Cloud County Baseball Opens Four-Game Set with #17 Hutchinson by Splitting Pair of One-Run Games
In two games that saw nobody hold a lead of more than three runs in either contest, the Cloud County Community College baseball team battled back from a pair of early 3-0 deficits against number 17 nationally-ranked Hutchinson Community College to force extra-innings in a 4-3 loss in game one before walking off with a 5-4 win in game two to split action at Lee Doyen Field on Friday, April 19th.
Two-high intensity games featuring two of the top-three teams in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division see both teams pick up a win in the first of two doubleheaders as part of the four-game series with Cloud County snapping an 18-game Blue Dragon KJCCC win streak to move to 32-14 overall and 16-6 in the KJCCC West while HCC is now 37-10 overall and 22-4 in conference play.
Game One:
Helped by a pair of singles to begin the game, Hutchinson jumped out to a 2-0 lead as back-to-back sacrifice flies brought home a pair of runners to allow the Blue Dragons to strike first before eventually adding a single run in the top of the second with back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning. After being retired in order in the bottom of the first, Cloud County collected their first hit of the game with a single to left center field by Noah Konings followed by a two-run home run from CCCC home run leader Jakob Poturnak with a ball clearing the left-center field fence to cut a three-run deficit down to one.
Three consecutive strikeouts following the home run allowed Hutchinson to get out of the inning with the lead as the game began to settle in with both teams sending the minimum to the plate in the third followed by a two-out infield single to shortstop in the fourth for Hutchinson that was stranded one batter later on a groundout. Back-to-back groundouts in the bottom of the fourth appeared to have Blue Dragon starter Ethan Giesbrecht once again moving along in the game until Poturnak stepped back into the box and delivered a game-tying no-doubt home run to left field as HCC left fielder Jordan Tucker could do nothing other than turn around and watch the ball clear the fence with ease to knot things at 3-3.
Both teams put go-ahead runs in scoring position in the fifth with runners getting stranded to keep the game all square with the Blue Dragons stranding another two-out base runner in the sixth with T-Bird starting pitcher Kevin Mannell settling in to stay in the game into the seventh. Another missed opportunity from CCCC in the bottom of the sixth saw a leadoff Demitri Shakotko single and one-out single from Poturnak put Hutchinson in more trouble defensively until a pair of flyouts to center field that ended the inning and saw two more Cloud County runners stranded. Neither team was able to push across a base runner again in the seventh which forced things to go into extra-innings which saw both starting pitchers work a clean eighth in one-two-three order to send things to the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, Cloud County finally went to the bullpen with Mannell's day over after 101 pitches with John Klus coming in and getting a quick flyout into center field before issuing a walk and base hit into center field that put runners on first and second with one out. Another ball sent into center field allowed the lead Hutchinson lead runner to advance to third and set up a go-ahead Kael Babin RBI single for the Blue Dragons with CCCC inducing an inning-ending flyout one batter later.
Also deciding to make a call to the bullpen to bring in closer Caden Wanless, Hutchinson allowed a one-out single to Nolan Freund to allow the T-Birds to put the game-tying run on base with a pinch-runner in Easton Norris coming on to put more speed on the base paths. The change on the bases proved not to make a difference however as back-to-back strikeouts from Wanless ended the game with Cloud County stranding their fifth base runner of the game with all five runners getting stranded after CCCC tied the game at 3-3.
A two home run game from Poturnak accounted for all three runs driven in for the T-Birds along with two of the three extra-base hits as the Manilla, Philippines native went three-for-four with two runs scored. No other Cloud County player recorded more than one hit in the game with Austin Coyle having the only other extra-base hit with a double in the fifth. On the mound, Mannell took a no-decision after striking out eight in eight innings of work and allowing three runs on seven hits with his strikeout total getting up to 72. Klus dropped his first decision of the season to fall to 3-1 after allowing one run on two hits on 18 pitches while seeing Giesbrecht for Hutchinson improve to 8-2 with an eight-inning, 112-pitch outing.
