Lady Indians swat eight homers in Friday sweep
NORTH PLATTE – The McCook Community College softball team hit eight home runs Friday in a doubleheader sweep over North Platte Community College, winning 16-5 and 12-0.
In Game 1, the Lady Indians broke open a 1-0 lead with nine runs in the fourth inning and sixth runs in the fifth as sophomores Audrey Reeves (Sterling, Colo.) and Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.) both homered and combined for nine RBIs. Sophomore starting pitcher Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) struck out 10 Knights in four innings to pick up the win in the circle.
“It took us a little while to get going offensively Game 1,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendehall. “Once we got past that we had a lot better at bats.”
In Game 2 freshman Hannah Schneider (Scottsbluff H.S.) and sophomore Olivia Moorhead (Hershey) combined to pitch a three-hit shutout as The Lady Indians slammed six home runs with two more from Beck. Warren also homered in a four-hit game.
“We played good defensively and our pitchers competed in the zone well today,” said Mendenhall.
MCC entered the weekend in first place in the Region IX standings, three games ahead of Northeastern Junior College. The Lady Indians improve to 24-2 in the standings and 43-7 overall.
North Platte was falls to 1-25 and 3-33 overall.
With rain predicted Sunday for the series finale in McCook, the two teams are looking to make up that game early next week.
GAME 1 – McCook CC 16, North Platte 5 (5 innings): Paige Warren singled to lead off the first inning, stole second and came home on an RBI-groundout from freshman Lyndsay Keogh (Surrey, British Columbia).
Sophomore Marleigh Mitchell (Mission, British Columbia) singled leading off the fourth inning and Audrey Reeves homered to centerfield to put MCC ahead 3-0. It was the sixth homer of the year for Reeves. Singles by Kashlin Beck and Lacyn Keller (freshman, McCook) brought in a run, Keogh singled in another and Mitchell singled in two more to give the Lady Indians a 7-0 lead. Beck doubled in three to up the MCC advantage to 10-0.
The Knights scored five runs in the fourth inning. Warren gave up three hits and five earned runs in four innings, walking five and striking out 10 to improve to 22-2 in the pitching circle.
MCC added six runs in the fifth. Freshman Josie Wright (Calgary, Alberta) and Mitchell both doubled in a run, Reeves had a two-run single and Beck hit a two-run home run for the final score. It was her 12th home run of the year.
Olivia Moorhead pitched a scoreless fifth for MCC, allowing two hits and striking out one.
MCC outhit NPCC 14-5 with Beck and Mitchell both having three-hit games. Warren and Reeves both had two-hit games. Beck had five RBIs, Reeves four and Mitchell three.
GAME 2 – McCook CC 12, North Platte 0 (5 innings): Josie hit a first-inning homer to put MCC ahead 1-0. Kashlin Beck hit a three-run shot in the second.
Freshman Brooklyn Gillen (McCook) popped her first home run of the year in the third inning and Beck muscled up a two-run shot to give the Lady Indians a 7-0 lead. It was Beck’s third home run of the day and 14th of the season, tying her with Lyndsay Keogh for the team lead.
MCC added a run in the fourth on a two out Knight error to go up 8-0.
Hannah Schneider pitched four innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six. She improved to 13-3 on the year.
Marleigh Mitchel led off the fifth with a solo homer, her fourth of the season. With two-outs, freshman Malia Hilker (freshman, McCook) tripled in a run and Paige Warren made it a 12-0 lead with her ninth home run of the year.
Olivia Moorhead closed out the game in the pitching circle, hurling a scoreless fifth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.
Warren led MCC with four hits to go along with two RBIs and a stolen base while Mitchell and Beck both had two. Beck drove in five to give her 10 RBIs on the day.
Up-to-date information about MCC softball including up-to-date schedule and changes, livestream links for home games, rosters, photos, statistics and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com