CONCORDIA, Kan. – Not just one, but two walk-off victories highlighted a doubleheader home sweep for the Cloud County Community College softball team over the McPherson College JV team at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia, Kansas on Wednesday, March 6th.
Winners of eight of their last nine games, Cloud County is now 9-3 overall after picking up a 9-7 win in nine innings in game one before going on to pick up an 8-7, six-inning victory in game two.
Game One:
Scoring the lone run of the first two innings with a leadoff walk coming around to score in the bottom of the first on a
Kaylee Pinneo RBI single, CCCC saw McPherson JV respond in the top of the third with two runs coming on back-to-back hits to lead off the inning with an RBI groundout and RBI double putting the Bulldogs up 2-1. The lead for McPherson JV was rather short-lived as Cloud County took advantage of a Bulldog error and one-out walk to put two runners on with the middle of the lineup coming up as Pinneo delivered once again with a two-RBI double into left field to score a pair of unearned runs and give Cloud County a 3-2 lead. Following Pinneo was freshman
Camille Stauffer who hit her team-leading fourth home run of the year to finish off a four-run inning for the T-Birds as CCCC went up 5-2 heading into the fourth.
Things remained a 5-2 Cloud County lead until the top of the sixth when back-to-back hits to lead off the inning for McPherson JV allowed the Bulldogs to push across a run and start an inning that saw 10 batters come to the plate and bring home four runs on six hits to go up 6-5. The T-Birds did manage to make McPherson JV strand three base runners and get out of a bases-loaded jam that proved pivotal as CCCC tied things up in the bottom of the sixth with an
Alyssa Reynolds RBI single to score
Brooklynn McCormick followed by a scoreless seventh to send things to extra-innings.
With the international tiebreaker in effect, neither team was able to bring home their runner that started the inning at second base in the eighth to force another free inning of softball where a two-out RBI single allowed McPherson JV to take the lead at 7-6. With the two-three-four-hole hitters due up, Cloud County used a leadoff groundout to move their baserunner to start the inning over to third before an RBI single from
Kiera Brack to tie the game at 7-7 with just one out. After a wild pitch that moved Brack into scoring position while representing the game-winning run, Pinneo had one more big hit in her by crushing a two-run home run to left field to end the game in walk-off fashion.
Both teams finished the game with 11 hits with Cloud County seeing five of their hits go for extra-bases. Pinneo drove in a game-high five RBI and went three-for-four at the plate while
Kaitlynn Baca went two-for-four with two runs scored as five other T-Birds accounted for the remaining six hits. In the circle, Brack went all nine innings and struck out 13 batters while giving up seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits and one walk.
Game Two:
Following a nearly two-and-a-half hour opening game that put the second game at risk of being able to be completed before sundown, Cloud County jumped out to a 3-0 lead with four hits in the bottom of the first bringing home three runs with Pinneo, Stauffer, and
Harley Smith all driving home runs in the inning. McPherson JV got one run back in the top of the second with an RBI groundout after a leadoff walk moved around the base path on a groundout and wild pitch with the Bulldogs plating another two runs in the top of the third.
Tied at 3-3 heading into the fourth, McPherson JV continued to grab momentum by scoring another two runs in the top of the fourth with a fielding error allowing the inning to be extended and bring home a pair of unearned runs to put the T-Birds into a 5-3 hole. CCCC once again saw Pinneo come up big in the bottom of the fourth as the freshman brought home
Madeline McIntire after a leadoff double before coming home to score two batters later on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5-5.
The scoring still wasn't done as McPherson JV found a way to take advantage of another Cloud County error to score a go-ahead run in the top of the fifth with CCCC being held scoreless in the bottom of the inning despite loading the bases with just one out. With daylight becoming less and less, the decision was made to try and play one more inning with McPherson JV adding to their lead with three straight one-out hits bringing home a run and extending the Bulldog lead to 7-5 before a popup and groundout to end the inning.
Down to their last offensive chance, Cloud County got a leadoff double from Stauffer followed by an RBI double from Brack to put the game-tying run in scoring position as CCCC also got walks from Smith and Buescher to load the bases. After a pitching change from McPherson JV, Cloud County saw a fielder's choice cut down the game-tying run at the plate while putting the first out on the board before hitting a second-straight fielder's choice that saw everyone safely advance to keep the bases loaded. With McIntire due up, the Lawrence, Kansas native came through with a line drive over the infield and safely into center field as the game-winning run in Buescher came home from third to end the game with CCCC earning a second-straight walk-off win.
14 hits by Cloud County led to 11 stranded base runners as the T-Birds found a way to come up with just enough offense as McIntire led all players with three hits in the game. Pinneo drove in another two with two hits in four at-bats to be joined by Baca, Stauffer, and Smith with two hits each while Buescher drew a season-high four walks at the plate to finish the game with an official at-bat.
Paige Mahler threw all six innings in the circle and tossed 105 pitches to earn the win after allowing seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits with three strikeouts and three walks coming as part of the 32 batters she faced.
What's Next?
Cloud County is scheduled to complete a six-game home stand on Saturday, March 9th with a 1 PM home doubleheader against the Hastings College JV team. The games will be the final home games until Wednesday, March 20th with the following six games after Saturday's doubleheader set to take place on the road.
