Indians win 11-inning thriller in tournament opener
PUEBLO, Colo. – The McCook Community College baseball team survived the first day of the Region IX tournament with a 14-13 win over Luna Community College in 11 innings at Damon Runyon Field Sports Complex.
“We did not play well by any stretch of the imagination,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen, “But at this point it is survive and advance.”
The third-seeded Indians overcame deficits of 6-0 and 11-6 and scored the game-winner with a walk-off bases-loaded walk over the sixth-seeded Roughriders to advance to second-round action Friday against second-seeded Southeast Community College at 2 p.m.
Sophomore Tyler Reyburn (Frederick, Colo.) led off the bottom of the 11th with a single – his fifth hit of the game – and with one out, and bases-loaded, his high school teammate Dalton Berg drew the walk on a 3-2 count to send the Indians on in the tournament.
Freshman Jakoby Hamer (Edmonton, Alberta) hit a pair of home runs (his 15th and 16th of the season) and freshman Nolan Jackson (Grimsby, Ontario) picked up the win (7-2) in relief, pitching the final 5.2 innings.
“We had some big performances, Reyburn was great at the plate, Hamer had two really big swings and it was great to see him have those swings, and Nolan was big on the mound late for us,” said Olsen.
The team from Luna, N.M. took an early lead with a run in the first, another in the second and went up 5-0 with three runs in the third inning off MCC sophomore starter Aviv Bobrov (Shekhanya, Israel) who departed after three innings, allowing seven hits on a walk and two strikeouts.
Luna came back with a run in the fourth off sophomore reliever Tobey Cassino (Arvada, Colo.) to take a 6-0 lead.
MCC got on the scoreboard in the home-half of the fourth on a one-out walk by Berg and a two-out RBI-double by Corbin Lochhead (Vegreville, Alberta) to trail 6-1.
The Indians offense started clicking in the fifth with three runs. Reyburn hit an opposite-field, solo home run to left for the first run (his fourth of the year). With two outs, freshman Kon Yoshimura (Nagasaki, Japan) was hit by a pitch and Hamer homered to cut the deficit to 6-4.
“I will give our guys credit we didn’t give in, I thought the fifth through the ninth innings, we made our move – it wasn’t perfect, but we were able to play catch up,” said Olsen.
Luna responded with four unearned runs in the sixth to give them a 10-4 lead with the help of two MCC errors.
“I do feel like we just gave them too many things, made a couple errors for runs, we had a couple balls to the backstop for runs, just not clean, then we had a lot of chances offensively and we just couldn’t make it happen,” said Olsen.
MCC got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out single by Owen Weales to cut the deficit to 10-6. Sophomore Tobey Cassino (Arvada, Colo.) pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits, three walks and three strikeouts.
The Roughriders added another run in the seventh inning aided by an MCC error to lead 11-6. Jackson came on in relief with two in the seventh.
Yoshimura was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh inning and Hamer drew a walk. With two outs Lochhead was hit by a pitch and sophomore Hunter Southey (Auckland, New Zealand) walked with the bases loaded. A Luna error made it an 11-8 game, Reyburn singled in two runs and Weales doubled home a run to tie the game 11-11, Reyburn tried scoring to give MCC its first lead, but he was thrown out at the plate.
Yoshimura doubled to lead off the eighth and Hamer hit his second homer of the game to give the Indians a 13-11 lead. MCC loaded the bases after that but were unable to add to the lead.
Luna got a leadoff home run in the ninth to cut the deficit to 13-12 and tied the game with a single, a double and a sacrifice fly. With runners on first and second with one out, Jackson induced a doubleplay ball to end the Luna threat. The Indians put their first two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth with a single by Weales and a Yoshimura walk but, a doubleplay ball ended the threat for MCC.
Jackson got two quick outs in the 10th then hit back-to-back hitters before getting a popout to end the 10th inning. MCC got a double by Southey with two outs but he remained stranded there.
The Roughriders got single to lead off the 11th but Jackson recorded the final three batters.
“Nolan did a great job for the last five-plus innings,” said Olsen. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs, five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Reyburn singed on the first pitch of the 11th inning and Weaes was hit by a pitch. Yoshimura laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. After an intentional walk to Hamer, Berg worked an eight-pitch walk to drive in the winning run.
Luna outhit MCC 16-15. The Indians were led by Reyburn who went five-for-six with three runs scored and three RBIs. Weales was three-for-six the three RBIs. Hamer was two-for-five with his two homers and four RBIs. Lochhead also had a two-hit game for MCC.
The loss sent Luna (17-36) to the elimination game late Thursday Western Nebraska (22-24).
“It was great to win. Now, we need to get off our feet and rest for tomorrow,” said Olsen.
Double-elimination play continues Saturday and Sunday.
Region IX-Tournament
Damon Runyon Field Sports Complex - Pueblo, Colo.
May 7-10
Thursday’s Results
Game 1 – McCook CC 14, Luna CC 13 (11 innings)
Game 2 – Otero 5, Western Nebraska 3
Game 3 – Luna vs. Western Nebraska (elimination game)
Friday, May 8
Game 4 – Otero (20-35) vs. Northeastern JC (40-14), 11 a.m.
Game 5 – McCook CC (40-17) 1 vs. Southeast Community College (27-23), 2 p.m.
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. lowest remaining seed with one loss, 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 9
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. highest seed remaining with one loss, 11 a.m.
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 2 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 10
Game 10 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 11 – If necessary, 2 p.m.
Up-to-date information about MCC baseball 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