Cloud County Baseball Team Splits Doubleheader, Wins KJCCC Series Over No. 12 Hutchinson
The Cloud County Community College baseball team split a doubleheader at No. 12 Hutchinson Community College on Saturday, April 4, winning 6-2 in seven innings in game one before falling in an 11-inning nightcap by a final score of 4-3. After posting 14-4 and 12-4 wins at home on Thursday, April 2, Cloud County secured a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) series win on Saturday, taking three games out of four against the Blue Dragons.
The T-Birds (32-4, 17-3 KJCCC) have won each of their five KJCCC series this year and are in first place in the KJCCC West. Cloud County has six wins, four on the road, against ranked opponents this season.
Cloud County sophomore left-hander Cohen Nelson held Hutchinson in check as the T-Birds defeated the Blue Dragons 6-2 in game one Saturday.
Nelson, making his fifth start, gave up one run on one hit over 5.2 innings, improving his record to 2-0. Nelson struck out a career-high 11 and now has 25 strikeouts in three conference starts this season. He retired eight in a row at one point in the contest.
Cloud County struck first in the top of the third inning when freshman outfielder Brody Seidl singled and later scored on an infield single by sophomore shortstop Lucas Laukkanen.
The T-Birds added three more runs in the fourth. Sophomore second baseman Joey Marino reached on an error, and sophomore catcher Vasya Seymour reached on a fielder's choice to begin the inning. Freshman first baseman Nolan Green tripled to left field, driving in Marino and Seymour. Green crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly by redshirt freshman outfielder Tanner Jacobson to make it 4-0.
Cloud County scored its final two runs in the top of the fifth. Redshirt freshman designated hitter Simon Baker tripled to right field to score Laukkanen, while a RBI single up the middle by freshman outfielder Kellan Burke scored Baker.
Green went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple while knocking in two runs and scoring a run. Laukkenen also had two hits.
Hutchinson's only runs came on a pair of solo home runs by freshman Cru Huenfeld, one in the bottom of the fifth and the other in the bottom of the seventh.
In the series finale, Hutchinson jumped out to a 1-0 lead when freshman Diesel Purnell scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Anthony Mazza in the bottom of the third inning.
Cloud County stranded runners in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings before getting on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. Marino doubled to left field to open the frame, while Seymour and Green each reached on errors to load the bases. Freshman pinch hitter Kale Koch scored Marino on a RBI ground out, while a sacrifice fly by Jacobson brought home Seymour to give the T-Birds a 2-1 advantage.
Cloud County added to its run total in the eighth when Burke recorded a two-out double before scoring on a RBI single to left by Marino to take a 3-1 lead.
Hutchinson battled back in the ninth. Sophomore Finn Hochstein and freshman Mason Wisnieski both reached after being hit by a pitch. Freshman Aidan Marien delivered a two-run single to tie the game at 3-3.
The game remained tied into extra innings before the Blue Dragons walked it off in the bottom of the 11th to take a 4-3 win.
Sophomore Evan Bogart dropped to 4-1 with the loss. Bogart threw 1.1 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts. Sophomore starter Cole Linton went seven innings, giving up one unearned run on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Marino led the T-Birds offensively with three hits, including a double, one run scored, and one RBI. Sophomore third baseman Kaden Budke also tallied a pair of hits in the loss.
The T-Birds return to Lee Doyen Field in Concordia, Kansas, for a non-conference game when they face the Cowley College Tigers on Tuesday, April 7. First pitch will be at 2 pm, and the game will be streamed live on the T-Bird Sports Network.