CONCORDIA – A pair of one-run contests would lead to a second-straight split in as many days for the Cloud County Community College baseball team with a 5-4, seven-inning loss before earning a 4-3 win over Colby Community College at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia on Saturday.
With 40 games complete in the regular-season, Cloud County improves to 24-16 overall and 14-10 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College West Division while the Trojans manage to move to 22-20 overall and 15-12 in KJCCC play with one series remaining for Colby.
Game one
With neither team able to push across any runs in the first inning, Cloud County would be able to take advantage of a second-inning leadoff walk and single to put two on with no-outs. After a strikeout would briefly pause momentum, the T-Birds would draw a second walk in the inning and find some two-out magic two batters later with an Ian Riley two-RBI single to right field as Brock Hillebert and Williams Camacho-Soto would both score to make it 2-0 after two.
Another scoreless inning in the third for Colby would keep the Trojans still searching for a run to be put on the board as Cloud County would get a two-out solo home run from Camacho-Soto on a ball that just would clear the left field fence by a matter of a foot or two to make it 3-0. Another solo home run from Cloud County coming off the bat of Garrett Redden in the bottom of the fourth would give CCCC their largest lead of the day as the T-Birds would cruise through the first four innings before seeing Colby manage to get things going in the fifth.
One inning is all that Colby would need to get back into the game as the Trojans would get a leadoff solo home run in the top of the fifth before a groundout and fielding error would put a runner on with one out. A walk and single would then load the bases for cleanup batter Tyler McWillie as the T-Birds would see the sophomore clear the bases with one swing with a grand slam to put the Trojans up by a score of 5-4. Another walk would then force CCCC to make a pitching change as yet another walk and a pair of wild pitches would put runners on second and third before seeing Cloud County get out of the jam.
The one-run deficit would prove to be more difficult than initially thought for the T-Birds as Cloud County would go down in order in their half of the fifth and the sixth as the next nine batters of the contest would be retired in order. With Colby stranding a one-out single in the top of the seventh, CCCC would get a leadoff pinch-hit single from Willie Ponce before moving the freshman into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt to put the game-tying run in scoring position. Coming back with a strikeout and groundout to second, the Trojans would hang on for a one-run win and earn at minimum a split with the T-Birds.
Splitting the seven innings on the mound for CCCC, starter Carl Aikman would go 4.1 innings and give up five runs (four earned) while striking out three before turning things over to Javier Cruz who would throw the final 2.2 innings and allow just one hit while getting two strikeouts of his own. Leadoff hitter Riley would be the only T-Bird to finish with multiple hits in the game by going two-for-three with a pair of RBIs while four other players would record one hit each.
Game two
Runs would once again be hard to come by for both teams in the series finale as Cloud County would manage to put up three runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run by Noah Olson and Redden RBI single to score Camacho-Soto following a double before being held scoreless in each of the next four innings. Colby would get a pair of runs in the top of the fifth after being limited to just two hits in the first four innings as CCCC Starter Christian Womble would manage to do what was needed to keep the T-Birds on top after four innings.
A leadoff infield single and double would allow the Trojans to put a pair of runners in scoring position to start the top of the fifth as back-to-back RBI groundouts would allow Colby to get back within a run at 3-2. The one-run game would continue until the bottom of the sixth as Cloud County would take advantage of a walk, error on a failed pickoff and Trevor Stevens double to score a much-needed insurance run as Colby would come right back in the top of the seventh and get a run back on two hits against T-Bird closer Rans Sanders. Sanders would manage to keep CCCC in the lead however to end the inning with a big strikeout as runners would be on the corners when the inning would end.
Cloud County would have a chance to get back another insurance run in the bottom of the seventh as a one-out single and two-out hit batter would force the Trojans to make their second call to the bullpen and bring in a second reliever. Returning the favor to the T-Birds, a strikeout looking would end the potential for some extra breathing room as CCCC would go on to the eighth holding just a one-run lead.
Colby would once again threaten to tie the game up in the top of the eighth as a one-out walk and hit batter would allow the go-ahead run to be put on base, but Sanders would come through in the clutch with a strikeout and groundout right back to the Grand Island, Nebraska native to once again avoid giving up the lead.
With Cloud County unable to add to the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Sanders would come back out in the ninth to finish what would become his longest outing of his career by working around a two-out single to slam the door on the Trojans and give Cloud County just their second one-run victory of the year.
A second consecutive win on the mound for Womble would come following a six-inning performance that saw the Pittsfield, Massachusetts native throw 94 pitches and allow just two runs on six hits while striking out three of the 25 batters he faced. Sanders earned his fifth save of the year by throwing the final three innings and struck out four while inducing two fly outs and three groundouts in his 52 pitch outing.
Offensively, Cloud County would record just eight hits and draw four walks as CCCC would strand nine base runners but manage to grind out the win. Two-hit performances from Olson and Camacho-Soto paced the T-Birds with the duo combining for two of Cloud County's three extra-base hits.
What's next
A single nine-inning non-conference road game is set for Tuesday, April 27th as Cloud County will travel to Highland Community College for a 1 p.m. contest at the Highland Community Ball Park.