Softball | 3/10/2025 6:42:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Cloud County Community College softball team continued its winning ways on Monday, March 10, as the T-Birds took down Fort Hays Tech Northwest 14-0 in five innings in game one and 13-10 in seven innings in game two at the CCCC Softball Field.

The T-Birds (5-7) scored 10 runs in the first inning of game one. Sophomore third baseman Harley Smith had a two RBI single to left. Sophomore outfielder Shaylee Keslar, freshman infielder Hailey Garcia and freshman outfielder Lilly Ellison each added RBI doubles in the first. Freshman outfielder Kia Stokes added an RBI single and scored two runs, while freshman Berkleigh Curtis and freshman short stop Maliyah Koster each had a base hit.

Smith and Keslar led off the bottom of the second inning with a pair of singles to center field and both scored to push Cloud County's lead to 12-0.

Cloud County's final runs of the game came in the bottom of the third inning when Ellison and freshman first baseman Emalee Johnson both reached on errors and scored, giving the T-Birds a 14-0 advantage.

Curtis, Garcia, Koster and Smith all tallied three hits in the win. Smith led the team with three RBI, while Ellison and Garcia drove in two runs each.

Sophomore pitcher Paige Mahler earned the win for the T-Birds, throwing four innings while allowing no runs on three hits with one walk while striking out four. Smith picked up the save for Cloud County, throwing one shutout inning.

Cloud County fell behind 1-0 in game two after freshman catcher Haley Karlik recorded a two-out RBI single, scoring sophomore outfielder Ashlynn Miller in the top of the second inning.

The T-Birds managed to jump in front 2-1 in the bottom half of the frame when, with the bases loaded and one out, freshman pitcher Fallon Bramford walked Stokes to score Ellison. Smith followed with a RBI single to left, bringing Johnson home.

Fort Hays Tech Northwest tied the game the next inning when Miller singled to center field, driving home freshman Maria Romero.

Stauffer drew a leadoff walk to open the bottom of the third. Ellison followed with an RBI double to center field. Johnson also delivered a double to center, before Mahler collected an infield single, bringing home Ellison. Keslar added a two RBI double to center, scoring Johnson and Mahler to make it 6-2.

Koster picked up a stand-up double to left-center to begin the fourth. Three batters later, Johnson singled her home to extend Cloud County's lead to 7-2.

Fort Hays Tech Northwest refused to go quietly into the night. Fort Hays Tech Northwest proceeded to plate seven runs on six hits in the top of the fifth to retake the lead at 9-7.

In need of an answer, Cloud County erupted for six runs on six hits in the sixth inning. Smith had a two RBI single to center field, while Keslar and Garcia also had RBI hits. Stokes and Stauffer provided RBI sacrifice flyouts and the T-Birds took a 13-9 advantage into the seventh.

Fort Hays Tech Northwest added one run in the seventh, but sophomore pitcher Brecken Whitney was able to induce two ground outs and an infield pop out to close out the win.

Whitney picked up her third win of the season to improve to 3-2. She threw all seven innings, giving up 10 runs, two earned, on 12 hits while walking two and striking out one.

Cloud County pounded out 19 hits. Ellison finished 4-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. Johnson went 3-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI and three runs scored. Smith also had three hits with three RBI and one run scored. Garcia, Keslar, Koster and Mahler each had two hits. 

The T-Birds will be on the road Saturday, March 15 for a pair of non-conference games against the Iowa Western Reivers. Iowa Western is 9-5 overall and will host Hawkeye Community College on Tuesday, March 11 and Johnson County Community College on Thursday, March 13, prior to this weekend's matchup with Cloud County.