Lady Indians win 12th straight; sweep Bobcats
The McCook Community College softball team won their 12th straight game and their 21st overall in a Friday sweep over Southeast Community College at the Jaycees Sports Complex. MCC won 4-2 and 7-4.
In Game 1 the Lady Indians pushed across the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on a two-out triple by freshman Ellie Baca (Greeley, Colo.) and a single by freshman Lacyn Keller (McCook). Reigning Region IX Player of the Week Paige Warren (sophomore, Victoria, British Columbia) picked up the complete-game win from the pitching circle.
“Today was a battle,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “I knew that they were going to be a tough team, but we found ways to win.”
In Game 2, MCC took a first-inning lead scoring twice, added a run in the second and three in the third as freshman Josie Wright (Calgary, Alberta) scored three runs and had three hits in the win. Starting pitcher Hannah Schneider (freshman, Alliance, Neb.) pitched five innings for the win, but left the game in the sixth after being struck in the foot by a batted ball. Warren pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the save.
“We had two great pitching performances and played great defense today,” said Mendenhall.
The Bobcats fall to 7-8 on the season and 4-2 in Region IX play.
MCC improves to 21-3 and 6-0 in the region.
These two teams will play two more games Saturday at the Jaycees Sports Complex starting at 11 a.m.
GAME 1 – McCook CC 4, Southeast CC 2: The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead on a walk and a two-out single in the first inning.
Josie Wright singled to lead off the third, stole second, and after a walk and a double-steal, Wright tied the game on a wild pitch and the Lady Indians took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly by Marleigh Mitchell (Mission, British Columbia) the sophomore transfer from Odessa (Texas) Community College.
Southeast immediately responded with a leadoff solo home run to tie the game 2-2 where the score remained until the bottom of the sixth.
In the MCC sixth, sophomore Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.) led off with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Brooklyn Gillen (McCook) but Beck over-ran second and it turned into a double play. With two outs Ellie Baca tripled to left field and scored on an RBI-single by Lacyn Keller. Keller later came around to score on an error by the Southeast shortstop to lead 4-2.
After a one-out walk in the seventh, the MCC defense turned a game-ending doubleplay when shortstop Gillen fielded the ground ball, stepped on second and threw to first.
Paige Warren picked up the complete-game win in the circle, allowing five hits, one earned run with three walks and eight strikeouts.
MCC had five hits in the game with two by Baca.
GAME 2 – McCook CC 7, Southeast CC 4: Paige Warren led off the first with a triple, scored on a single by Josie Wright, who advanced to second on a passed ball, went to third on a flyball and scored on an RBI-groundout by Marleigh Mitchell.
A Bobcat error, a single by Ellie Baca in the second and a sacrifice fly Lacyn Keller put MCC up 3-0. Wright singled to lead off the MCC third, Lyndsay Keogh (freshman, Surrey, British Columbia) singled her to second and after a walk loaded the bases, Kashlin Beck drove in Wright with a sacrifice fly, a Bobcat error scored another run and Baca’s RBI-single gave the Lady Indians a 6-0 lead.
Southeast scored twice in the fourth but MCC got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on a one-out single by Wright, a passed ball and a Bobcat error to make it a 7-2 game.
The Bobcats got one run in the fifth to make it a 7-3 game. The first hitter in the Bobcat sixth lined a ball off Schneider who had to leave the game with a foot injury. She allowed two earned runs in her six-plus innings of work, seven runs, no walks and six strikeouts.
After Warren replaced Schneider in the pitching circle, she retired the first hitter on a come-backer to the mound, allowed a double to make it a 7-4 game, then struck out the final two Bobcats of the sixth. Warren retired the side in order in the seventh with two more strikeouts to pick up the save. She went two innings, allowed one hit, no walks and four strikeouts.
Wright led MCC with three hits and three runs scored. Baca and Warren both had two hits each.
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