CONCORDIA, Kan. – Getting a chance to open their season at home and a week earlier than originally scheduled, the Cloud County Community College baseball team was able to break a 2-2 tie by scoring the final six runs as part of an 8-2 season opening win before falling by a score of 12-9 in 11 innings to split a doubleheader with Des Moines Area Community College at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas on Thursday, February 1st.
Both Cloud County and DMACC are now 1-1 on the season after splitting the first games played between teams since at least 2000. For the T-Birds, CCCC has now won each of their past three season-opening games and earns a win in their first game of the season for the fourth time in the past five season openers.
GAME ONE:
Holding the Bears without a hit through two innings of play while allowing just one base runner on a two-out walk in the top of the first, Cloud County plated solo runs in each of the first two innings with a
Paul Schuyler leadoff triple in the bottom of the first setting up a
Gavin Roy RBI groundout before seeing the Bellevue, Nebraska native drive home
Cam MaCleod in the bottom of the second. The 2-0 run for CCCC was erased by DMACC in the top of the third as a pitching change from the T-Birds allowed the Bears to put five of the first six batters of the inning safely on base with a hit batter, walk, and two hits pushing across a pair of runs to tie things at 2-2 before seeing Cloud County manage to escape the inning with a double-play on a lineout to third baseman
Jakob Poturnak. Following a one-two-three bottom of the third, Cloud County was able to face the minimum in the top of the fourth before reclaiming the lead with a Poturnak one-out double setting up a two-run home run for MaCleod that chased DMACC starting pitcher Ty Madison from the game.
Adding a single run to their lead in the bottom of the fifth with a
Demitri Shakotko home run that cleared the right-center field power alley, Cloud County put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth as a one-out rally saw a MaCleod single followed by a single for
Landon Meyer and Schuyler walk to load the bases. After a sacrifice fly by Roy to drive home his second run of the contest, Shakotko kept the inning alive with a walk before a fielding error on a fly ball to left field allowed
Justin Johnson to reach base and bring home a pair of unearned runs as the lead grew to 8-2 with the T-Birds closing things out by stranding one runner in the top of the seventh.
As a pitching staff, Cloud County was led by a six-strikeout performance from
Kevin Mannell who issued just one walk as his lone blemish in a 34-pitch outing while seeing
Zach Sharshel and
Noah Bourgeois combine for five total strikeouts. Bourgeois picked up the win after throwing the final four innings and scattering four hits and one walk across 59 total pitches. Offensively, the T-Birds got two hits and two runs scored from Schuyler while seeing MaCleod go a perfect three-for-three at the plate with two extra-base hits and two RBI.
Game Two:
Runs came in spurts throughout for both squads as Des Moines Area managed to plate three runs in the top of the first on just one hit with two walks and a hit batter doing most of the damage to set up a two-RBI single from Britton Bond followed by a Maddox Johnston RBI fielder's choice. Things remained a 3-0 game until the top of the third as DMACC used a leadoff walk and RBI double to start another three-run inning that came on just one hit with free base runners once again allowing the Bears to push runs across as the six runs through three innings came on just two hits.
Beginning to dig out of the deficit with a two-run bottom of the third following a Shakotko single that was paired with a throwing error on DMACC, the T-Birds saw Des Moines Area get one run back in the top of the fourth with back-to-back one-out singles and a walk setting up a run coming home on a wild pitch to push their lead back to four at 7-3. The Cloud County offense picked up again in the bottom of the fourth as a throwing error on a check-swing ball that was put in play by
Austin Coyle led to a run coming home two batters later on a wild pitch after seeing Schuyler hit a single through the left side of the infield followed by a walk to force a second DMACC pitching change. After a double-play that allowed the Bears to cut down a pair of runners while giving up an unearned run, CCCC put together a two-out rally with a Johnson double and
Noah Konings walk followed by a walk for
Nolan Freund to load the bases with one final run coming home in the inning on a wild pitch.
With a six-run deficit cut down to just one, Cloud County managed to tie things in the bottom of the fifth with a sacrifice fly from Shakotko to pull even at 7-7 before seeing DMACC reclaim the lead in the top of the seventh with two runs scoring on a two-run home run by Johnston after seeing the left fielder cut down a go-ahead run on an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the sixth. Getting one run back in the bottom half of the seventh with a two-out rally started by a Schuyler infield single followed by an RBI double for Roy, the T-Birds stranded the game-tying run in scoring position as a strikeout ended the rally.
Keeping the game at a one-run deficit by stranding a one-out hit batter in the top of the eighth, Cloud County once again found a way to push across a run in the bottom half of the inning as Johnson was hit by a pitch to begin the inning before being pinch-ran for following a wild pitch with
Gannon White advancing to third on a balk and scoring on a Freund RBI single. Retiring the Bears in order in the top of the ninth, a chance to walk things off with a victory in the bottom of the inning was shut down after seeing Schuyler picked off at first to stop a potential one-out rally with things going to extra-innings tied at 9-9.
Just one base runner reached base in the 10th inning with Des Moines Area having a one-out base runner reach despite seeing all three outs recorded by strikeout before retiring the T-Birds in order defensively to force things into the 11th. Sending out reliever
Jack Macintosh for a potential fourth inning of work, Cloud County saw DMACC get a leadoff single and stolen base followed by a go-ahead RBI double that was matched with a second RBI double to force a pitching change after going up 11-9. A groundout to the right side of the infield and a wild pitch brought home one additional run in the inning to cap off a three-run inning for the Bears as Cloud County once again found themselves in a multi-run deficit. In the bottom of the inning, CCCC saw two quick outs followed by a double from Schuyler and a walk by Roy to bring the game-tying run to the plate, but a strikeout by Shakotko following a mound visit by the DMACC coaching staff slammed the door on the potential rally to force Cloud County to settle for a season-opening split.
12 total pitchers were used in the contest with both Cloud County and DMACC using six pitchers as Macintosh took the loss after tossing three-plus innings and striking out a game-high seven batters with the Bears striking out 19 times as a team. Schuyler led all players in the game with four hits in five at-bats as 12 of CCCC's 16 hits came from the top four players in the lineup as Roy and Shakotko each had three hits to go along with two from Johnson.
What's Next?
The three-game series between teams will conclude with a 1 PM rubber-match contest from Lee Doyen Field on Friday, February 2nd. The game will be the final of the weekend for both teams as Cloud County will be off until February 8th while DMACC is also next scheduled to be in action on February 8th.
