EDMOND, Okla. – Returning to action following a two-week hiatus from action, the Cloud County Community College baseball team never trailed in either of two matchups at the University of Central Oklahoma JUCO Fest to defeat Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 5-0 and Coffeyville Community College 8-4 at Wendell Simmons Field in Edmond, Oklahoma on Thursday, February 15th.
Running their record to 3-2 overall, CCCC picks up a pair of victories in their first two of six scheduled contests this week while the Norsemen fall to 4-6 overall following a 1-2 outing at the UCO JUCO Fest and Coffeyville dropping to 4-3 overall after losing their final two games in Edmond.
Against NEO A&M:
Picking up their fifth shutout victory since the start of the 2023 season, Cloud County was able to rely on dominant pitching to get through the first three innings of what was a scoreless contest before breaking things open in the fourth with four runs coming on two hits, three walks, and a hit batter to go up 4-0 and never look back. The best opportunity of the game for NEO offensively came in the bottom of the second as a hit batter was followed by a one-out single and another hit batter to load the bases but a strikeout and groundout to shortstop
Gavin Roy stranded all three base runners and allowed redshirt sophomore
Kevin Mannell to work out of a jam to keep things scoreless.
In the fourth,
Demitri Shakotko drew a leadoff walk followed by a strikeout and out being recorded on the base paths to put two outs on the board and nobody on when momentum shifted in favor of CCCC with back-to-back walks. With
Noah Konings due up, a go-ahead two-RBI double broke the scoreless tie to give the T-Birds a 2-0 lead and was followed by a
Nolan Freund hit-by-pitch and
Easton Norris single to bring home Konings as a double-steal with runners on the corners allowed Freund to come home and cap off the four-run inning.
Starting in the bottom of the fourth, both teams had worked their way into their bullpens with CCCC turning to
TJ Coats who allowed a two-out walk before ending the inning with a groundout while Northeastern Oklahoma A&M made a change to begin the top of the fifth with their second of what ultimately became five pitchers who saw time on the mound. Things remained a 4-0 lead in favor of Cloud County until the top of the seventh when a Roy leadoff single was followed by two stolen bases for the Sudbury, Ontario native to move to within 90 feet of scoring as
Easton Mould drove home the final run of the game on an RBI groundout. No true threat was seen by the Norsemen in the bottom of the seventh as a leadoff walk was followed by a groundout and a runner getting cut down at third attempting to steal with another groundout proving to be the final out of the game.
Taking a no-decision after throwing three innings of work and striking out five of the 13 batters he faced was Mannell while Coats improved to 1-0 after finishing off the final four innings and allowing just one hit to go along with three strikeouts. Despite being limited to just six hits, Cloud County saw five different players record at least one hit with Konings driving home two of CCCC's four RBIs and recording one of three extra-base hits by the T-Birds.
Against Coffeyville:
Facing off against the Red Ravens for the first time since winning a best-of-three series against Coffeyville in the Region VI Playoffs last season, Cloud County was given a second-chance at pitcher Ryan Leiker who threw a complete game shutout against the T-Birds last season with CCCC making the most of the opportunity by pushing across two runs in the bottom of the first on two hits to go up 2-0 after an inning of play. After seeing Coffeyville turn a lead-off ground-rule double into a run to cut the Cloud County lead in half, CCCC responded in the bottom of the second by getting a two-out bunt single from Roy and stolen base to set up an RBI single from Shakotko to go back up two runs at 3-1.
The two-run lead for Cloud County did not last long as Coffeyville came back with two runs in the top of the third as a one-out walk was followed by back-to-back singles to load the bases before a two-RBI single to tie the game with a go-ahead run getting thrown out at third on a relay throw from Shakotko to
Jakob Poturnak and eventually Roy. Following a scoreless bottom of the third and top of the fourth, CCCC managed to get back out in front with a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth as Shakotko hit a double followed by a
Landon Meyer go-ahead RBI single as the T-Birds recorded three hits in the inning to go back out in front 4-3.
Just like the previous one-run lead, Coffeyville wasted little time in getting things knotted back up as a two-out Red Raven rally saw CCC use a single and stolen base followed by a walk and RBI single to pull back even and threatening to take their first lead of the game with a hit-batter loading the bases before a groundout that allowed the T-Birds to escape the jam and keep the score tied. Getting into the Red Raven bullpen in the bottom of the fifth, Cloud County took full advantage with a one-out walk for Cam Macleod coming around to score another go-ahead run on a Norris RBI triple followed by a
Paul Schuyler RBI single as part of a two-run inning to put the T-Birds up 6-4 with two innings left to play.
No real threat from Coffeyville occurred in the top of the sixth as CCCC reliever
Jack Macintosh managed to work around a two-out single to bring Cloud County back to the plate where a leadoff walk for Poturnak allowed for MaCleod to hit a two-run home run to bring home a pair of insurance runs as the T-Birds went up 8-4. Matching the effort from the top of the sixth, Macintosh once again worked two quick outs before allowing a two-out single that proved to not lead to any damage as the game ended one batter later with an infield popup to Schuyler.
The eight runs for Cloud County came on 10 total hits with Shakotko and Konings accounting for five of the 10 hits and three total RBI with each player hitting a double. The top five players in the offensive lineup accounted for eight total hits and one of four walks drawn by the T-Birds. Two pitchers combined to throw the full seven innings with Macintosh running his record to 1-1 after earning the win in relief with three innings pitched and allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts.
Noah Bourgeois started the contest for CCCC and threw four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with one strikeout against 16 batters faced to take a no-decision.
What's Next?
A stretch of six consecutive home games for Cloud County will begin on Sunday, February 18th as the T-Birds play host to Marshalltown Community College in a four-game series beginning with a 1 PM doubleheader at Lee Doyen Field. All four games against the Tigers will be seven-innings in length as MCC will be opening their 2024 campaign. Last season, CCCC took all four games against Marshalltown including the final two in run-rule fashion as the T-Birds have won nine straight games against Marshalltown dating back to the 2021 season.