Game Two:
The extra-inning affair in game one moved game two to a seven-inning contest with fans once again getting their money's worth as the Blue Dragons stranded a pair of base runners in the first before managing to strike first with a leadoff single coming around to score three batters later on an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. As was seen in game one, the T-Birds, fell into another 3-0 hole with HCC pushing across two runs on four consecutive two-out base hits in the top of the third with CCCC starter TJ Coats working to get out of the jam with just the two runs surrendered and runners at first and third to end the inning.
Helping his own cause at the plate, Coats cut what was a 3-0 deficit down to 3-1 to lead off the bottom of the third with a solo home run into left field to fire up the Cloud County dugout despite seeing the T-Birds sat down in order following the solo shot to send things to the fourth. Working around a one-out walk by picking off one of the KJCCC stolen base leaders in Babin at first, Coats and Cloud County worked a clean fourth inning but were held off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning with an inning-ending double play erasing a one-out base hit from Shakotko. The Blue Dragons went down without adding to their lead again in the fifth which allowed Poturnak to make another big impact with a solo home run to right center field to lead off the inning with his third blast of the afternoon with the T-Birds putting the game-tying run at second before having the inning end on a fielder's choice.
Coats worked one final scoreless inning on the mound in the sixth by eclipsing the 100-pitch mark and finishing the afternoon with 106 pitches thrown to give Cloud County a chance after exiting the game trailing by just one run. Back-to-back one-out singles by CCCC again saw the potential for momentum to flip turned away by HCC with an inning-ending double play as the Blue Dragons were seemingly catching every break they could to stay out in front heading into the final scheduled inning of play. The move to the bullpen for the T-Birds once again proved to be to the benefit of Hutchinson as the Blue Dragons used a leadoff walk and base hit single to score two batters later on a dropped third strike that saw MaCleod throw down to first to record the out which allowed Babin to race home from third and score to make it 4-2.
Neding at least two runs to extend the game into extra-innings, Cloud County got a one-out single from Coats who had moved into the designated hitter role after exiting on the mound which was followed by a Justin Johnson pinch-hit single into shallow right field just inside the foul line. Calling upon another pinch runner in Norris to run for Johnson after Gannon White pinch ran for Coats, Austin Coyle kept the inning going with an RBI single into right-center field with the throw from the outfield going to third which not only allowed Coyle to take second base but also eliminated the potential for a game-ending double play. Following a pitching change on the mound by the Blue Dragons, Cloud County saw the first pitch from reliever Ashton Perkins go all the way to the backstop and allow Norris to score the game-tying run with Coyle moving to third as the game-winning run.
Attempting to set up another game-ending double play possibility, Hutchinson elected to intentionally walk Gavin Roy as the Sudbury, Ontario native took second base on the first pitch to the next batter in Easton Mould in what proved to be a lengthy at-bat that ended in a 3-2 pitch off the plate for ball four to load the bases. With the team leader in hits, RBI, and batting average up in Shakotko, the T-Birds did not need much to end the game as a base hit into right field brought the third-base dugout into an eruption of cheers as Coyle came racing down the line to score and walk off the Blue Dragons.
The late rally by CCCC saw three of their five runs come in the final inning to break what had been a day that saw the first five of eight total runs scored by the T-Birds come by the long ball. A three-for-four effort from Shakotko played a big role as did a two-for-three effort from Coats with the T-Birds held to just two extra-base hits despite finishing with 10 in the game to outhit Hutchinson 10-9. Coats took a no-decision after striking out seven and allowing three runs on eight hits while Zach Sharshel picked up the win to improve to 3-2 after allowing one run on one hit in the top of the seventh to go along with two strikeouts.
What's Next?
The series is far from over and still up for grabs between Cloud County and Hutchinson as the T-Birds will make the trek down to Hobart-Detter Field to complete the four-game KJCCC series on Sunday, April 21st with first pitch of a doubleheader set for 1 PM. CCCC is looking to keep their streak alive of not dropping a KJCCC West division series this season, having split or won each of the first five conference series played this season. The only series that Hutchinson did not sweep this season in conference play was a 3-1 series loss to Butler back in mid-March.