Late Rally Gives Cloud County Baseball 12-9 Win at McPherson JV
After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the Cloud County Community College baseball team fell into a 9-5 deficit after five innings of play only to score the final seven runs of the game to come away with a come-from-behind 12-9 victory over the McPherson College JV team at Bulldog Park in McPherson, Kansas on Wednesday, April 3rd.
Playing their first of three non-conference games this week, Cloud County earns their 25th win of the year to improve to 25-11 overall while earning their 12th win of the year away from home to improve to 12-4 in games not played at Lee Doyen Field this season.
The four-run top of the first for the T-Birds came after back-to-back hit batters to begin the game as CCCC scored four runs on just two hits while sending eight batters to the plate and seeing RBI extra-base hits coming from Jakob Poturnak and Gavin Roy. McPherson JV responded in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff single and hit batter to set up a three-run home run to get back within a run as part of a high-scoring opening inning that was followed by a scoreless second. In the top of the third, Cloud County plated another run with Landon Meyer drawing a bases-loaded RBI walk to bring home Easton Mould before seeing their two-run advantage erased in the bottom of the inning on a two-run home run by the Bulldogs.
MCJV took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth as a one-out single and hit batter set up a two-out, two-RBI double to put the Bulldogs out in front 7-5 with two more runs coming around to score in the bottom of the fifth. Having been held scoreless since the top of the third, CCCC remained held in check offensively until the top of the seventh when a Roy one-out single and Nolan Freund hit-by-pitch put two base runners aboard with one out. Following an RBI groundout from Meyer to bring the T-Birds back within three at 9-6, with two RBI walks later in the inning with the bases loaded allowing Freund and TJ Coats to score. One final run came around on a wild pitch with Gannon White racing home from third to knot things back up at 9-9.
Working around a two-out walk in bottom of the seventh to keep things tied, CCCC got back to the plate where a leadoff double for Poturnak set up another big inning for the T-Birds offensively with the first three batters of the inning all collecting extra-base hits with nine batters coming to the plate. After reclaiming the lead on a two-RBI double from Freund, Cloud County went on to add one more run in the inning with Freund scoring on a wild pitch as three runs came around to score on four hits. Another quick inning saw CCCC reliever Myles Chamberlain retire the Bulldogs in order which sent things to the top of the ninth where the T-Birds stranded a pair of base runners to waste their final opportunity to add some insurance runs. The scoreless inning offensively did not affect CCCC however as a leadoff hit batter for McPherson JV was stranded with a double play erasing a base-hit single followed by a game-ending groundout to give Cloud County the win.
11 walks and six hit batters played a big role in allowing the T-Birds to mount their come-from-behind victory as CCCC outhit McPherson JV 10-9 with six of their hits going for extra-bases. Leading the way at the plate was Roy with four hits in five at-bats to go along with one RBI and three stolen bases while both Freund and Meyer drove in a game-high two runs each. Chamberlain picked up his first win of the year on the mound after throwing the final 4.1 innings in relief by holding the Bulldogs scoreless by scattering three hits and striking out five after seeing Noah Bourgeois (3.2 innings) and Wil Yamka (1.0 innings) also see time at pitcher.
What's Next?
A quick turnaround will see Cloud County play host to Highland Community College in a 1 PM non-conference doubleheader at Lee Doyen Field on Thursday, April 4th. Highland has lost their last 17 games and is currently 11-25 overall with an 0-16 mark in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East Division with their last win coming on March 3rd against Pratt. So far in conference action, the Scotties have played three of the top four teams in the KJCCC East with Thursday's non-conference games serving as their only road games over a seven-game stretch.