CONCORDIA, Kan. – With a chance to secure their first postseason berth since the 2019 season, the Cloud County Community College softball team would be unable to pick up a victory in their final regular season doubleheader of the year by dropping two games to Neosho County Community College at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia, Kansas on Thursday, May 4th.
Falling to 20-26 overall, the T-Birds close out Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play with a 10-12 mark while Neosho improves to 26-22 overall and 13-9 in the KJCCC.
Game One:
Grabbing an early 1-0 lead, CCCC would manage to take advantage of a pair of Panther errors in the bottom of the first to plate a run courtesy of
Ryleigh Jones who would lead off the inning with a base hit in what would amount to Cloud County's lone hit through the first three innings of play. Neosho would strand base runners in each of the first two innings before using an infield single and error to put the first two base runners on base in the top of the fourth to put pressure on the T-Bird defense. Another base hit for NCCC would load the bases followed by a wild pitch that would tie the game before a sacrifice fly that would give Neosho their first lead of the game. Despite having a runner still in scoring position, the Panthers would be unable to add to their lead with another potential run being stranded at third.
Playing from behind for the first time on the day, CCCC would put together a two-out rally with
Jayden Rehlander hitting a base hit single before coming around to score in the next at-bat with
Hannah Hotalen hitting an RBI double to tie the game back up at 2-2. The game would not remain tied for long as Neosho would match their scoring output from the fourth in the next inning of action as three walks would load the bases with one out before a two-RBI single to give NCCC the lead again at 4-2. Following the base hit, Cloud County would induce a fielder's choice to get a second out on the board before seeing the Panthers load the bases with a base hit as pressure would continue to be put on the CCCC defense until an inning-ending groundout that would leave three Neosho runners stranded.
Trying to put together another rally for the second-straight inning, the T-Birds would draw a leadoff walk from
Brooklynn McCormick before seeing a flyout and groundout put two outs on the board and still limited offense to try and mount a comeback. Extending the inning with an infield single by
Kaitlynn Baca, Cloud County would see the inning end one batter later as a groundout would strand both runners and keep at a two-run contest. The final two innings of play would see both teams send the minimum to the plate as both the sixth and seventh would go hitless for both squads which would allow NCCC to hold on for the 4-2 win.
Held to just four hits, Cloud County would record the only extra-base hit of the game with the Hotalen double in the fourth as four base runners for CCCC would go stranded. In addition to the four hits, CCCC would only be able to draw one walk and one hit batter while seeing Neosho turn six hits and four walks into their four runs of support. In the circle, both starting pitchers in the game would go the distance with Cloud County's
Taylor Dekok striking out four but ultimately taking the loss to fall to 9-7 overall after giving up four runs (three earned) on 110 total pitches.
Game Two:
Six stranded base runners through two innings of play to start the regular season finale would see Cloud County work around two base runners in each of the first two innings by Neosho despite not allowing a hit while the T-Birds would have hits from
Emily Kvasnicka and Hotalen wind up stranded in their ends of the innings. Turning an inning-ending double play to erase a one-out walk in the top of the third, the CCCC offense would come alive in the bottom of the third as an
Alexis Billings leadoff single would be followed by a Jones single to put a pair of runners on for
Mia Kelly to break a scoreless tie with a two-RBI triple down the right field line. Following the triple, CCCC would see
McKenna Mayhew draw a one-out walk to set up a
Jayden Rehlander RBI fielder's choice that would see all runners safely advance on an NCCC error before an inning-ending double play that put an end to the rally by Cloud County.
A 3-0 T-Bird lead would be cut into in the top of the fourth by Neosho as back-to-back one-out solo home runs would allow the Panthers to get back within a run at 3-2 before seeing a walk be followed by a groundout and lineout to end the inning and strand the game-tying run at second. Another double play in the bottom of the fourth would see a leadoff base runner for Cloud County get erased and allow NCCC to take momentum into the fifth where five of the first six batters for Neosho would safely reach base and start a rally that would conclude after 14 batters with nine runs coming home on seven hits and four errors to turn a 3-2 deficit into an 11-3 lead. Having gone from up a run to needing to score a run to extend the game, CCCC would be unable to put a base runner aboard in the bottom of the fifth as a one-two-three inning would officially end the game with the Panthers using the one big inning to make the difference on the scoreboard.
For the second-straight game, Cloud County would see not a single player record more than one hit with five players each tallying one hit with Kvasnicka and Kelly accounting for the two extra-base hits by CCCC with Kelly driving in two of the three T-Bird runs. Another limited number of base runners would see just three runners left on base by CCCC while seeing Neosho's 11 runs come on nine hits with seven stranded base runners as eight walks and a hit batter would prove to be as much of an issue as any for the T-Birds.
What's Next?
Cloud County will play the waiting game to see the remainder of the regular season conclude for teams in the KJCCC for seeding to be finalized for postseason play. 16 games remain across seven teams in the KJCCC with the final games scheduled for Saturday afternoon with teams qualifying for the NJCAA Plains District Tournament being announced on Saturday evening.
