CONCORDIA, Kan. – Earning a shutout victory in game one of a Friday doubleheader, the Cloud County Community College softball team managed to hold off a late rally from Southeast Community College to win game two by a final score of 8-6 to sweep a pair of games at the CCCC Softball Field on Friday, February 23rd.
The wins allow Cloud County to move to 4-2 overall on the season while finishing their first home stand of the year with four straight wins while the Bobcats drop to 0-6 on the season.
Game One:
Working around a one-out walk in the top of the first, CCCC wasted no time in the bottom of the second to get on the scoreboard as a single from leadoff batter
Kaitlynn Baca and a wild pitch put a runner in scoring position before seeing
Jillian Artiges hit an infield single to put runners on the corners. After a groundout that moved Artiges to second, T-Bird freshman
Kaylee Pinneo hit a two-RBI double into the left-center field gap to bring home a pair of runs before scoring on a
Camille Stauffer RBI single with Cloud County scoring four runs on five hits in the inning.
A Bobcat threat in the top of the second saw a leadoff walk and one-out double put runners on the corners with an opportunity to respond from the big inning from CCCC, but a lineout to
Paige Mahler at first and strikeout ended the inning with both runners getting stranded. Another two runners for SCC were stranded in the third along with one in the fourth as the game remained a 4-0 T-Bird lead into the bottom of the fourth where a leadoff triple from
Madyson Buescher led to a run on an RBI groundout from
Alyssa Reynolds to make it a 5-0 Cloud County lead. The offense picked back up for CCCC in the bottom of the fifth after another scoreless inning on defense as starting pitcher
Kiera Brack hit a leadoff single to set up a two-run home run for Pinneo to get Cloud County within a run of ending the game. Following a groundout and strikeout to give the Bobcats a chance to get out of the inning and extend the game into the sixth, CCCC made one final rally with an infield single from
Brooklynn McCormick and Buescher walk to bring up Reynolds who hit a high pop up just off the infield dirt that fell safely for a game-ending single with McCormick scoring from second.
Outhitting Southeast 11-5, Cloud County was led by a two-for-three effort from Pinneo as the Papillion, Nebraska native drove in four runs and saw both of her hits go for extra bases. McCormick also had a two-hit outing as CCCC stranded just three total base runners in the game and saw all nine batters record at least one hit. In the circle for the T-Birds, Brack went the distance and struck out seven while surrendering just five hits, needing 78 total pitches to pick up her second win of the year.
Game Two:
It wasn't nearly as easy for Cloud County in game two to come away with a victory as Southeast plated a run in the top of the first with a leadoff double followed by a groundout and sacrifice fly to take their first lead of the afternoon before the T-Birds had an opportunity to get to the plate. Answering back with a four-run bottom of the first, Cloud County sent eight batters to the plate in their first opportunity with a Brack RBI double tying the game at 1-1 before seeing
Harley Smith hit a two-RBI single into right field to score both Pinneo and Brack and put CCCC up 3-1. One final run came home with McCormick hitting an RBI single back up the middle with two outs as four hits and a walk led to the four-run inning.
An offensive explosion continued into the second as SCC made the most of their next chance at the plate with two straight hits to start the inning along with a walk loading the bases with nobody out. After a strikeout to get the first out on the board, Cloud County was able to induce a groundout that ended up bringing home two runs as aggressive base running from the Bobcats brought home a runner from second after a late throw that recorded the out at first. Just like the first inning however, CCCC was able to put together some offense of their own as a walk for Reynolds to lead off the inning started a two-run inning as Brack collected her second RBI of the game with a single back up the middle before seeing Stauffer drive home Artiges with a two-out RBI single two batters later.
The 6-3 lead for Cloud County was added on to in the bottom of the third as Buescher hit her first collegiate home run with a solo shot to right field to make it a 7-3 game in favor of the T-Birds which is where things would remain until the top of the sixth. In the sixth, Southeast put together a one-out rally as a one-out single and wild pitch put a runner in scoring position before a fielder's choice that saw both runners end up safe to make it first and third with one out. A pinch-hit single brought home a pair of runs after a stolen base to make it a 7-5 game. Following another stolen base and walk to put the go-ahead run aboard, CCCC Mahler managed to respond in the circle by inducing a strikeout and lineout to center field to end the inning and strand three base runners, and keep things at a two-run difference.
Holding their slimmest advantage since the top of the top of the second, Cloud County utilized a leadoff walk for Artiges to push across an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with Stauffer coming through with a two-out RBI single into right field as the lead was pushed back out to three at 8-5 with the T-Birds just three outs away from earning the win. One final rally from Southeast however made the win anything from certain as a leadoff walk and double put two runners on with no outs and was followed by a sacrifice fly to get the run surrendered in the bottom of the sixth back to get within two at 8-6. Inducing an infield popup to second base, Cloud County then gave up an RBI single that turned into an automatic out on appeal as the Bobcats tried re-entering a player that had already been substituted for after being a pinch-hitter in a previous inning to wipe the RBI single off the board and end the game with the score 8-6 in favor of CCCC.
A total of 16 stranded base runners in the game led to several missed opportunities as Southeast stranded nine runners and Cloud County seven with the T-Birds outhitting SCC 10-9. Two-hit games from Brack and Stauffer each came with two RBI performances as the top third of the lineup (Baca, Artiges, and Brack) managed to score five of Cloud County's eight runs. Mahler managed to go the distance in the circle to pick up her second win of the year, giving up six runs on nine hits and four walks while striking out four of the 36 batters the Adams, Nebraska native faced.
What's Next?
Cloud County is off until next Friday, March 1st when a trip to Columbus, Nebraska will see the T-Birds take on Central Community College in a 1 PM doubleheader. Central CC is currently 4-1 overall on the season and has four more games scheduled between now and next Friday with a home doubleheader against Highland Community College on Sunday followed by a road doubleheader at Iowa Western before their games with Cloud County.
