Cloud County baseball hits 7 homers sweeps Concordia JV at home

CONCORDIA - Playing the middle portion of their season-long six-game homestand, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would have little trouble getting past Concordia University Nebraska JV as seven-home runs would power the T-Birds to an 11-1 win in five innings and 19-6 win in six innings at Lee Doyen Field on Monday.

Protecting their home field to pick up their 13th win in 15 tries at Lee Doyen Field this season, Cloud County improves to 28-8 with the sweep over the Bulldogs. The non-conference doubleheader was the final two non-conference home games on the regular-season schedule for CCCC, with the T-Birds going 8-1 in non-conference games at home this season.

GAME ONE
Jumping out to an 8-0 lead after three innings of play, Cloud County would look strong both offensively and defensively as Concordia University JV would be limited to just two hits total in the game and four total base runners. Using a two-out rally in the bottom of the first to get on the board, CCCC would use a Tom Poole single and Kolden Howerton RBI triple to break a scoreless tie before getting a second run in the inning on a Williams Camacho-Soto RBI triple in the very next at-bat. Another T-Bird triple in the bottom of the second would come courtesy of Danny Infante as the freshman would come home to score on an RBI single by Noah Unzicker as Cloud County would hold a 3-0 lead heading into the third.

Getting their first base runner of the game on a wild pitch on a swinging third strike, the Bulldogs would be unable to move the runner into scoring position as a fly out to left field would end the inning. CCCC would begin to put the game out of reach in the bottom half of the inning as two infield singles and an error would put runners at second and third with no outs for Camacho-Soto to drive home a run with a sacrifice fly. Alexander Diaz would drive home a second run in the inning with an RBI groundout as Cloud County would suddenly be in a position with two outs and no one on base, but it would not stop the offensive threat as an Infante solo home run and Unzicker walk would continue the inning. After Unzicker's walk, Ryan Gouldin would draw a walk to put two runners on and turn the lineup over with Ian Riley coming three with a two-RBI double down the right-field line that would cap off a five-run inning for CCCC.

Concordia's lone run of the game would come in the top of the fourth as a one-out single and wild pitch would move a runner into scoring position for the Bulldogs before putting another runner on base with another base-hit single. With runners on the corners, Concordia JV would be able to avoid a potential ground-ball double play by hitting an RBI groundout to get on the board that would be followed by an inning-ending groundout to first base.

Cloud County would not wait long to get the run back that they allowed in the top of the fourth, putting together a one-out hit-by-pitch and walk to put two runners on for Diaz to hit an RBI single that would make the score 9-1 in favor of CCCC. The T-Birds would look to be in position to push more runs across in the inning to set up a potential run rule in the top of the fifth, but back-to-back strikeouts would end the inning and keep things at an eight-run lead.

Allowing just a one-out walk in the top of the fifth, Cloud County would get right back up to the plate where they would see a pinch-hit opportunity for Tristan Tenorio turn into a hit-by-pitch to put a runner aboard before seeing Jacob Aberg hit a pinch-hit infield single that would also see a throwing error on the play allow both runners to take an extra-base. Bringing up one of the hottest hitters on the team, the T-Birds would see the game end on the next at-bat as Poole would rope a two-RBI game-ending double down the right-field line to score both Tenorio and Aberg to give CCCC a 10-run victory.

Poole's final hit would give the freshman three hits in four at-bats in game one with two RBIs and two runs scored while both Infante and Howerton would collect two hits apiece. Seven different T-Birds would drive in at least one run while six of the 12 hits recorded by Cloud County would go for extra bases with just five runners total getting stranded.

Four pitchers would combine for the two-hit win with Joel Benes throwing a perfect first two innings with four strikeouts to pick up his first win of the year before turning things over to Jacob Shaw who would throw a scoreless third and strike out two batters. Brady Kobitowich and John Green would each throw an inning in the final two frames of the game and add two more strikeouts to the Cloud County total, with eight of the 15 outs recorded in the game coming by way of strikeout as the four pitchers would need just 80 total pitches.

GAME TWO
A bit of a shaky start for the T-Birds would be overcome in the later innings of the game as Concordia JV would jump out to a lead of 2-0 and 5-1 heading into the third inning before seeing CCCC come back and score 18 of the final 19 runs of the game to finish the game early once more by run-rule. Using a one-out triple and wild pitch to score the first run of the game, the Bulldogs would push across another run in the top of the first thanks in part to four walks before seeing a pair of strikeouts end the inning to limit the damage to just two runs.

