HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Taking the field for the first time in six days, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would show little rust from their near weeklong layoff by picking up a 4-1 win in game one before earning a come-from-behind 9-5 victory to sweep a road doubleheader from Hutchinson Community College at Hobart-Detter Field in Hutchinson, Kansas on Thursday, April 6th.
 
Picking up their second Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference doubleheader sweep of the season, CCCC improves to 19-14 overall while moving to 8-6 in the KJCCC West Division while Hutchinson drops their second-straight doubleheader against the T-Birds to fall to 18-17 overall while holding a 9-9 mark in the Jayhawk West.
 
GAME ONE:
Needing just two batters in the top of the first to push across the first run of the game, the T-Birds would waste little time in getting on the scoreboard as a leadoff double for Paul Schuyler would come around to score on a throwing error by Blue Dragons with Gavin Roy at the plate to take a quick 1-0 lead after half an inning of play. Using double plays on the defensive side of things to eliminate base runners for Hutchinson in both the bottom of the first and second innings, CCCC would add to their lead in the top of the third as a Karson Green walk and Schuyler base hit single would put two runners on before a Roy hit-by-pitch to load the bases with no outs. A fielder's choice would manage to bring home the second run of the game for Cloud County in the next at-bat followed by a Landon Meyer RBI single into center field to make it a 3-0 CCCC lead as the T-Birds would wind up stranding two base runners following the stretch of four of the first five batters in the inning safely reaching base.
 
Dealing with trouble for the first time in the bottom of the third, T-Bird starting pitcher Mason McConnaughey would work himself out of a potential jam as a one-out double and two-out walk would be followed by a groundout to leave a pair of runners for the Blue Dragons stranded and keep things at a 3-0 CCCC lead heading into the fourth. Unable to take advantage of a leadoff walk in their end of the fourth, Cloud County would work a perfect bottom half of the inning to maintain their lead before tacking on another run in the fifth with a hit batter and throwing error ultimately leading to an unearned run on a Meyer RBI single to give CCCC their largest lead of the game at 4-0.
 
Another quick inning in the bottom of the fifth would allow the T-Birds to take their lead into the sixth where Hutchinson would eventually manage to get on the scoreboard with a leadoff single and fielding error leading to a run for HCC before back-to-back ground outs to the third baseman and shortstop to end the potential rally by Hutchinson to allow Cloud County to carry a 4-1 lead into the final inning of play. After going down in order in the top of the seventh, the T-Birds would turn things over to closer Cole Askew who would work around a fielding error to allow a leadoff base runner to get aboard by inducing a 5-3-6 double play on an aggressive base running mistake by the Blue Dragons before getting a fly out to end the game.
 
Holding Hutchinson to just four hits in the game, Cloud County would get two hits each from both Schuyler and Meyer as part of a five-hit team performance in addition to three walks and two hit batters while stranding just four total base runners. The early run support would be more than enough for McConnaughey who would allow just one unearned run over six innings of work on four hits while striking out three before seeing Askew pick up his fifth save of the year.
 
GAME TWO:
Offensive production for CCCC would be much more limited in the early going of game two as the T-Birds would strand a one-out single in the top of the first before seeing a pair of base runners left stranded in the top of the third which would allow Hutchinson to take a 1-0 lead thanks in part to a Cloud County fielding error in the second. The Blue Dragons would add to their lead in the bottom of the third with a one-out walk, RBI triple, and a sacrifice fly leading to a pair of runs for HCC to make things a 3-0 contest heading into the top of the fourth.
 
Facing their largest deficit of the afternoon, CCCC would respond offensively with a leadoff single from Meyer before an RBI triple into the right-center field gap by Anthony Taggart to score a run and bring the game-tying run to the plate. A balk would be called with Taggart on third to score the second run of the game for the T-Birds before a solo home run by Demitri Shakotko to tie things up at 3-3 thanks in part to a three-hit inning by Cloud County. Having brought the game back even, CCCC and HCC would see things remain a 3-3 contest until the bottom of the sixth when Hutchinson would use a leadoff single and balk put a runner in scoring to come around and score three batters later on a sacrifice fly to reclaim the lead at 4-3. The Blue Dragons would however strand two base runners to end the inning as an infield pop out would leave another potential run at third to send things to the seventh.
 
Having responded the last time Hutchinson scored with runs of their own, Cloud County would once again find a way to produce some scoring as an infield single for Green would see the Lawrence, Kansas native move to second a wild pitch and eventually core on a Danny Infante RBI double. Following a pitching change, Meyer would tie things with an RBI groundout to drive in Roy who reached earlier in the inning on a walk before seeing another balk called on HCC to bring home Infante and put Cloud County up 6-4.
 
Hutchinson would get one of the three runs surrendered in the top of the inning back in the bottom of the seventh off a one-out solo home run before a groundout and fly out to end the inning which would preserve the CCCC lead at 6-5 with still two innings to play. Unable to turn a leadoff walk into anything in the top of the eighth, Cloud County would keep HCC from making any type of rally in the bottom of the inning as the game would remain a one-run contest heading into the ninth.
 
Looking for an insurance run, the T-Birds would see Green draw a leadoff hit-by-pitch before a Schuyler single to put two runners on to allow Roy to hit a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position with just one out. A throwing error with Infante at the plate would lead to a run with Green coming home to score while keeping two runners in scoring position with Schuyler coming home to score in the next at-bat on a wild pitch. A third and final run in the inning would come home for Cloud County with Meyer hitting a sacrifice fly to score Infante as CCCC would produce three runs on just one hit to extend their lead to 9-5 and be in a more comfortable spot than where things stood at the start of the inning.
 
Opting to turn to Askew for the second-straight game with a save opportunity no longer available, the Topeka, Kansas native would collect three strikeouts while working around a one-out pinch-hit single to keep the Blue Dragons from ever posing a serious threat at making a rally as the T-Birds would earn a doubleheader sweep at Hutch for the first time under head coach Eric Gilliland.
 
Overcoming 12 strikeouts to produce nine runs on 10 hits and two walks, CCCC would be led by a three-hit performance from Schuyler who would end the doubleheader by collecting five hits in nine at-bats with two extra-base hits while both Infante and Meyer would drive in a game-high two RBI each. Eight of the 10 hits would come from the top six batters in the T-Bird lineup as eight of the nine players that recorded a plate appearance in the game for Cloud County would have at least one hit.
 
A total of four pitchers would be used by CCCC on the mound with starter Phil Brennaman taking a no-decision after giving up three runs (two earned) over five innings of work while striking out eight in a 97-pitch outing. Brady Stuewe and Askew would each throw one inning in relief while Blayne Fritcher would pick up his fourth win of the year to improve to 4-2 overall after pitching in the seventh and eighth and allowing just one run on one hit.  
 
What's Next?
Cloud County will kick off a six-game home stand on Saturday, April 8th when Hutchinson makes the trip to Concordia for a 1 PM doubleheader to close out the four-game conference series between the T-Birds and Blue Dragons. CCCC will then play four of their six games scheduled for next week at home, beginning on Monday, April 10th.