Lady Indians upset No. 2 McLennan in CWS, 11-6
YUMA, Ariz – The McCook Community College softball team upset No. 2 McLennan Community College Tuesday night 11-6 to advance in the consolation bracket of the NJCAA D1 College World Series.
“That was a good ball club that we beat today,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “It was a quality win for sure and kept us alive.
MCC, the 16th seed in the tournament, improves to 49-10 on the season and eliminates McLennan (56-6). The Lady Indians will play No. 10 Trinity Valley (50-13) Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. (CST)
The Tribe scored six runs in the first inning and never trailed, despite giving up five runs on an unsteady defensive start in the bottom of the first.
“It was nice to have a big first inning,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “We had much better approaches at the plate tonight.”
Freshman Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) led off the game with a single for MCC and stole second base. Sophomore Laila Gutierrez (Seminole, Texas) walked and freshman Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) singled home Warren. Sophomore Lexi Knapp (Berthoud, Colo.) singled in Gutierrez and a McLennan error led to MCC’s third run.
After one out sophomore Anna Elliott (Calgary, Alberta) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs freshman Audrey Reeves (Sterling, Colo.) delivered a two-run single and Warren capped off the inning with her second hit in the frame to score Elliott and give MCC a 6-0 lead.
The Lady Indians committed three errors on the first two Highlander batters in the bottom of the inning, an RBI-groundout made it a 2-0 game. A fourth MCC error and a single put two runners on, then with two outs McLennan’s Aynsil Lawson hit a three-run home run to cut the MCC lead to 6-5.
In the MCC second, a Highlander error opened the door back up for the Lady Indians, as Knapp and sophomore
Sadie Kahl (Calgary, Alberta) singled back-to-back to load the bases. Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) walked to drive in the first run and put MCC up 7-5 and Elliott singled in two runs to give the Lady Indians a 9-5 lead.
Two more MCC errors in the second led to another unearned run as the Highlanders cut the deficit to 9-6,
Kahl pitched the first three innings for MCC and allowed five hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out one. None of the six runs she gave up were earned.
Neither team scored in the third, fourth or fifth innings.
St. Amand came on in the pitching circle in the fourth inning.
The Lady Indians held on to the 9-6 lead until putting the game away in the sixth inning. Kahl led off the inning with a single and with one out, Elliott powered a two-run home run to put MCC up 11-6.
St. Amand allowed a leadoff single to McLennan in the sixth but retired three straight. She made quick of the No. 2 team in the nation in the seventh inning retiring the first two hitters on four pitches with a fly out to center and a foul pop to first base, then struck out the final hitter looking to preserve the win.
St. Amand allowed one hit in four innings, no walks or runs and she struck out three.
“Both pitchers came in and did great for us tonight,” said Mendenhall.
MCC out-hit the Highlanders 13-6. The Lady Indians committed six errors in the game, McLennan four.
Elliott paced the offense with three hits and three RBIs. Warren, Kinsley, Knapp and Kahl all had two-hit games.
“I am proud of these girls,” said Mendenhall.
The Lady Indians survive to take on another Texas team Wednesday in an elimination game. Trinity Valley opened play Tuesday with a 6-2 loss to No. 7 Gaston College.
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