The Western Nebraska Community College softball team finished off the regular season dropping three games on Sunday and Monday to McCook Community College at Volunteer Field.

                Sunday’s contests saw a mixture of games as the first contest saw McCook score 11 times with three in the third and four in the sixth to capture the 11-2 win. The second game on Sunday was a battle with McCook scoring single runs in six of the seven innings and then holding off the seventh-inning rally from WNCC to win 6-5.

                Monday’s final game of the series saw the two teams swap leads each time before McCook claimed the 6-3 win.

WNCC will now head to the Region IX tournament in Sterling, Colorado, this weekend. Pairings for the Region IX tournament will be released on Tuesday. The Cougars will enter the tournament as the number six seed, finishing conference play at 10-20 and 10-34 overall.

                Monday’s contest saw the Cougars as the visiting team on the scoreboard and WNCC scored first with a run in the first inning. Victoria Wharton led off with a bunt single and went to second on a Chloe Cronquist reaching on an error. WNCC loaded the bases after Erin Hurst walked. DemiRae Woolsey scored Wharton with the first run on a single, but the Cougars left the bases juiced.

                McCook came back with two runs in the frame to grab a 2-1 lead after one inning. WNCC came right back to score two in the top of the second for a 3-2 lead. Baylie Krueger started things with a one-out single. Wharton reached on an error and then Arianah Plorin scored Krueger on a fielder’s choice. Plorin scored the second run of the frame on a Chloe Cronquist grounder that resulted in an error.

                McCook came right back to score two in the bottom of the second for a 4-3 lead. McCook added single runs in the third and fourth for the 6-3 lead and held on to for the win.

                WNCC finished the game with six hits with Wharton getting two singles with a run scored and a stolen base.

                Sunday’s contests were different in styles. First, the 11 sophomores were recognized before the game. After that, the two teams battled. Game one saw WNCC finish with just eight hits in Sunday’s opener and the difference was the Cougars left runners on base and couldn’t get the hit to score runs. Wharton led the way with three singles in four plate appearances. Bree Henson also had two singles. The extra base hits came from Plorin and Cronquist.

                Game two on Sunday was a much closer contest with McCook scoring single runs in six of the seven innings to get the win.

                WNCC had a strong pitching performance from Caley Leslie who went all seven innings in scattering 13 hits with six runs while striking out two.

                Offensively, WNCC had seven hits with Erin Hurst and Plorin each having two hits. Hurst had two doubles with two runs scored. Wharton had two RBIs in the contest. Plorin had two singles with a run scored.

                McCook scored one in the first only to watch WNCC match it with a run in the bottom of the frame when Plorin singled and scored on a DemiRae Woolsey hit that resulted in an error.

                McCook added single runs in the second and third to grab a 3-1 lead. WNCC held the Indians scoreless in the fourth and then plated three runs in the bottom of the frame to lead 4-3.

                The fourth saw Morgan Dustin start things with a single followed by Hurst earning a walk. With two outs, Wharton singled in both runners and Wharton would score the third run later on a Cronquist hit that resulted in an error.

                McCook came right back to score single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to lead 6-4. WNCC mounted a seventh-inning comeback. Hurst started the comeback with a 2-out double and came in to score on a Sianna Lewis hit that resulted in an error. Krueger then singled to keep the inning alive, but both runners were left stranded.

               

Monday’s Game

WNCC                   120 000 0 – 3 6 3             

McCook               221 100 x – 6 12 3

LP – DesaRae Woolsey

 

Sunday’s Games

Game 1

McCook               003 041 3 – 11 12 0
WNCC                   000 001 1 – 2 8 1

LP – DesaRae Woolsey.

2B – Arianah Plorin. Chloe Cronquist.

 

Game 2

McCook               111 0111 – 6 13 4

WNCC                   100 300 1 – 5 7 2

LP – Caley Leslie.

2B – Erin Hurst 2.