Cloud County would manage to get one run back in the bottom of the first with a Tenorio double and Poole walk to put two runners on, but a Benes strikeout would put the T-Birds in a two-out situation before seeing Infante bring Tenorio home with an RBI double to cut the deficit in half. More free passes would prove costly in the top of the second as Concordia JV would put their first two batters on by way of walk before seeing a fielder's choice double play erase both runners and put CCCC in position to get out of the inning damage free. Unfortunately for Cloud County, Concordia JV would come back with two-straight hits including an infield single that would bring home a run to go along with a second run on a throwing error to go up 4-1. A wild pitch and RBI single would bring home a third run in the inning as the Bulldogs would finish with three runs on three hits and an error to take their largest lead of the afternoon at 5-1.

With nothing going on offensively in the bottom of the second, Cloud County would be forced to wait until the top of the third to flip momentum as a one-two-three inning would get the T-Birds back in position to try and get back into the game. The bats would finally awaken with the top part of the lineup due up as Tenorio would hit a leadoff double before seeing Poole launch his conference-leading 12th home run of the year to pull CCCC back within two before seeing Benes hit a triple into the right-center field gap. A fielding error would allow Infante to reach base and bring home Benes as the first four batters of the inning would reach base safely before seeing a groundout and strikeout threaten to end the rally by Cloud County. The T-Birds would ensure that the rally would not come to an end until they were able to take their first lead of the game as Karson Green would make the error costly with a two-run home run that would put CCCC out in front by a 6-5 margin.

Another one-two-three inning defensively would keep things rolling for Cloud County on the defensive side and allow the offense to go back to work as Tenorio would once again reach base and be on for Poole to hit his second two-run homer in as many at-bats. Benes would match Poole on the next pitch with a solo home run to go back-to-back with the home runs coming in nearly identical spots to give the T-Birds a four-run lead heading into the top of the fifth.

Concordia JV would threaten to try and cut into the lead in their next at-bat but be unable to convert a pair of base runners into any offense as two stranded base runners would all but take the wind out of the sails of the Bulldogs. The T-Birds would make the most of their next at-bat, sending 10 batters to the plate as the first four batters of the inning would safely reach base with Poole hitting his third home run of the day by connecting on a three-run bomb to straightaway left field that would account for three of CCCC's four runs in the inning to go up 13-5.

Two walks and a wild pitch for the Bulldogs in the top of the sixth would put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out, but a strikeout and near-perfect throw from Riley in center field on a base-hit single for Concordia JV would cut down a potential second-run at the plate to end the inning and limit things to just one run. After ending the top of the inning with the assist on the putout at the plate, Riley would then lead off the inning with a walk and come around to score on an Infante sacrifice fly to get the run back for Cloud County before seeing Willie Ponce get hit by a pitch and wild pitch bring home another run. Needing just one run to end the game, Cloud County would see Aberg draw a walk with two outs to load the bases once more as Green would come up the plate and manage to connect for a game-ending grand slam that would turn the nine-run lead into a 13-run final margin of victory.

Tying a single-game school record, Poole would drive in seven total runs and score four times as part of a perfect three-for-three performance to go along with a walk while Green would account for six RBIs and see both of his hits leave the ballpark. Cloud County's other RBIs would come from Infante (three) and Benes (one) as the T-Birds would account for 13 hits and eight walks with 10 of the 13 hits going for extra bases.

Seeing action in both games of the doubleheader, Shaw would earn the win in game two after throwing a perfect fourth inning and needing just 10 pitches to get through the inning as the Hastings, Nebraska native improved to 1-1 overall. Other pitchers who saw action on the mound included Cameron Burford (one inning), Mason Munz (two innings), Jared Stuewe (one inning), and Phil Cude (one inning) as the remaining four pitchers would record 10 of their 15 outs by strikeout.

What's next?
Cloud County will push back the final doubleheader of the six-game homestand that was scheduled for Thursday against Garden City by 24 hours to avoid less than ideal conditions that are forecasted with 30 miles per hour sustained winds and 50 miles per hour gusts currently in the forecast with a forecasted high temperature of 50 degrees. The series-opening doubleheader with the Broncbusters will now take place at 1 p.m. on Friday at Lee Doyen Field with Saturday's doubleheader at Williams Stadium pushed back two hours on Saturday to a 3 p.m. start to help accommodate the new back-to-back schedule for the weekend. Garden City is currently 10-22-1 overall and 3-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference after getting swept by Barton Community College in conference action last weekend.