Pitching Duels Lead to Series Opening Split for Cloud County Baseball Against Butler Community College
Two low-scoring contests that would be dominated by starting pitchers would lead to a split of a Thursday afternoon home doubleheader for the Cloud County Community College baseball team following a 3-1 game one victory before falling in game two by a score of 5-1 to Butler Community College at Lee Doyen Field on March 23rd.
Splitting a third-straight Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference series-opening doubleheader, Cloud County is now 15-11 overall and 6-4 in the KJCCC West Division while the Grizzlies see a seven-game winning streak snapped in game one before bouncing back in game two to move to 15-10 overall and 3-3 in KJCCC play.
GAME ONE:
For the second time in three weeks, the T-Birds would see a series-opening game in a KJCCC series have limited offensive production coming from both squads as both teams would be left looking for their first hit of the game following the first two innings of action. Butler would threaten with a base runner on a fielding error and walk coming with one out in the top of the second before back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning but manage to break through in the top of the third as a one-out single and two wild pitches would set up an RBI single for two-hole hitter Hayden Dyer to put BCC up by a score of 1-0. Cloud County would manage to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs for Butler as a two-out single would lead to a pair of base runners being stranded as part of a three-hit inning.
With still nothing doing for CCCC offensively in the bottom of the third, things would head to the fourth where the T-Birds would work around a one-out hit batter to strand another Butler runner before finally managing to record their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a Danny Infante leadoff double. After a Brock Wollin RBI single through the left side of the infield to tie the game at 1-1, CCCC would run into a double-play on a sliding catch in the outfield down the left field line with a throw being made back to first to stop a potential T-Bird rally from pushing across any more runs.
After a one-two-three top of the fifth, Cloud County would manage to put together another rally in the bottom of the fifth as an Eric Foufoulas leadoff single and fielding error by the Grizzlies would allow the Vernon, British Columbia native to take third on the play and force the Butler infield to play inside the bases. A rocket shot right at the third baseman by infielder Gavin Roy would hit off the glove of Butler's Anibal Rivera and shoot into the outfield which would allow Foufoulas to score on the RBI single that would give the T-Birds a 2-1 lead. Following a stolen base by Roy, Paul Schuyler would hit an RBI single to put CCCC up 3-1 as BCCC would manage to induce a groundout and strikeout to end the inning with Cloud County scoring two runs on three hits.
Looking to get a run back in the sixth with a leadoff double down the right field line, Butler would elect to lay down a sacrifice bunt to move their base runner to third before seeing back-to-back strikeouts from Cloud County starter Mason McConnaughey strand the runner and cap off a six-strikeout performance on the mound.
A two-out single from Landon Meyer in the bottom of the sixth would then officially end the day for Butler starter Izack Tiger before a fielder's choice on the first pitch thrown by reliever Zach Brink to end the inning and keep things at a 3-1 T-Bird lead. Turning to closer Cole Askew, Cloud County would get a groundout followed by back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the seventh to slam the door on the Grizzlies as a pitcher's duel would be won by CCCC for their fourth-straight victory over Butler dating back to last season.
Six different players for Cloud County would record one hit each with Schuyler, Wollin, and Roy all driving in a run each while Infante would hit CCCC's lone extra-base hit of the game. The T-Birds would limit their stranded base runners to just four while forcing Butler to strand six base runners on four hits as the one run scored by the Grizzlies is the second-lowest scoring output by BCC this season. McConnaughey's six-inning outing would lead to his team-best fifth win of the year to improve to 5-1 on the season after allowing one earned run on four hits before seeing Askew need just 13 pitches to record his third save of the year.
GAME TWO:
Jumping out to an early lead with a bottom of the first inning solo home run from Demitri Shakotko, Cloud County would manage to hold Butler to just two hits through three innings to maintain their lead despite being held to just two hits of their own through three innings of action as another strong start on the mound would come from both pitching staffs. Using a hit batter and RBI triple to tie things up two batters into the top of the fourth, the Grizzlies would break the 1-1 deadlock with an RBI single as the first three batters of the inning would safely reach base before a double-play would stop the momentum-building rally from BCC.
Retired in order in the bottom of the fourth, Cloud County would keep Butler from adding to their lead in the fifth before seeing a rally in the bottom half of the inning fizzle out as runners at first and second with one out would be stranded following a strikeout and lineout to end the inning with a game-tying run in scoring position. Things would remain a 2-1 contest until the top of the seventh when Butler would use a one-out walk and stolen base to set up a base-hit single to put runners on the corners that would lead to an RBI groundout to make add an insurance run and go up 3-1.
Unable to turn a leadoff walk into any offensive production in the bottom of the seventh, CCCC would see BCC manage to take advantage of a leadoff double and throwing error on the next at-bat to go on and put together a two-run inning on two hits and the aforementioned T-Bird error to take a commanding 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. With momentum fully in favor of the Grizzlies, CCCC would be retired in order in the bottom of the eighth before managing to keep Butler from adding to their lead in the ninth after loading the bases with one out. In their final offensive opportunity to try and pull even with BCC, the T-Birds would get a leadoff walk get erased on a double-play that would put two outs on the board with a flyout officially ending the game with CCCC falling for just the second time this season when allowing five or fewer runs.
Held in check by a seven-inning performance from Butler starting pitcher Caden Kickhaefer, Cloud County would be limited to just five total hits with Shakotko finishing as the lone T-Bird with multiple hits in the game as six stranded base runners would complicate matters for CCCC. Butler meanwhile would collect 12 hits and draw two walks as part of their five runs scored despite stranding 11 base runners with four of their 12 hits going for extra bases.
On the mound for Cloud County, Cayden Castellanos would take the loss and fall to 1-3 on the year after throwing five innings and allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five before turning things over to Phil Brennamen who would throw the next 3.1 innings of action and strike out four. Mason Munz would also be called on to record the final two outs defensively, throwing seven pitches and allowing an infield hit as part of a scoreless outing for the Kingman, Kansas native.
What's Next?
Cloud County and Butler resume their four-game series with a 1 PM doubleheader on Saturday, March 25th with action taking place at McDonald Stadium in El Dorado. Both games on Saturday are scheduled to be live-streamed on the Butler Creative Television Network which can be found at https://butlergrizzlies.com/WatchLive/index.