CONCORDIA, Kan. – Despite combining for 22 strikeouts as a pitching staff and having an opportunity to earn a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth, the Cloud County Community College baseball team once again saw extra-innings prove to be unkind in a 10-6, 10-inning home defeat to Des Moines Area Community College at Lee Doyen Field on Friday, February 2nd.
Dropping a second-straight game in extra-innings, Cloud County falls to 1-2 on the season after winning their season opener by a score of 8-2 yesterday while the Bears take the final two games of the series to improve to 2-1 on the season with both teams concluding their opening weekend of the year.
First-inning walks issued by both starting pitchers led to runs for both DMACC and CCCC as Des Moines Area managed to turn a one-out walk into a run on a sacrifice fly to grab a 1-0 lead while stranding a runner at first. Matching the Bears offensively in the bottom half of the inning, Cloud County saw sophomore
Paul Schuyler draw a leadoff walk and move into scoring position on a wild pitch to set up a
Gavin Roy RBI single as the Sudbury, Ontario native was cut down trying to stretch the base-hit into a double with the next two batters being retired in order to end the inning.
Following a scoreless second inning, DMACC added three runs in the third to reclaim the lead as back-to-back doubles to begin the inning put the Bears back out in front followed by a walk and wild pitch to set up a one-out Rbi single two batters later to go up 3-1. A walk to load the bases followed by a strikeout put the T-Birds one out away from getting out of the bases-loaded jam until another walk to bring home a run and force a CCCC pitching change as Des Moines Area sent nine batters to the plate in the inning to score three runs on three hits and go up 4-1.
A leadoff line drive home run by sophomore
Jakob Poturnak allowed the T-Birds to back within two at 4-2 heading to the fourth as the next inning and a half went scoreless with relief pitchers settling in. Still trailing by a score of 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Cloud County put together a rally with a leadoff single from
Nolan Freund coming around to score three batters later on an RBI double from
Landon Meyer. Schuyler tied things up at 4-4 with an RBI single to score Meyer in the next at-bat while being held at first as the relay throw was cutoff that proved to be a key moment for the Bears as CCCC could not push across another run despite getting a base-hit single from Roy before having the inning end on the base paths once more.
Stranding a DMACC runner in the top of the sixth, Cloud County saw another opportunity to take their first lead of the game get shut down in the bottom of the inning as a two-out rally with a
Cam MaCleod single and Freund walk getting stranded on a strikeout to end another potential rally. The momentum swing with two stranded T-Bird runners allowed Des Moines Area to put together a go-ahead two-out single in the top of the sixth as another free pass proved costly to CCCC to face a one-run deficit heading into the bottom of the sixth. DMACC added to their lead in the top of the eighth as an infield single and base hit into center field put two runners on for the Bears with no outs before an RBI double that forced a Cloud County pitching change with one out in the inning as Des Moines Area saw the inning end with two stranded base runners to strand 13 runners through eight innings of play.
The best opportunity for Cloud County to cut into the two-run deficit came in the bottom of the eighth with the two-three-four hitters due up for the T-Birds before two quick outs to start to flip momentum back to the Bears. Extending the inning with a base hit single was
Justin Johnson to bring up MaCleod who wasted no time in taking the second pitch he saw and hitting his second home run of the weekend with a no-doubt shot to left field that tied the game and forced Des Moines Area into their second pitching change of the inning. Following the pitching change, Cloud County got a Freund single and
Eric Bradicich pinch-hit walk to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, but a strikeout ended the threat and sent things to the ninth with the score tied at 6-6.
Working a one-two-three inning defensively, a chance to walk things off in the bottom of the inning started with a leadoff single by Meyer before a wild pitch and single into center field by Schuyler to put runners on the corners with no outs. After a mound visit from the DMACC coaching staff to discuss strategy and determine how to align with the game-winning run just 90 feet away from home, Schuyler took second on defensive indifference before seeing a shallow flyout keep both runners at their bases in a big first out of the inning for the Bears. A groundout put a second out on the board while once again holding both runners in place before seeing Johnson get hit by the first pitch of his at-bat to load the bases with two outs as the chance to walk things off remained a possibility. Unfortunately for CCCC, a strikeout by MaCleod ended the inning with the bases loaded to force extra innings for the second time in less than 24 hours became reality with the score still tied at 6-6.
In the 10th, Des Moines Area got a pinch-hit leadoff double from Colin Driscoll before a hit batter and wild pitch to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. After another walk to load the bases and a mound visit by the T-Bird coaching staff, DMACC's Camden Kaufman hit a go-ahead grand slam to give the Bears a four-run lead with still no outs as a pitching change followed for Cloud County with the damage having been done. Turning to freshman
Riley Marsh, CCCC retired the next three batters to keep the deficit at four heading to the bottom of the 10th while needing at least four runs to try and extend the game to a second extra inning. In the bottom of the inning, a groundout and strikeout brought Cloud County down to their final out of the game before a single from Poturnak and Meyer walk to start a potential rally, but a flyout from Schuyler ended the game with the T-Birds seeing another late-inning rally get spoiled by the visiting Bears.
A total of 23 stranded base runners between the two teams saw DMACC strand 14 while Cloud County stranded nine with the two teams combining for 30 strikeouts and 27 base hits. Six different players for CCCC finished with two hits each while Des Moines Area got four-hit performances from Cael Boever and Kaufman to lead the way with Kaufman recording a game-high six RBI.
On the mound, 15 different pitchers saw action including seven for the T-Birds with four of the seven for Cloud County recording at least three strikeouts. Finishing with a game-high eight strikeouts in three innings of work was
TJ Coats who allowed just one earned run on three hits over three innings while throwing a game-high 60 pitches. Three hit batters and seven walks proved to be the biggest issue for CCCC as a staff on Friday as DMACC only allowed five free passes to CCCC (four walks, one hit batter).
What's Next?
Just one game is on the schedule for next week for Cloud County with the first road game of the year taking the T-Birds to Salina, Kansas for a 1 PM first pitch against the Kansas Wesleyan JV team. The nine-inning contest will be the first of three straight road games for the T-Birds before settling in for a six-game homestand that will begin on Saturday, February 17th.
