Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BEATRICE, Neb. – A late rally once again spoiled an opportunity for the Cloud County Community College baseball team to pick up a road doubleheader sweep as the T-Birds earned a 3-2 win in game one before seeing host Southeast Community College push across eight runs in the bottom of the eighth to win the series finale 17-11 at Christenson Field in Beatrice, Nebraska on Saturday, February 24th.
 
With a similar feel to Thursday's doubleheader in Concordia that saw Cloud County earn a game-one win before allowing a late rally by the Bobcats to drop game two, the T-Birds are now 9-4 overall while SCC moves to 6-6 on the season.
 
Game One:
Despite being limited to just six hits and not drawing a single walk, the T-Birds got themselves another pitching gem from a starter in freshman Jack Macintosh as Southeast was limited to one hit over the first four innings of play while sending the minimum number of batters to the plate until the bottom of the fifth. After being held off the bases through the first three innings, CCCC got on the board with a one-out solo home run from Demitri Shakotko in the top of the fourth before adding a pair of runs thanks in part to a Bobcat error in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 3-0. In the bottom of the fifth, Southeast finally managed to break through with a leadoff double coming around to score on a two-out single before stranding a pair of runners that represented the game-tying runs with a strikeout to end the inning.
 
Both teams stranded a solo runner in their respective halves of the sixth to send things to the seventh where Cloud County threatened to add to their lead with a one-out single from pinch-hitter TJ Coats before getting a Nolan Freund single to put runners at first and second as a strikeout and runner getting caught stealing ended the inning. Finishing off the win did not come without some worry in the bottom of the seventh as a leadoff base runner reached on an error before seeing a double-play give the T-Birds the momentum back by getting an out away from earning the win. A solo home run cut the CCCC lead down to one at 3-2 and was followed by a single that moved to second on a wild pitch, but a 10th and final strikeout of the game from Macintosh finished off a complete-game effort to secure the win for the T-Birds.
 
Cloud County's six hits came from six different players as CCCC struck out eight times and stranded three baserunners. Extra-base hits for Landon Meyer Shakotko were the offensive highlights for the T-Birds with Shakotko, Hake, and Freund each driving in one run.
 
Game Two:
Giving up two runs in the bottom of the first to fall into an early hole, Cloud County responded by scoring six runs in the top of the second to take a four-run lead that grew to 7-2 heading into the bottom of the third as a leadoff single for Coats came around to score on an Easton Norris RBI single. Southeast cut the T-Bird lead down to 7-4 after plating two runs in their end of the third and reclaimed the lead with a four-run bottom of the fourth to go up 8-7 heading to the fifth.
 
Another solo run for the Bobcats in the fifth made it a 9-7 deficit for Cloud County as the T-Birds got the run back in the top of the sixth with a two-out RBI double from Shakotko scoring Paul Schuyler who got on base earlier in the inning with a leadoff single to cut the SCC lead in half to trail 9-8. Following a scoreless seventh, Cloud County saw three straight players reaching base with a Schuyler double, Gavin Roy hit-by-pitch, and Shakotko walk. Schuyler managed to score on a wild pitch during the Shakotko at-bat to tie the game with Roy Scoring on the next at-bat with another wild pitch. The three-run rally finished off with a Freund RBI single to score Shakotko as CCCC took an 11-9 lead with the possibility of a series win just six outs away.
 
In near identical fashion to Thursday's game two rally that saw Southeast plate seven runs in their final at-bat of the game, SCC once again found a way to take advantage of the Cloud County bullpen as eight runs came across in the bottom of the eighth with four pitchers being used by CCCC to try and get through the inning. The crooked number put up by the Bobcats allowed Southeast to turn an 11-9 deficit into a 17-11 lead as Cloud County was unable to do anything with a leadoff walk and two-out hit batter in the top of the ninth to see another late lead go to waste with a big inning by their opponent.
 
Both teams finished the game with 10 hits as CCCC saw Schuyler, Roy, and Freund each record two hits with the top five batters in the lineup accounting for eight of the 10 hits. Roy, Shakotko, and Norris each drove in two runs for the T-Birds with Poturnak and Freund each driving in one run while Norris had the lone stolen base of the game for CCCC.
 
On the mound, eight different pitchers saw time with Carson Latimer taking the loss after allowing four runs on two hits with two walks spoiling a five-strikeout performance to fall to 1-1 overall. No pitcher for Cloud County went longer than starter Zach Sharshel who threw three innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits while also striking out five.  
 
 
What's Next?
The final non-conference series ahead of Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play will see Cloud County take on the reigning NJCAA Region VI Champions and number eight preseason-ranked Johnson County Community College in a four-game series beginning with a 1 PM doubleheader on Thursday, February 29th in Overland Park, Kansas. The Cavaliers have won seven in a row ahead of a Sunday doubleheader against Moberly Area Community College and are currently 10-4 overall with losses coming to Amarillo College and Crowder College as JCCC split a pair of four-game series with both teams over their first week of the season.