The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team trailed 11-2 and stormed back before the Cougars fell 11-10 to Northeastern Junior College in the Region IX Empire Conference contest Sunday at Cleveland Field.

                The contest, which took 3 ½ hours to play, was one where the Plainsmen scored in four of the first six innings, while the Cougars plated runs in the final four innings.

                WNCC head coach Mike Jones said his team showed a lot of grit in making the comeback that they did.

                “This team is getting so much better. They have shown a lot of progress over the last three weeks,” Jones said. “We had opportunities, but we didn’t quite capitalize enough. If you don’t look at the scoreboard and look how we are playing, we are playing so much better.”

                That is the main thing is how they team is playing because the most important thing is playing well entering post-season the beginning of March.

                “We have to take a day off and get right back out there and play again. It is that point of the season for us. That is what the guys are here to do, they are here to play games,” Jones said. “Right now we are playing for a seed on the north. It doesn’t matter what seed we get, you got to play a playoff, best two-out-of-three and that is what we are getting ready for.”

                WNCC and NJC will get back into action on Tuesday when the Cougars head back to Sterling, Colorado, to face the Plainsmen in a 9-inning contest beginning at 3 p.m. The game was moved up from Wednesday because of weather concerns.

                “This team is really growing a lot,” Jones said. “We have a lot of young players and we are getting a lot of innings and they are starting to show a lot of progress.”

                Sunday’s game saw plenty of big hits from both teams. NJC had four doubles and three home runs while the Cougars had a double, triple, and two home runs.

                WNCC got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first as Roangeraud tripled and scored on a Shintaro Inoue ground out.

                NJC rallied to score 10 runs in the next five innings to take a 10-1 lead. NJC plated three in the second on five hits. The Plainsmen added one in the third, two in the fourth, and four in the sixth for the big lead.

                WNCC came back in the sixth as Isaac Smith led off the inning with a home run. With one out, the Cougars loaded the bases on a single by Fraai, a double by Inoue, and Bryce Peterson getting a walk. But, two ground out fielder’s choices ended the threat and got NJC out of the inning only giving up one run.

                The Plainsmen came back in the seventh and scored one run on a home run by J. Cote and had two runners in scoring position, but WNCC pitcher Hunter McCollum got out of the jam by inducing a grounder to second baseman Ethan Johnson to hold NJC down.

                With the Cougars down 11-2, WNCC mounted a comeback in gigantic portions. WNCC plated four runs in the seventh to trail 11-6. Tyler Easter, Garrett Dodd, and Smith all reached base by free passes, two were hit by a pitch and one was walked. Johnson scored Easter with a sacrifice fly. Inoue continued his hot bat as the freshman from Japan belted a 3-run home run to bring the Cougars back to within five.

                WNCC plated another run in the eighth when Drew Book was walked. WNCC loaded the bases with two outs as Dodd earned a walk and Smith got a single. Johnson was then hit by a pitch to force in a run, but that was all the Cougars managed as they left the bases juiced.

                NJC loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but McCollum got the third out by getting the batter to fly out to centerfielder Smith as the Cougars came to the bat in the bottom of the ninth.

                The Cougars loaded the bases after one out as Peterson was hit in the batting helmet. Book was then hit by a pitch to put two on. Ashton Ross then hit a grounder and reached on an error to load the bases. Easter was by a pitch to force in the first run of the innings and Jacob Jackson. Book scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-9. Jacob Jackson earned a walk to load the bases. Johnson was then hit for the second time in the game to force in another run, but that was all WNCC could get as they left the bases loaded once again.

                WNCC had seven hits in the contest compared to 17 for NJC. Three Cougars had two hits each led by Inoue with a double and home run and four RBIs. Fraai had a triple and a single with a run scored, while Smith had a home run, single, two runs scored and an RBI. Ethan Johnson was had three RBIs without a hit, including getting hit by a pitch twice.

                WNCC finished the game with seven players getting hit by a pitch while four Plainsmen earned a free bag by getting pinged by a pitch.

                NJC utilized seven pitchers on the day with starter Brian Walters getting the win, going six innings and Jeffery Behrends getting the save, tossing the final two outs of the game. WNCC used three pitchers. Eli Hernandez went five innings in allowing 10 hits, six runs while striking out four. Adrian Short went one inning in giving up five hits, four runs and striking out two, and Hunter McCollum finished the game, going three innings in allowing two hits, one run, and striking out one.                              

