Late rally comes up a run short for Cloud County baseball

CONCORDIA – Just a week removed from a 10-7 win on the road, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would see a 4-0 lead after three innings of play turn into a 12-7 deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth inning as a late rally would come up a run short in a 12-11 loss to Highland Community College at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia on Tuesday.

A loss in their non-conference finale leaves Cloud County with a 28-18 overall record as the T-Birds finish non-conference action with an 11-6 record while Highland picks up their ninth win of the year to improve to 9-28 overall.

The early lead for CCCC would come as the T-Birds would get a leadoff single from Ian Riley before a passed ball and RBI single from Williams Camacho-Soto would bring the freshman around to score in the bottom of the first inning. Cloud County would then work around an error, single, and hit batter in the top of the second as the Scotties would threaten to tie the game before having the inning end on a strikeout swinging.

A walk for Garrett Redden to lead off the bottom of the second would put a runner on board for CCCC as the T-Birds would use a stolen base and groundout to move the runner to third with two outs. Freshman nine-hole batter Adler Pierson would then show off some speed by laying down a bunt and safely reaching base as Redden would come home to score and make it a 2-0 Cloud County lead heading to the third.

After holding Highland scoreless for a third-straight inning, the T-Birds would plate two more runs in their half of the inning as a hit batter, one-out single, and three HCC errors would give CCCC their largest lead of the game. Highland would use a one-out single, stolen base, and two wild pitches to get a run back in the top of the fourth as Cloud County would be held scoreless for the first time in the game by being retired in order.

Taking advantage of a walk followed by three straight singles, Highland would score two runs to get back within one at 4-3 as runners would be on second and third with still nobody out in the top of the fifth. Following a pitching change by CCCC, HCC would go on to get a two-RBI double with one out before adding one final run with two outs in the inning as a five-run inning would stake Highland to a 6-4 lead.

The game would remain a 6-4 Scottie lead through the rest of the fifth and all of the sixth inning, sending things to the seventh where a pair of home runs for Highland would give HCC their second five-run inning of the game to take a commanding 11-4 lead. Looking to get some runs back in the bottom of the seventh, Cloud County would put their first two batters of the inning aboard before a strikeout and flyout would threaten to end the potential rally. Freshman Willie Ponce would make sure that the T-Birds would go down empty in the inning however as a three-run blast would get Cloud County back within four at 11-7 after trailing by as many as seven runs in the inning.

A pivotal missed opportunity in the bottom of the eighth would see Cloud County use three walks to load the bases with two outs as the game-tying run represented by Redden would come up to the plate. A sharply hit ball into center field would wind up being caught for an out to end the inning as the empty inning would leave things at a four-run deficit heading to the ninth.

Making the most of an error and walk, Highland would manage to tack on an insurance run in the top of the ninth as CCCC would need at least five runs in the bottom of the ninth to try and extend the game. A pair of singles from Brock Hillebert and Pierson followed by a passed ball would put two runners in scoring position as Riley would manage to keep the rally moving with an RBI single. A passed ball would then plate a second run to get the T-Birds back within three as a flyout would put two outs on the board before a Noah Olson two-run home run would make the rally seemingly more possible by cutting the Scottie lead down to one. Following an HCC pitching change, the game would end as CCCC would be unable to come up with a game-extending hit as the insurance run by Highland in the top half of the inning would be the difference in the game.

The 11 runs for Cloud County would come on 11 hits with Pierson leading the T-Birds with a three-for-five performance at the plate. Riley would add two hits to finish as the only other Cloud County player with multiple hits while Ponce would drive in a team-high three.

What's next?
The final Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference series of the year will get underway on Thursday as the T-Birds will travel to Great Bend to take on Barton Community College in a 1 p.m. doubleheader. Barton sits just a game back of the T-Birds in the KJCCC standings in a series that will have Region VI Tournament seeding implications.  

-cloudtbirds.com-