Lady Indians get 45th win to set record

SCOTTSBLUFF – The McCook Community College softball team split two games against Western Nebraska Sunday to end the regular season. With the win in Game 2, the Lady Indians set the school’s regular season record for wins with 45.

“We had two pretty good outings from our pitchers today,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “Game 1 could have gone either way.”

Western Nebraska scored the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1 to win 7-6. The Lady Indians committed four errors in the game.

“I appreciate the fight and not giving up, but we need to execute defensively better,” said Mendenhall.

MCC came back in Game 2 to score five runs in the fourth inning and held on for a 7-4 win. Freshman Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) picked up the complete game win and fellow freshman Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) paced the offense with three hits and two RBIs.

“In Game 2 Kaliyah didn’t really give them a chance and our defense was much better,” said Mendenhall.

The Lady Indians finish the regular season with a 45-9 record and a 20-4 mark to claim first place in the Region IX standings. MCC will be the top seed and host the four-team, double-elimination tournament starting Friday at the Jaycees Sports Complex.

The previous record for wins came from the 2015 team that went 42-14 in the regular season and added three more wins in the post-season where they went 3-3. This year’s Lady Indians can claim the all-time win totals record this weekend in the post-season tournament.

MCC will be the top seed and play Trinidad State to open the post-season tournament Friday at home. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Otero, the second seed, will play third-seeded Western Nebraska at 4:30 p.m.

The two losers of Friday’s games will play at noon Saturday for an elimination game. The two winners will play at 2:30 p.m. with the loser of that game taking on the winner of Saturday’s first game in an elimination game.

The championship game will be at noon Sunday with a second game, if necessary, to follow at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Unlike past years when the Region IX tournament champion played another region’s champion for a district championship, this year’s Region IX tournament winner automatically moves on to the NJCAA Division 1 College World Series May 19-24 at the Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex in Yuma, Ariz.

REGION IX TOURNAMENT

MAY 2-4 at McCook

JAYCEES SPORTS COMPLEX

Friday, May 2

     Game 1 - No 1. McCook vs, No. 4 Trinidad State, 2 p.m.

     Game 2 - No. 2 Otero vs. No. 3 Western Nebraska, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 3

     Game 3 - Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2, Noon

     Game 4 - Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2, 2:30 p.m.

     Game 5 - Winner of Game 3 vs Loser of Game 4, 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 4

     Game 6 - Winner of Game 4 vs Winner of Game 5, noon

     Game 7 – (If necessary), 2:30 p.m.

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 – Western Nebraska 7, McCook 6: The Lady Indians scored a run in the first inning with two outs on back-to-back doubles by freshman Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) and sophomore Lexi Knapp (Berthoud, Colo.). The Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the inning with the help of two MCC errors to take a 2-1 lead.

Paige Warren singled to lead off the third inning, stole second base and tied the game 2-2 with an RBI-single by Kinsley.

Western Nebraska went ahead 4-2 with two runs in the third on a single, a hit batter, a sacrifice bunt and a two-out single and error scoring two runs. MCC got one of those runs back in the fourth with consecutive one-out singles by Kaliyah St. Amand, Angela Banzet (Surrey, British Columbia) and Warren. With the bases loaded freshman Laila Gutierrez (sophomore, Seminole, Texas) grounded into a fielder’s choice to cut the Cougar lead to 4-3. The home team tallied an unearned run on two MCC errors in the bottom of the fourth to go up 5-3.

The Lady Indians pushed back with a run in the fifth inning on a one-out walk, a Cougar error and a two-out RBI-single by sophomore Rocio Mascorro (Brownsville, Texas) to make it a 5-4 game but Western reclaimed the lead at 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly.

Kinsley walked to lead off the seventh inning. A fielder’s choice and an error put runners on first and third. Pinch runner Haley Emmerson (freshman, Sterling, Colo.) stole second. MCC scored a run on an RBI-groundout by sophomore Anna Elliott (Calgary, Alberta) and tied the game 6-6 on a Cougar error.

Sophomore Sadie Kahl (Calgary, Alberta) pitched the first six innings for MCC and allowed three earned runs on nine hits while striking out four hitters.

Western Nebraska scored the game winner in the seventh with a leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt and a walk-off single off St. Amand.

The Lady Indians had 10 hits in the game with two each by Warren, Kinsley and St. Amand.

GAME 2 – McCook 7, Western Nebraska 4: Western Nebraska struck first and had the makings of a big inning when the Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a leadoff walk, a double and a single with that runner advancing to second. With runners and second and third with no outs, MCC starting pitcher Kaliyan St. Amand struck out the next two hitters and escaped the inning with a 1-0 deficit when she induced an inning-ending popout to third base.

MCC responded in the third inning with a one out walk by Angela Banzet, a single from Paige Warren and a two-out, two-run RBI-single by Payton Kinsley to put the Lady Indians in the lead for good.

Anna Elliott singled to lead off the fourth inning and scored on a double from Rocio Mascorro. With one out sophomore Ayana Goodwin (Broomfield, Colo.) singled home Mascorro to put MCC up 4-1. Warren doubled in two runs and with two outs, the fifth run of the inning scored on a passed ball for a 7-1 MCC lead.

St. Amand retired Western Nebraska in order in the fourth and fifth, allowed one runner in the sixth before the Cougars scored three unearned runs in the seventh. She picked up the complete-game win allowing six innings, one walk and struck out five.

Warren led the 10-hit MCC offense with three hits and two RBIs. Mascorro and Goodwin both had two-hit games.