NJC        031 204 100 – 11 17 1

WNCC   100 001 413 – 10 7 3

LP – Eli Hernandez.

2B – Shintaro Inoue.

3B – Roangeraud Fraai.

HR – Shintaro Inoue, Isaac Smith

WNCC softball shows offense, but drops doubleheader to NJC

                The Western Nebraska Community College and Northeastern Junior College softball teams showed plenty of offense in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday in Sterling, Colorado.

                The two teams combined for 36 runs and 42 hits as the Plainswomen scored 10 times in the fourth and seven runs in the sixth to capture a 21-15 win. WNCC scored runs in six of the seven innings, including leading 12-4 at one time.

                Victoria Wharton also broke a WNCC record in the contest as the sophomore outfielder went 5-for-5 with five singles to break the record of most singles in a contest. The previous record was four, held by 19 other players, including Wharton, who had four singles in a game last season twice. Her five hits in a game is second in the record book, one shy of the record of six hits in a game.

                WNCC led 3-2 in the second game before NJC plated five runs in the fourth on their way to the 9-3 victory.

The first game saw WNCC plate four runs in the opening at bat as Wharton and Arianah Plorin each singled. Wharton would score the first run by stealing home and Plorin would later score on an error for a 2-0 lead. Chloe Cronquist and DemiRae Woolsey scored on a single by Morgan Dustin for the 4-0 lead.

                NJC plated one in the bottom of the first, but the Cougars added three in the second and three in the third to lead 10-1. The second inning saw Devyn Priselac and Wharton lead off with singles. Plorin then was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cronquist doubled to score two runs and then Baylie Krueger scored a run after reaching on an error.

                The third innings saw the speedy Priselac reach on a bunt single followed by Wharton with her third single of the game. Priselac scored on a Plorin fly ball and Wharton scored on a sacrifice fly by Woolsey. Plorin scored the third run on a single by Krueger for the 10-1 lead.

                NJC came back with three in the third to cut the Cougar lead to 10-3. However, WNCC kept the offense going with two in the fourth. Sianna Lewis led off with a single and Priselac reached on an error. Wharton singled in one run and Priselac scored on a ground out for the 12-3 lead.

                NJC took their first lead of the game with 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth on four home runs to lead 14-12. WNCC came right back to tie the game with two in the fifth on back-to-back 2-out solo home runs by Dustin and Lewis to tie the game at 14-14.

                WNCC retook the lead in the sixth with one run at 15-14 when Wharton and Plorin singled. Plorin would score on a Cronquist single.

                NJC came back with seven runs in the sixth all with two outs to take the 21-15 lead. WNCC did mount a comeback in the seventh as the Cougars loaded the bases but couldn’t get any runs home.

                Both teams had plenty of offense in the opening game. Besides Wharton’s five singles, she also had three runs scored and three stolen bases. Lewis went 4-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored, while Cronquist and Dustin each had three hits. Cronquist had a double with three RBIs and two runs scored, whole Dustin had a home run with three RBIs and a run scored.

                Plorin and Priselac each had two hits. Plorin had three runs scored, a RBI, and two stolen bases, while Priselac had two singles with three runs scored and two stolen bases.

                The second game saw NJC score twice in the in the first inning. WNCC came back to take a 3-2 lead with three in the fourth. Cronquist and Dustin each singled. Plorin scored one with one-out single. Dustin scored on a Lewis grounder that resulted in an error and Plorin came in to score on a Krueger single.

                NJC answered with five in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the fifth for a 9-3 lead.

 

 

                WNCC was outhit in the contest 16-6. Krueger led the offense with a 2-for-3 contest with an RBI. The other batters with a single included Wharton, Cronquist, Dustin, and Plorin.

                The two teams will wrap up the 5-game series with a doubleheader on Monday in Sterling, Colorado. WNCC will then hit the road for a 5-game series in Las Vegas, New Mexico, when they face Luna Community College. WNCC will then return home for a rescheduled doubleheader against Otero Junior College on Tuesday, April 25.

Game 1

WNCC   433 221 0 – 15 21 7
NJC        103 (10)07 x – 21 21 6
LP – Caley Leslie.

2B – Chloe Cronquist.

HR – Morgan Dustin, Sianna Lewis.

Game 2

WNCC   000 300 0 – 3 6 2

NJC        200 520 x – 9 16 3
LP – DesaRae Woolsey