Lady Indians fall twice in games at Overland Park

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The McCook Community College softball team lost a pair of games Friday in Kansas. MCC opened with a 10-6 loss to Johnson County Community College then dropped an 11-8 decision to North Iowa Area Community College.

“We couldn’t really get much going offensively, said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “We had runners in scoring position early in Game 1 and couldn’t produce.”

In Game 2, MCC came back from deficits of 3-0 and 6-3 to take an 8-6 lead but surrendered five runs in the decisive sixth inning.

“We never gave up, but we need to be tougher outs,” said Mendenhall. “We played two pretty tough teams today and didn’t really show our abilities.”

Both teams were ranked in the preseason NJCAA Top 25 rankings. Earlier this week, MCC had received its first votes in the rankings, just outside the Top 25.

Freshman Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) led the MCC offense with three hits in both games and 12 total bases on the day.

“Paige has a really nice day offensively,” said Mendenhall.  

On Saturday MCC gets an early start to the day with the first of two games at 10 a.m. against Kirkwood Community College (13-4) followed by a 2 p.m. game against North Iowa Area Community College. On Sunday the Lady Indians move on to Beatrice for a doubleheader at Southeast Community College starting at 1 p.m.

“We need to be better tomorrow to get ready for our region games next week,” said Mendenhall.

MCC’s home-opener is slated for Wednesday when they take on the Lumberjacks of Dakota College at Bottineau (1-7). First pitch at the Jaycees Sports Complex is at noon.

MCC goes to 11-3 on the season.

Up-to-date information about MCC softball including livestream links, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com

GAME 1 – Johnson County CC 10, McCook 6: The Cavaliers scored a pair of runs in the first on a pair of walks, a single and a two-out double. They added a run in the second on a leadoff solo home run and took a 5-0 lead with three more runs in the third.

MCC climbed back in the game with a two-out rally in the fourth. Sophomores Sadie Kahl (Calgary, Alberta) and Anna Elliott (Calgary, Alberta) got one out singles. Ayana Goodwin (sophomore Broomfield, Colo.) lined a two-out single to load the bases for sophomore Angela Banzet (Surrey, British Columbia) who walked to put MCC on the scoreboard at 5-1. Elliott stole home for a 5-2 score and Paige Warren hit a three-run home run to centerfield to tie the game at 5-5.

The Cavaliers got back-to-back two-out doubles to take a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the frame and added three runs in the sixth, aided by a leadoff error, two doubles and a triple to go up 10-5.

Kahl pitched the first five innings for MCC, allowing eight earned runs on four walks and six strikeouts. Freshman Olivia Pollon (Tisdale, Saskatchewan) pitched a scoreless sixth, allowing one hit and one walk.

MCC got one final run in the seventh on an RBI-single from sophomore Lexi Knapp (Berthoud, Colo.).

The Lady Indians were outhit 17-9. Warren had three hits for MCC and Goodwin had two.

Johnson County improved to 6-7 with the win.

GAME 2 – North Iowa Area CC 11, McCook 8: The Trojans took a 3-0 lead from the first three batters in the bottom of the first on a walk a single and a three-run home run.

MCC tied the game in the third on a one-out triple by Paige Warren, an RBI-groundout by Lexi Knapp, a passed ball, and an RBI-groundout with Anna Elliott batting.

NIACC scored twice on in the fourth on a two-run homer and an MCC error to lead 6-3.

The Lady Indians got a run in the fifth, then took the lead with xx runs in the sixth. The first came on a two-out RBI-single from Warren, Laila Gutierrez (sophomore, Seminole, Texas) doubled in a run to knot the game at 6-6. Freshman Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) doubled in Gutierrez and Sadie Kahl drove in Kinsley to put MCC ahead 8-6.

The Trojans posted five runs in the sixth and improved to 5-7 with the win.

Freshman Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) pitched 5.1 innings, allowed eight earned runs on two walks and seven strikeouts. Freshman Olivia Moorhead (Hershey) pitched 0.2 innings and allowed one hit.

NIACC outhit MCC 12-9. Warren had three hits to lead the Lady Indians and Kahl had two.