Cloud County Baseball Sweeps #5 Barton to Split KJCCC Series, Hand Cougars First Back-to-Back Losses of Year
With multiple alumni in attendance and a large home crowd on hand, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would do something that no other team has been able to do this season by handing fifth-ranked Barton Community College back-to-back losses by earning a 2-0 shutout win in game one before picking up a 6-1 game two victory to sweep a doubleheader at Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas on Saturday, April 22nd.
Responding in a big way after dropping a pair to the Cougars to open a four-game series on Thursday afternoon, Cloud County improves to 30-17 overall and 15-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference west division while becoming the first KJCCC team to not lose a conference series to Barton this season. BCC drops to 40-7 overall and 19-5 in the KJCCC West while being shut out for the first time since April 15, 2021, when Butler defeated the Cougars by a score of 6-0.
Game One:
While offense would be limited in the opening game of the day, Cloud County would make the most of their opportunities as a leadoff walk and one-out infield single for Barton would be stranded in the top of the first before seeing a leadoff triple for Gavin Roy set up a Demitri Shakotko RBI groundout to give CCCC a 1-0 lead just two batters into the bottom of the first. Retiring the Cougars in order in the second, the T-Birds would be unable to do anything with a two-out single before working around a one-out hit batter in the third to keep the game at 1-0. A chance to add to their lead for Cloud County would see CCCC get an infield single from Alex Diaz to flip the lineup over to Roy for a base hit single as the T-Birds would load the bases with just one out. With a prime opportunity to add to their lead, the T-Birds would see BCC induce an inning-ending double play to strand a pair of Cloud County runners and flip momentum to the Cougars.
Following the missed opportunity from CCCC, BCC would be unable to convert a two-out single in the top of the fourth into a run to strand their fourth runner of the contest. Continuing the pitching duel into the sixth, Cloud County would be able to break a stretch of eight consecutive batters in the game retired in order by getting a Shakotko leadoff double before moving the Fredericton, New Brunswick native to third on a sacrifice bunt with hopes to push across an insurance run prior to the seventh. A groundout to the left side of the infield would force Shakotko to remain at third before seeing a throwing error on a softly hit ground ball to third lead to an unearned run for the T-Birds to double their lead to 2-0 heading to the final scheduled inning of the game.
The two-run advantage would allow Cloud County starting pitcher Jack Mount to be sent back out for the seventh inning before a leadoff walk would lead to a call to the bullpen with the CCCC coaching staff turning to closer Cole Askew to try and convert his sixth save of the year. Three-straight strikeouts would not only end the game but convert the save for the Topeka, Kansas native as the Cougars would be unable to put up a true threat in their final opportunity at the plate.
A pitching gem from Mount would see the sophomore right-hander throw 100 total pitches and strikeout six while allowing just three hits and two walks over six-plus innings of work while running his season record to 5-3 overall. The Val Des Monts, Quebec native is now just 14 strikeouts away from the CCCC career record of 142 held by Blake Renner (2002-03). Offensively, Cloud County would be held to just five hits with Roy finishing as the only player in the game with multiple hits after a two-for-three performance while scoring the game's first run. The T-Birds would strand four runners compared to six for Barton as the Cougars would finish with just six total base runners in the game.
Game Two:
With momentum favoring CCCC after handing BCC just their sixth loss of the year, Cloud County would see another strong start on the mound lead to just one Barton hit through three innings despite being held to just one base runner through two innings. In the bottom of the third, an Eric Foufoulas walk would be followed by two quick outs on bunts to bring up Shakotko. Extending the inning with an RBI single into shallow center field to score Foufoulas and break a scoreless tie, CCCC would string together six-straight hits with Danny Infante hitting an RBI double down the left field line before back-to-back infield singles from Brock Wollin and Landon Meyer. Holding a 3-0 lead following the Meyer single, Kolden Howerton would drive in a pair of runs with a single into left field that would be misplayed and allow the Topeka, Kansas native to take second before seeing the inning capped off with an Anthony Taggart RBI triple that would just stay inside the field of play in center field to knock BCC starter Reece Hemmerling from the contest.
Six runs of support would prove to be more than enough for T-Bird starter Cayden Castellanos with Barton recording solo hits in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings while combining to strand four base runners over the three-inning stretch to continue to allow Cloud County to hold momentum. After stranding a leadoff single from Foufoulas in the bottom of the sixth, CCCC would see a stretch of 16 consecutive scoreless innings against Barton come to an end as the Cougars would turn a leadoff single, two hit batters, and a walk into their first run of the afternoon before leaving the bases loaded on a strikeout to end the inning and once again waste a potential chance at putting pressure on the T-Birds.
Cloud County would be held scoreless in the bottom of the seventh before playing a scoreless eighth by stranding two more BCC runners to send things to the ninth while holding a five-run lead. With CCCC previously turning to Askew in the top of the eighth, the T-Birds would look to the sophomore to end his second game of the day on the mound before running into trouble as a leadoff hit batter and one-out double would be followed by a walk to load the bases and put the game-tying runner in the on-deck circle. Not taking any chances, a call to the bullpen would see Blayne Fritcher called upon to try and record the final two outs of the game as the Giddings, Texas native would work back-to-back strikeouts to end the game and record his first career save in a T-Bird uniform while stranding three Cougar runners.
Stranded runners would again be the storyline for Barton as 13 base runners would be left on base despite seeing BCC strike out 14 times and record just six hits while allowing 12 hits to CCCC. The T-Birds would strand eight runners of their own despite two-hit performances from Infante, Meyer, Howerton, and Foufoulas with Howerton driving in a game-high two RBI.
What's Next?
The final two-week stretch of the regular season will see Cloud County return to action on Thursday, April 27th to open their penultimate KJCCC West series against Colby Community College with a 1 PM doubleheader at Lee Doyen Field. Colby fell to 11-33 overall and 4-20 in the KJCCC on Saturday afternoon after dropping two games to Hutchinson in Hutch and have lost nine consecutive conference games dating back to April 8th.