Softball | 3/23/2025 5:36:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Cloud County Community College softball team picked up a home series win over the Northeast Community College Hawks by splitting a doubleheader on Sunday, March 23, taking game one 13-5 in five innings before falling 8-0 in six innings in the finale at the CCCC Softball Field.

The T-Birds won three of the four games played over the weekend to move its overall record to 8-10.

Northeast batted through the lineup and scored four runs in the top of the first inning in game one. The T-Birds scored their first run in the bottom of the second after sophomore Shaylee Keslar reached on an error and scored when freshman Bella Santin reached on a fielder's choice. Northeast responded in the top of the third when freshman Amy Lauby scored sophomore Talia Bandt on an RBI single to make it 5-1.

Cloud County began to chip away at Northeast's lead by loading the bases in the bottom of the third. Sophomore catcher Camille Stauffer was then hit by a pitch, which scored freshman Berkleigh Curtis. Freshman Lilly Ellison and Keslar drew back-to-back one-out walks, bringing home sophomore Harley Smith and freshman Maliyah Koster to cut the deficit to 5-4. Following a pitching change, the Hawks recorded two straight outs to maintain its advantage entering the fourth inning.

Cloud County sophomore Paige Mahler retired the Hawks in order in the top of the fourth and the top of the fifth. Mahler finished with four strikeouts while allowing five runs, two earned, on five hits with two walks.

The T-Birds loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth when Stauffer, freshman Emalee Johnson and Ellison reached on three consecutive walks. Keslar smacked a game-tying RBI single to center field to score Stauffer. Freshman Hailey Garcia followed with an RBI ground out to score Johnson. Northeast pitchers Rachel Hobbs and Jadyn Lauritsen combined to walk the next five T-Bird batters, extending Cloud County's lead to 11-5. In her second plate appearance of the inning, Johnson delivered a walk-off, two-RBI single to center field, driving in Koster and Stauffer to claim the run-rule victory.

Johnson finished 2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI. Keslar and Stauffer both had two RBI and scored two runs each.

Three Northeast pitchers combined to walk 12 batters in the loss.

The Hawks picked up the 8-0 win in game two behind a remarkable pitching performance from freshman Isabel Raburn who racked up 13 strikeouts and allowed only one hit and two walks. Stokes became the first T-Bird to reach when she drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the third before Raburn got Curtis to pop out to end the inning. Koster drew a one-out walk in the fourth, but Raburn punched out Stauffer and Johnson to close out the frame. Cloud County's only hit came in the bottom of the sixth when Smith ripped a two-out triple to right field. Raburn recomposed herself and managed to get Koster to fly out to end the game.

Sophomore Brecken Whitney took the loss in the circle. Whitney threw six innings, giving up eight earned runs on 14 hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Cloud County will travel to Beatrice, Nebraska for a makeup doubleheader with Southeast Community College on Tuesday, March 24. First pitch is scheduled for 1 pm. The Bobcats previously picked up two wins over Cloud County, 6-5 and 18-8, in Salina, Kansas on February 26.