Tuesday, February 17, 2009

WNCC splits with Pratt Community College

PRATT, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team showed some offensive power Tuesday, splitting a pair of games from Pratt Community College.

WNCC lost the first game 11-4, but rebounded with a 20-10 thumping of Pratt in game two.

“We have a lot of offensive potential,” WNCC coach Mike Jones said. “Over the weekend, we were trying too hard. We were being over aggressive and we were making aggressive mistakes, which is good. You can be aggressive and make those mistakes, but once we become more disciplined, we will be a powerful offense.”

The Cougars, after dropping two games to No. 25 Seward County Community College on Monday, are pleased to get won number one under their belt.

“They are happy to get that first win under their belt. They understand we have a lot of things to work on,” Jones said. “We knew coming in we were going to make a lot of mistakes early. They are away of the mistakes that we made and they understand we have things to fix. Overall, they are happy to get the first win and I think they will be happy to get back to work and play a little better next weekend.”

The second game, in particular, saw a different team on the field. The team put up 20 runs on nine hits. Only two of the hits were extra base hits, including a fourth inning lead-off home run by Alex Arias. The other extra base hit came from Aurelio Monteagudo.

Monteagudo led the team from the plate, going 4-for-5, including four RBIS. Arias went 1-for-2 with a home run.

Guernsey, Wyo., graduate David Castle picked up the win in relief of Armani Gonzalez. Castle went three innings, striking out three and allowing just two hits.

“David did pitch really well,” Jones said of the right-handed freshman hurler. “He came in and put a stop to their rally and really took command of the game.”

In the opening game, WNCC took an early lead over Pratt, leading 3-0 after two innings in the 9-inning game. Pratt struck back scoring single runs in the third and fifth inning to cut the deficit to 3-2. Pratt opened up the game in the seventh inning when the Beavers scored nine times to take a 11-3 lead.

“They strung together eight hits and they earned it,” Jones said. “We just couldn’t get an out in that inning.”

Freshman Ben Doran started the game and through really well before being relieved after five innings. Doran allowed nine hits and struck out two. Josh Parker came in and took the loss from the bull pen.

Offensively, Elvis Garcia was the only Cougar with multiple hits. Garcia went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a home run. WNCC had just six hits compared to the Beaver’s 14.

Jones said they had ever opportunity to score more runs in the first game, but couldn’t do it.

“The first game Ben Doran pitched a real good ball game as a starter and we were playing good defense behind him,” he said. “We should have put up a few more runs than we did. Overall, game one we played pretty well. I just expected us to score a few more runs.

“Game two we came out and showed more discipline on offensive. We got a lot more selective with the pitches we were swinging at and that created a lot of walks. We walked a lot and then we got good pitches to hit, we put good swings on it. We made a lot of progressive.”

Game One
WNCC 210 000 001 – 4 6 2
Pratt 001 010 90x – 11 14 4
LP – Josh Parker. HR – Elvis Garcia

Game Two
WNCC (1-3) 060 741 2 – 20 9 4
Pratt 300 142 0 – 10 13 3
WP – David Castle (1-0); 2B – Aurelio Monteagudo; HR – Alex Arias.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good job guys...it will only get better. Get the bats going and get the defense going and it's in the bag.