Cloud County Softball Drops Pair of Games to #18 Cowley College

Playing a second consecutive road doubleheader against a nationally-ranked foe, the Cloud County Community College softball team saw host and number 18 ranked Cowley Community College score five of the final six runs as part of a 10-6 defeat before falling 5-0 in game two to drop a pair of games at Ed Hargrove Field in Arkansas City, Kansas on Thursday, April 11th.

The losses drop Cloud County to 15-15 overall to go along with a 1-7 mark in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while Cowley remains the only unbeaten team in conference play with an 8-0 record in the KJCCC as part of a 31-10 overall record.

Game One:
Two hits and an error allowed the host Tigers to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as CCCC avoided any more damage in the inning by seeing shortstop Harley Smith turn an unassisted double play to get the T-Birds out of a jam that saw two Cowley runners on base with just one out. Cloud County saw the deficit grow again in the bottom of the second as the Tigers got a solo home run to lead off the inning before stranding a one-out base hit in scoring position as four of the first five hits of the game were recorded by Cowley.

In the top of the third, Cloud County used a one-out single by Kaitlynn Baca followed by a single from Alyssa Reynolds to put two runners aboard for Kaylee Pinneo. The Papillion, Nebraska native drove a pitch to the center field fence that moved up both runners 60 feet before seeing the throw be off the mark and wind up in the Tiger dugout allowing both Baca and Reynolds to score while moving Pinneo to second. Following a flyout, Brooklynn McCormick kept the inning alive by reaching base on the second Cowley error of the inning with Pinneo scoring to bring CCCC back even at 3-3 with Kiera Brack following with an RBI single to score McCormick and give Cloud County their first lead of the game. Getting their first clean defensive inning to maintain their lead, the T-Birds took the 4-3 advantage into the bottom of the fourth where Cowley turned a leadoff walk into a two-run home run two batters later to reclaim the lead as the long ball was once again proving to be an issue for CCCC defensively.

After allowing the two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to face a 5-4 deficit, Cloud County turned to Pinneo to hit a home run of her own by driving a pitch over the center field fence to tie the game at 5-5 before threatening to take the lead with a potential go-ahead run being thrown out at the plate on a Brack single into right field. The inning-ending play proved pivotal as the Tigers got back to the plate and turned three hits of their own into a go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the fifth to reclaim the lead at 6-5 with the game still very much up for grabs heading to the sixth.

Held to just a one-out single from Jillian Artiges, CCCC saw Cowley add to their lead with a solo home run before giving up a pair of two-out walks followed by an RBI single into center field and two-RBI double as four runs came around to score on three hits and give the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 10-5. A one-out home run from Camille Stauffer was all that Cloud County managed to put together offensively in the top of the seventh as the big number put up by Cowley in the previous inning proved to be too much to overcome in the final inning.

Despite matching Cowley in hits 11-11, Cloud County was hurt by five free passes being issued to the Tigers while drawing just one walk of their own as eight of the nine players to record a plate appearance for CCCC had at least one hit. Leading the T-Birds were two-hit games from Pinneo, McCormick, and Brack with all Pinneo and Brack driving home one run each while McCormick had one of three extra-base hits by Cloud County.

Game Two:
Offense was limited for both teams with just nine total hits being recorded as each team was limited to one hit throughout the first three innings of play to keep things a scoreless deadlock heading to the fourth. After stranding a one-out single from Brack, Cloud County saw Cowley use a leadoff single and RBI double to break the tie and go up 1-0 before pushing across a second run in the inning with a sacrifice fly later on as two hits and an error gave the Tigers the lead before stranding three runners on base. The rest of the offense for Cowley came in the bottom of the fifth as a pair of one-out singles were followed by a three-run home run to put the Tigers up 5-0 with a big inning once again proving costly defensively for Cloud County as the five-run deficit seemed rather large after being held to four base runners through five innings of play. The deficit did indeed prove to be too much to overcome as the final 11 T-Bird batters of the game were retired in order with Cowley earning their seventh shutout win of the year.

Cloud County's three hits came from Baca, Brack, and Smith as all three had base-hit singles in the game with Brack and Pinneo each drawing one walk to account for the five base runners that CCCC put aboard in the contest. Cowley was limited to six hits but took advantage of four walks and three T-Bird errors with CCCC managing to strand eight Tiger runners in the game. Two pitchers saw time in the circle for Cloud County with Brecken Whitney throwing the first four innings and giving up two runs on two hits before seeing Paige Mahler throw the final two innings and give up three runs on four hits.

What's Next?
Six of the next eight games for Cloud County will take place at home beginning with a Saturday doubleheader against Labette Community College beginning at 2 PM at the CCCC Softball Field. The Cardinals dropped both ends of their home doubleheader on Thursday to Fort Scott Community College to fall to 12-18 overall and 4-4 in the KJCCC with just three of their 12 wins coming away from home this season.