MCC Baseball goes 1-1 to open Region IX Tournament
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The McCook Community College baseball team split a pair of games on the opening day of the Region IX Tournament Thursday to stave off elimination. Third seeded MCC lost 10-7 to No. 6 Northeastern Junior College in the morning game but beat No. 5 Lamar 10-9 in the elimination bracket.
MCC will take on one of the losing teams in Friday’s semifinal games. The Indians will play the final game of the day at 7 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.
“We just needed to survive and advance once we got to the afternoon game,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.
NJC scored five runs in the sixth inning of the opening game of the tournament to break open the game and held on for the 10-7 win to send the Indians to the elimination bracket.
“That opening game was just a big disappointment,” said Olsen. “We battled back but we shouldn’t have got down the way we did. I give credit to NJC’s hitters because they put some good swings on it. We loaded the bases and brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of ninth, but just couldn’t get the swing.”
MCC trailed 6-2 in the fourth inning of the elimination game against Lamar when Cory Wouters hit a grand slam home run to tie the game and the Indians added runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to end the season for the Runnin’ Lopes.
“We need to make plays when we get to this time of year and we had a few guys that did that” said Olsen. “We got a huge swing from Cory with the grand slam, then Luke Bies and Nate Hutchison both had some big swings, and then probably the biggest performance came from Tobey Cassino. He was really good today in relief. Starter Jereniel Herrera competed but we just didn’t defend behind him.”
Michael Quick had seven hits in nine at bats on the day.
“It will be nice to not play until late tomorrow, because today was a long day,” said Olsen.
No. 3 MCC will face the lowest seeded team that loses Friday. No 2 Otero plays No. 6 Northeastern JC in the 1 p.m. game and No. 1 Southeast plays No. 4 Western Nebraska at 4 p.m.
Northeastern Junior College 10, McCook CC 7: In the 10 a.m. opening game, MCC scored first on a pair of second-inning runs. Jackson Yeager (sophomore, Omaha) and Luke Bies (La Vista) led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Sophomore Blake Dale (Riverton, Wyo.) bunted both runners up a base and with two outs sophomore Michael Quick (Oshawa, Ontario) delivered a two-run RBI single to centerfield.
Northeastern JC tied the game in the third with a two-out triple and an RBI single off MCC starter Aiden Johnson (sophomore, Westminster, Colo.). The Plainsmen took a 3-2 lead in the third with a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a two-out single then added two runs in the fourth to lead 5-2.
The Indians got one back in the bottom of the third on a leadoff triple by Quick and an RBI-groundout with freshman Cory Wouters (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan).
A leadoff double by NJC in the sixth and an MCC error opened the door for the Plainsmen. Johnson left the game after facing those two batters. He pitched five innings, allowing eight hits and six earned runs with two walks and five strikeouts. NJC scored five runs in the inning to lead 10-3.
MCC rallied for three runs in the seventh. Quick led off the inning with a single, followed by a one-out single by Wouters, an RBI single by Will Edwards (sophomore, Sydney, Australia) and a two-out, two-run triple by Bies to make it a 10-6 game. The Indians added a run in the eighth on a leadoff single by sophomore Jason Serafinchon (Spruce Grove, Alberta), a sacrifice bunt from freshman Maddox Shaver (Belleville Ontario) and a sacrifice fly from freshman Nathan Hutchison (Riverton, Wyo.).
Sophomore Ethan Badcock (Adelaide, Australia) pitched four innings in relief, allowing three hits, three earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts.
The Indians loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff double by Yeager, a walk and a hit batter, but were unable to score.
Quick led MCC with four hits, Serafinchon had three and the Indians got two hits apiece from Wouters, Yeager, and Bies.
McCook CC 10, Lamar 9: The Runnin’ Lopes took advantage of two MCC errors in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead and added two runs in the third to lead 5-0 with sophomore Jereniel Herrera (Panama City, Panama) taking the start on the mound.
Michael Quick singled to lead off the MCC third, went to second on a Blake Dale bunt then scored on a Cory Wouters single. Jackson Yeager singled in a run to make it a 5-2 game.
Lamar got one of those runs back in the fourth to go up 6-2 before MCC responded in the bottom of the inning as the Indians got back-to-back two-out singles by Maddux Shaver and Quick, a walk by Nathan Hutchison and a grand slam by Wouters to tie the game 6-6.
A Luke Bies solo home run in the fifth gave the Indians a one-run lead and he put MCC up 8-6 in the sixth with an RBI triple.
Herrera pitched five innings and allowed eight hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. Only two of the six runs he allowed were earned.
LCC tied the game 8-8 in the seventh off reliever Tobey Cassino (freshman, Arvada, Colo.) on a walk, a hit batter, a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly and a balk.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh MCC scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a two-out single by Quick and an RBI-double by Hutchison.
Cassino kept the Lopes off the scoreboard in the eighth and ninth innings to pick up the win. He went four innings, allowing two hits, one walk, three strikeouts and two earned runs.
Wouters led the way offensively with four hits and five RBIs. Quick had three hits and Bies and Yeager both had two.
All the latest information for MCC baseball including up-to-date schedule and changes as well as statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com
REGION IX TOURNAMENT
May 9-12
At Colorado Springs, Colo.
Thursday's Results
Game 1 –Northeastern Junior College 10, McCook CC 7
Game 2 –Western Nebraska 8, Lamar 5
Game 3 – McCook CC 10, Lamar 9 (Lamar eliminated)
Friday's Schedule
Game 4 – No. 1 Southeast CC (25-3) vs. No. 4 Western Nebraska 1 p.m.
Game 5 – No. 2 Otero (20-8) vs. No. 6 Northeastern JC, 4 p.m.
Game 6 – MCC vs. Game 4/5 loser (lowest seed), 7 p.m. (elimination game)
Saturday's Schedule
Game 7 – Game 6 winner vis Game 4/5 loser (higher seed), 10 a.m. (elimination game)
Game 8 – Game 5 winner vs Game 4 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 9 – Winner of Game 7 vs. loser of Game 8, 4 p.m. (elimination game)
Sunday's Schedule
Game 10 – Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner,
Game 11 (if necessary) – Game 10 winner vs. Game 10 loser
