally be broken open by JCCC. One final chance to make a rally in the bottom of the seventh for the T-Birds would see an infield single and walk with one out put pressure on JCCC before a game-ending double-play would be induced to allow the Cavaliers to avoid seeing the lineup flipped over.
Held to just four hits in the game, no player for Cloud County would record more than one hit in the game with Kvasnicka accounting for the only extra-base hit by the T-Birds. In addition to the four hits, CCCC would draw three walks (two by Jones) but once again leave five base runners stranded as the T-Birds never could take advantage of the opportunities in front of them while holding the lead through the first five innings.
After limiting Johnson County to just two hits through five innings, CCCC starting pitcher
Kiera Brack would see the Cavalier offense get the best of her in the sixth and seventh to take the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out two. Dekok would also see time, throwing one inning in relief and allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits to go along with two strikeouts.
What's Next?
The final two non-conference games of the 2023 regular season for Cloud County are up next with a 2 PM doubleheader at Northeast Community College on Tuesday, April 11th. CCCC and NECC split a doubleheader in Concordia back on March 12th with the Hawks winning game one 9-5 before seeing the T-Birds earn an 11-10 victory in game two.
