Cloud County Baseball Drops 4-2 Decision to Butler, Bounces Back for 13-11 Win in Nightcap
Nearly putting together a seventh-inning rally before falling by a final of 4-2 in game one, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would make sure there was no need to complete a late comeback in game two against Butler Community College by scoring 10 of the first 14 runs in the game to earn a 13-11 win and split a series-opening doubleheader at McDonald Stadium in El Dorado, Kansas on Thursday, March 31st.
Held to their second-lowest scoring output of the season in game one, the T-Birds would bounce back with their 17th game scoring at least 10 runs to improve to 24-8 overall and 9-5 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division while the Grizzlies are now 18-11 overall and 8-6 in the KJCCC.
GAME ONE:
Offense would be hard to come by for CCCC in game one as Cloud County would be held hitless in the first two innings and to just one hit through six innings as Butler would not fare much better from a production standpoint but be able to take advantage leadoff single in the bottom of the first to go along with stolen base and wild pitch to set up a sacrifice fly and jump out to a 1-0 lead. Despite being held hitless in the first and second, Cloud County would put a base runner on in each of the first two innings by drawing a walk by Ian Riley in the first and Brock Wollin hit-by-pitch in the second but be unable to turn either runner into a scoring threat.
With things still at a 1-0 Butler lead heading into the bottom of the fourth, a hit batter and wild pitch would again put a Grizzly into scoring position as a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly would produce a second run for BCC to go up 2-0. The two-run lead would double in the bottom of the fifth as a leadoff double and walk would put two runners on to set up another sacrifice bunt as small ball would be played throughout the game by Butler. After an intentional walk would load the bases and set up a potential inning-ending double play, Cloud County would nearly escape the inning unscathed following a ground ball to shortstop would come up just shy of becoming a double-play. Back-to-back walks would then bring home a second run in the inning to put Butler up 4-0 heading to the sixth.
Putting together a potential threat in the top of the sixth would be CCCC as walks from both Adler Pierson and Riley would put the first two batters of the inning on base before a pair of strikeouts from the two and three-hole hitters would set up a fielder's choice to end the inning and allow BCC to hold onto their lead. After keeping the Grizzlies from adding to their lead in the bottom of the sixth, Cloud County would finally put together some offense in the seventh as a leadoff single from Wollin and Tristan Tenorio pinch-hit walk would put two runners on base for Griffin Stuewe who would also draw a walk to load the bases. Pierson would come up big with a two-RBI single into left field that would cut the Butler lead in half and also put the game-tying run on base with one out, but a strikeout and line out would end the game and allow BCC to win the series opener.
Riley, Wollin, and Pierson would account for CCCC's three hits in the game as five walks would also help lead to six stranded base runners that would loom large in the contest. Starting pitcher Giordano Mezzomo would fall to 3-2 on the year after throwing the first 4.2 innings of the game and allowing four runs on two hits and four walks as Cole Askew would finish off the final 1.1 innings and not allow a hit.
GAME TWO:
The offensive spark that was found at the end of game one would carry over into the second game of the twin bill as Riley would draw a leadoff walk to set up a two-run home run for Garrett Redden to give Cloud County their first lead of the day. Two walks would once again hurt the T-Birds however as an RBI single and RBI groundout would tie the game at 2-2 with one out before a wild pitch would give Butler the lead as part of a four-run inning on three hits.
CCCC would not allow the Grizzlies to lead for long as Williams Camacho-Soto would lead things off with a base-hit single before seeing Pierson collect his second hit of the day to flip the lineup over and allow Riley to hit a two-RBI double down the right-field line. Cloud County would then reclaim the lead in the top of the third by using a Camacho-Soto sacrifice fly following a leadoff single from Tom Poole, Kolden Howerton walk, and Stuewe hit-by-pitch that loaded the bases. A passed ball would then bring home Howerton to make things a 6-4 lead for the T-Birds as Ty Wevers would then bring home Stuewe on an RBI single to finish off a three-run top of the third.
Adding to their lead in the top of the fourth, singles from Riley and Redden would put two runners on for Poole who would hit his conference-leading 10th home run of the year to give Cloud County their largest lead of the game at 10-4. Three hits from BCC in the bottom of the fourth would allow Butler to get two runs back as the six-run lead for Cloud County would be cut to four which is where things would stay until the top of the seventh. In the top of the seventh, three walks and a hit batter turn into a run for the T-Birds as a run would come home without a hit in the inning before seeing CCCC leave the bases loaded on an inning-ending flyout.
A Butler rally in the bottom of the eighth would turn a five-run T-Bird lead into a two-run lead after a two-out rally would see three hits and a walk bring home three runs and pull BCC back within two for the first time since the top of the second. Catching a big break in the top of the ninth, Cloud County would make the most of a two-out fielding error by Butler as what would have been an inning-ending flyout would two into a run with Pierson scoring from second before seeing Poole drive in his fourth run of the game in the next at-bat to put get back two of the three runs conceded in the eighth.
As things would play out in the bottom of the ninth, the two unearned runs given up by the Grizzlies in the top of the ninth would prove crucial for CCCC following a two-out home run by Butler. With the four-run lead once again cut in half, reliever Rans Sanders would stay composed after the home run and end the game on the next batter by getting a strikeout looking to preserve a T-Bird victory.
After just five total hits would be seen in game one, both Cloud County and Butler would combine for 26 total hits with CCCC outhitting BCC by a 14-12 total with four players recording at least two hits. A big day at the plate from Poole would end with a four-for-six mark and game-high four RBIs in addition to scoring twice as the top three batters in the lineup would combine for eight hits and nine runs driven in.
A five-inning outing from starting pitcher Christian Womble would lead to the sixth-pitching victory of the year for the Pittsfield, Massachusetts native after giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits while striking out seven. The seven punchouts put Womble at 49 for the year to bring the sophomore into the top-five in the KJCCC following Thursday's action with the 6-1 record tied for most wins in the Jayhawk Conference. Conner Woods would toss three innings in relief and manage to allow CCCC to stay out in front before seeing Sanders take the final inning of work and strike out two on 22 total pitches.
What's Next?
Cloud County opens up a season-long six-game homestand on Saturday by hosting games three and four of their series with Butler as the two teams will tangle once again with a 1 PM start scheduled at Lee Doyen Field. The T-Birds are also hosting a baseball alumni reunion on Saturday afternoon as former members of the CCCC baseball team are invited to come to watch the current CCCC squad before enjoying a reception on Saturday evening at the Dunning-Hamel Baseball Facility.