Strong Pitching, Long Ball Gives Cloud County Baseball Doubleheader Sweep of Garden City
Having won seven of their previous nine games heading into a home doubleheader, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would take control in all facets of the game on Thursday to pick up a pair of run-rule-shortened victories to sweep Garden City Community College at Lee Doyen Field.
Picking up wins by scores of 11-0 in five innings before taking a 15-1 win in seven innings, CCCC improves to 24-15 overall on the year with an 11-7 mark in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Broncbusters have now dropped eight straight games to fall to 7-35 overall and 3-19 in the KJCCC West.
GAME ONE:
Between offensive output and a gem of a pitching performance, the need to rely on one or the other simply didn't matter in the series opener as the T-Birds would overcome a bottom of the first inning where CCCC would strand two runners to plate five runs on five hits in the bottom of the second with Bock Wollin, Alex Diaz, and Danny Infante all hitting home runs in the inning to put Cloud County up early on. Surrendering just one hit through three innings of play, the T-Birds would add to their lead in the bottom of the third with their fourth home run of the game coming off the bat of Paul Schuyler for two more runs to come around and score with things reaching a 7-0 lead in favor of CCCC.
Cloud County would keep Garden City scoreless once again in the top of the fourth by working around a leadoff single by getting a pair of fielder's choices and a putout at the plate following a throwing error after a stolen base for the Broncbusters as T-Bird starter Mason McConnaughey would face the minimum through four innings. Leading off the bottom of the fourth with Infante's second home run of the game, Cloud County would push across four runs in the inning on three hits with Karson Green also blasting a home run to score Wollin and Kolden Howerton to put CCCC up 11-0 and just three outs away from ending the game.
No time would be wasted by McConnaughey in the fifth as a one-two-three inning would officially end things with Cloud County picking up a run-rule victory as the Topeka, Kansas native would go the distance on the mound in a 62-pitch effort with seven strikeouts. Offensively, six of the 12 hits recorded by the T-Birds would leave the yard with Infante hitting two home runs as part of a two-RBI day with Schuyler and Diaz also driving in two runs each. As a team, CCCC would strand just four total base runners while striking out just three times for one of their more efficient offensive outings of the year.
GAME TWO:
After putting together a dominant performance in game one, Cloud County would fall into a deficit in the top of the first of game two as Garden City would get on the board for the first time with a one-out solo home run to go up 1-0. The T-Birds would pick the run back up in the bottom of the inning as a leadoff single from Schuyler would come around to score on a Landon Meyer fielder's choice after having his time on the base paths extended by a GCCC error to push across an unearned run and tie things heading into the second.
Both teams would go scoreless in the second with the T-Birds stranding a runner at third after an inning-ending double play but would break through in the bottom of the third with a walk by Schuyler setting up a Demitri Shakotko RBI triple to give CCCC a 2-1 lead. A sacrifice fly by Infante would bring home another run for Cloud County with the T-Birds also getting an Anthony Taggart RBI single to cap off a three-run inning.
The lead for the T-Birds would grow in the bottom of the fourth as Diaz would blast his second home run of the afternoon to keep the Cloud County offense moving with CCCC putting together a two-out rally later in the inning to push across a run on a Meyer RBI single and successful double-steal with runners on first and third to make it a 7-1 contest. With plenty of run support to work with, Cloud County starting pitcher Phil Brennaman would continue to shut down the Garden City offense by retiring the final 17 batters he faced while working six one-hit innings on the mound.
With the lead already at six heading into the bottom of the fifth, the CCCC offense would continue to produce as a leadoff single and fielding error would put two runners on before a walk and double play would bring home an unearned run and put a runner in scoring position for the T-Birds. After a hit batter and RBI single from Shakotko, Infante would draw a walk to load the bases again before seeing a wild pitch allow all three runners to advance with the lead growing to 10-1. At the plate again with an opportunity to do some damage, Meyer would come through again with a two-RBI single into shallow center field as five unearned runs would come home in the inning on three hits and a Broncbuster error.
Cloud County would go on to add another three runs on just one hit in the bottom of the sixth as pinch-hitters would begin to be called upon with the game already all but decided with Justin Johnson getting hit by a pitch, Jarek Braden hitting a sacrifice fly to score Taggart, and Gavin Roy getting hit by a pitch. The lineup would be flipped over to Schuyler following the hit-by-pitch for Roy with an RBI double bringing home Johnson before seeing Infante cap off the inning with an RBI groundout to mark the sixth time that CCCC has scored at least 15 runs in a game this season.
Throwing a scoreless top of the seventh to officially end the game, sophomore Mason Munz record the final three outs of the game in relief of a nine-strikeout performance from Brennaman who would improve to a perfect 4-0 on the year after an 86-pitch performance that saw the Gladstone, Missouri native face just two batters over the minimum. Another 12-hit game from Cloud County would see Meyer lead all players with a game-high four RBI while Schuyler would record two of CCCC's six extra-base hits as part of a three-for-three game at the plate.
What's Next?
With a six-game home stand now in the books, Cloud County is on the road for four of their next six games beginning on Saturday, April 15th with a return trip to Garden City to take on GCCC in a 1 PM doubleheader at Williams Stadium. The T-Birds will be looking for a second-straight conference series victory and third in their past four KJCCC West division series while Garden City will look to snap a streak of six straight losses to CCCC as part of a 1-11 mark in their past 12 games against the T-Birds.