CONCORDIA – 10 hits each in both game one and game two would allow the Cloud County Community College softball team to score 16 total runs to sweep the Bethany College JV team by scores of 7-4 and 9-8 in their season-opening doubleheader at the CCCC Softball Field in Concordia n Thursday.
With the wins, Cloud County sweeps their season-opener for the second-straight season at home to improve to 2-0 while the Swedes fall in their JV season-opening series to fall to 0-2.
Game one
A three-run deficit for the T-Birds after one inning of play would be no issue for CCCC as Cloud County would get a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a Taylor Burks RBI single down the left-field line to make it 3-1. Season opening jitters would then work themselves out for both squads as the next two innings would go scoreless before the first big inning of the day for the T-Birds. The bottom of the fourth would see CCCC get things going with back-to-back singles from Delaney Exon and Ella Caudill before a Kyra Meyer sacrifice bunt would put both runs in scoring position. After a walk to load the bases and a fielder's choice that would see Exon cut down at the plate, freshman Taylor Glause would deliver with a two-out three-RBI double to give Cloud County their first lead of the day at 4-3.
Bethany JV would push across an unearned run in the top of the fifth to tie things back up at 4-4, but the T-Birds would strike again in the bottom of the sixth with three more runs to go up 7-4 heading to the seventh. CCCC's three-run inning would come on four hits and an error from the Swedes as the first three batters for Cloud County would reach base. The run-support would be more than enough with just three-outs needed to get their first win of the year as T-Bird starting pitcher Delaney Miller would strike out two in the final frame to lift CCC to victory.
A balanced offensive effort would see seven different T-Birds record at least one hit in the game, with Fila, Glause, and Burks all collecting two hits each. Glause would deliver with four RBI in her first collegiate game, while also having the lone extra-base hit for CCCC.
Game two
Picking up where she left off in game one, Glause would get the Cloud County offense going early in game two with two-run homers in both the bottom of the first and the bottom of the third as CCCC would lead the Swedes 4-0 after three innings of play. Bethany JV would then respond with three runs in the fourth on a homer of their own over the center field fence before tying things up at 4-4 in the top of the fifth.
Needing a spark to try and push across a go-ahead run, CCCC would manage to take advantage of a pair of errors by Bethany JV in the bottom of the sixth with the second error along Exon to come home and score to give Cloud County a 5-4 lead. Returning the favor in the top of the seventh, however, would be the T-Birds as the Swedes would turn a T-Bird error into a four-run inning on four hits to grab an 8-5 lead as CCCC would now be three outs await from their first defeat of the year.
Grit and determination however would not allow Cloud County to go down without a fight as a Fila leadoff single would allow for Glause once again to come up clutch with an RBI triple while scoring on a throwing error on the relay to get the T-Birds back within a run and nobody out. Freshman Emily Dunaway would continue the rally with a single to right field as CCCC would then work around a flyout to get a one-out single from Rae Ann Hartwig. With the game-winning run at first, the T-Birds would see both runners move into scoring position on a groundout that would take away any room for error the rest of the way by CCCC. Coming up clutch would be Caudill though as a single through the left side would be just enough for both Hartwig and pinch-runner Mackenzie Rowe to score and end the game in walk-off fashion.
Five of Cloud County's seven RBIs in the game would come courtesy of Glause as the Malcom, Nebraska native would go a perfect three-for-three while also drawing a walk. Fila would also finish the game with a perfect three-for-three day at the plate while scoring twice and recording the only extra-base hit on the day that didn't come courtesy of Glause.
What's next?
Cloud County will play in their first road games of the year on Wednesday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Doane University JV team.
--cloudtbirds.com--