Big weekend for WNCC baseball, softball

                With a month left in the season, this weekend’s Western Nebraska Community College baseball and softball games are key for seeding for the Region IX tournament in May.

                The WNCC baseball team, 9-21 overall and 5-8 in the Empire Conference North division will be at home Saturday and Sunday when they face Empire Conference South No. 2 Lamar Community College in a 4-game series. Saturday’s doubleheader kicks off at 1 p.m. while Sunday’s twin bill begins at noon.

                The Cougar softball team will be on the road this weekend when they face Otero College in LaJunta, Colorado with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Both Otero and WNCC are neck-and-neck in the conference race.

                The WNCC softball team is 12-20 overall and 7-5 in conference play while Otero is 19-17 overall and 9-5 in conference play. Those two teams are third and fourth in the standings trailing Northeastern Junior College, who is 6-0 in conference play and McCook Community College at 7-3.

                The top five teams make the softball Region IX tournament with the conference champion hosting the tourney. Trinidad State is fifth in the conference at 5-5, just ahead of sixth-place Lamar at 5-9.

                While the softball race is tightening up, the Region IX baseball race is also a juggernaut of activity. All eight teams will make the first-round playoffs in May with cross-conference play with the higher seeds playing the lower seeds. The winners of the first-round games will qualify for the regional tournament in Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 12-14.

                That is why this weekend’s games with Lamar are important for the Cougars as they battle for a higher seed.

                The Cougars have some key conference games coming up. After the 4-game series with Lamar, the Cougars will host North-leading Southeast on Wednesday and then have a 3-game series at McCook the following the weekend.

                WNCC enters this weekend’s games at Cleveland having lost six straight, including dropping all four at Trinidad State and splitting a 4-game with Luna on the way back from the Arizona Spring Break trip.

                The Cougars were 6-8 at one time and have gone 3-13 since March 13.

                Lamar is also entering this weekend’s games on a slide also with a 6-game losing skid. The Lopes swept four from McCook on March 19-20 and then lost twice to Frank Phillips and then lost four at home to Southeast Community College. In the Southeast series, Lamar gave up 46 runs while only scoring 21 runs themselves.

                The Cougars have been a little more solid on defense. In the four games against Trinidad, WNCC lost by the scores of 2-0, 11-6, 6-5, and 10-4.

                WNCC’s pitching staff has a combined 7.64 earned run average. They are led by Dawson Hurford, who has a 2.90 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 31 innings of work. Corbin Kirk is second at 4.91 ERA followed by Noah Baumann at 5.40 and Harold Baez at 6.83.

                Those four pitchers will probably get the starts this weekend.

                The Lamar pitching staff has a combined 10.67 ERA this season. Ian Weil is the top pitcher with a 4.29 ERA followed by Ross Martin at 6.19 and then Cameron Sisneros at 8.10 and Griffin Webb at 8.90. The Lamar pitching coach is former WESTCO Zephyr Eric Moreno.

                Offensively, the Cougars have hit a rough patch. WNCC has a combined .253 batting average overall, but are hitting .293 in conference games. WNCC, however, has left runners in scoring position in clutch situations.

                The Cougars are led at the plate by Eli Hernandez with a .376 batting average with 19 RBIs and 21 runs scored. Jack Jones is next at .344 followed by Ethan Johnson at .300 and Dylan Howard at .273.

                WNCC had slugged just 19 home runs this season, four of which have come from Drew Book. Jones had smacked three round trippers, while Hernandez, Dalton Nelson, and Quinn McCafferty each have had two.

                Lamar’s offense has been a little more productive. The Lopes are batting .292 on the season and have a combined 53 home runs. Brian Ledezma had eight round trippers followed by six each from Demetrio Archuleta and Ethan Long.

 

Region IX Baseball Standings

Team                                   Conf.             Overall

Empire Conference South

Trinidad                              13-5               28-8

Lamar                                  9-9                  12-27

Luna                                    3-15               5-32

Otero                                  3-15               4-24

Empire Conference North

Southeast                         14-1               22-6

Northeastern                  10-8               20-15

McCook                             10-8               16-17

WNCC                                 5-8                  9-21

 

Region IX Softball Standings

Team                                   Conf.             Overall

Northeastern                  6-0                  19-10

McCook                             7-3                  17-13

Otero                                  9-5                  19-17

WNCC                                 7-5                  12-20

Trinidad                              5-5                  13-16

Lamar                                  5-9                  7-25

Luna                                    1-13               5-29