WNCC baseball downs NJC
STERLING, Colo. – Catcher Gladysh had two home runs and the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team had four home runs total as the Cougars registered a key Empire Conference 13-5 win over Northeastern Junior College Thursday in Sterling, Colorado.
The win moves the Cougars to 24-22 overall but, more importantly to 15-10 in the conference. NJC is now 30-22 overall and 16-9 in conference. The two teams have three games left this weekend and the one that captures two wins will get the important second seed in the Region IX tournament next week.
WNCC will host NJC in a doubleheader on Friday, May 2 and then the two teams will wrap up the series with a 9-inning game on Saturday in Sterling, Colorado.
Gladysh said these were huge wins for the team and they need to keep playing like this the rest of the series and season.
“This is a huge win for us. Now we need to go out there and finish the job by getting two wins tomorrow (Friday) to secure the number two seed,” the red-shirt freshman from Brighton, Colorado, said. “(Friday) our focus is to attack the pitcher’s as hitters and play solid, clean defense behind the pitchers, coming out with two wins.”
WNCC scored in six of the nine innings. The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first two innings. The first saw Calab Caciari single and score on a Cooper Burgess 2-out single.
The second inning saw Jase Satterfield belt a 2-out home run for the 2-0 lead. NJC came back with two in the third to tied the game.
Both teams scored twice in the fourth for a 4-4 lead. WNCC half of the fourth saw Landon Lockwood lead off with a single and then Gladysh had a 2-run home run. NJC answered with a 2-run shot in the bottom of the frame.
NJC took their first lead of the game with a run in the fifth to lead 5-4, WNCC answered with a run in the sixth when Kensei Oikawa scored on a 2-out Caciari double.
The Cougars put the game away in the seventh with five runs to lead 10-5. It all started as Jin Kobayakawa singled followed by a Burgess 2-run home run. Austin Cooper plated another run with a run-scoring double and then Caciari got another single to score two runs.
WNCC added three more runs in the ninth. Gladysh led off with a solo home run. Cooper than doubled and scored on a Vaughn Wilson single. Wilson scored the final run on a Kobayakawa double for the final score.
WNCC outhit the Plainsmen 16-5 and had eight extra base hits. Kobayakawa and Caciari each had three hits in the contest. Both had doubles while Caciari had three RBIs. Burgess, Gladysh, and Cooper all had two hits. Gladysh had two home runs with three RBIs and three runs scored. Cooper had two doubles with two runs scored and an RBI. Burgess had a home run with three RBIs.
The pitching staff was excellent as well. Clayden Brandon went seven innings in tossing five hits, five runs, and striking out three. Austin Neeley tossed the final two innings in not allowing a hit or run while striking out four.
WNCC 110 201 503 – 13 16 3
NJC 002 210 000 – 5 5 1
WP – Clayden Brandon.
2B – Austin Cooper 2, Calab Caciari, Kin Kobayakawa.
HR – Catcher Gladysh 2, Cooper Burgess, Jase Satterfield.
WNCC softball opens regionals Friday against Otero
WNCC comes into the tournament with a 25-23 record and is the third seed in the tournament. The Cougars will open tournament play Friday at 3:30 p.m. MST against second-seeded Otero College. Otero is 24-17 on the season.
WNCC head coach Courtney Medina said the key for the Cougars at regionals to bring home a regional title is to keep playing the way they have been.
“The key to this game (on Friday) and all the games is execution,” Medina said. “Executing the play at hand, staying grounded and just focusing on doing the job that’s being asked.”
What makes this an interesting tourney and any team is capable of winning. Top seed McCook Community College opens the tournament when they face No. 4 Trinidad State College at 12 noon on Friday. Play continues Saturday with the championship game slated for Sunday at 11 a.m. MST. The winner qualifies for the national tournament in Yuma, Colorado, May 14-21.
The last time WNCC won a regional title was in 2019 when they went 35-20. Medina said this team can win another title if they play Cougar ball.
“We need to keep playing Cougar softball and stay true to our culture,” she said. “This group is very selfless and play their best softball when they’re competing and playing hard for each other. So, we just need to keep doing those things.”
WNCC is one of the hottest teams in the tournament having won 14 straight matches, beginning with an 8-7 win over Otero on March 28. After that win, WNCC reeled off another 13 straight that included two wins each against Ft. Hays Tech Northwest and Lamar Community College. WNCC then swept NJC and Luna and won the first game against McCook 12-4 last weekend.
Medina has seen plenty of improvement of the team through the season. WNCC was 4-10 through February and allowed three teams to score 10 or more runs during that stretch. Now, the Cougars have a streak of 19 straight games where they have held their opponent under 10 runs.
“They have improved tremendously since the beginning of the season in terms of playing and their ability to get well with each other,” Medina said. “They have always been great people and awesome culture kids, but now that they’ve been outside for a while, it’s nice to see their softball ability really shine through. They make everything really fun.”
That fun is having themes on road trips and the theme for the road trip to regionals was “wiggin’ out”. That wiggin theme shows how close this team is and every player has come into a game and provided something at some key moment.
“We have a great culture and 1-19 are important to us and important to playing hard,” Medina said. “It would mean a lot but we’re just trying to take care of playing good softball and not think about anything other than competing well and playing Cougar ball.”
During the month of April, WNCC has outscored their opponents 170-50. Otero, the team’s first-round opponent, have one three straight and are 8-4 in April. Otero went 2-2 against McCook, including falling 20-3 and 20-5, while beating the Indians 7-3 and 6-4.
WNCC also went 2-2 against McCook, winning 12-6 and 7-6, while falling 9-1 and 7-4.
Otero won the series against WNCC 3-1 the end of March, All four games were competitive contests. Otero won the first three 13-10, 4-1, and 7-6 before the Cougars got the fourth game 8-7.
WNCC has a team batting average of .345 while holding their opponents to .324. WNCC has scored 328 runs this season while allowing their opponents 269. The Cougars have more doubles, triples, and home runs against their opponents. The Cougars have 89 doubles this season while they have 19 triples and 14 home runs.
WNCC’s Tina Horton leads the team with 12 doubles followed by Randi Mitchell with 10. JoLee Huffaker leads with six triples, while Mykah Klumpp and Lydia Tibbals each has five home runs.
WNCC has four players hitting .400 or better on the season. Faythe Lafirenza leads the team at .410 followed by JoLee Huffaker at .403, Lydia Tibbals at .402, and Sierra Hilgner at .400. Right behind them is Tina Horton at .395, Randi Mitchell at .377 and Kallie Stocking at .359.
The pitching has really been solid for the team as the team has a 4.63 team. Kayli Cooper leads with a 3.29 ERA and 16-7 record while Kallie Stocking has a 4.42 ERA and Jenika Fuentes at 4.79.
