The Cougars scored six times in the second inning and Kelsey Garner recorded nine strikeouts to lift WNCC to an 8-4 first-game win. In the second of a twinbill, Garner and Casey Simpson combined for nine strike outs in powering the Cougars to a 9-3 win and raising their overall record to 27-15. It was WNCC’s seventh straight victory.
“For us, we want to be Region IX champions and not just the regular season champs,” WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “We want to prove to everyone that we are good enough that we can be a champion. All week we just told them to do what we do and it will take care of itself. The pressure is off of us. We have proved we should be a co-champion, if not champion. We will see what happens this weekend if Dawson finds a way to take one from Lamar and that puts us in the No. 1 seed [entering the regional tournament]. I don’t know if that matters in the tournament, but it is a lot of pride and shows where our program is going and where we want it going such as back-to-back champions. “
Saturday’s doubleheader sweep, and last home game of the season, brought how many heroes throughout the line up.
“Casey threw well. She had a couple of bumps in the road, but we knew they were going to score runs because they hit the ball well. They hit the ball well in the first game, too. It was just a matter of when were we going to come out of our shell and put some things together,” Winn-Ratliff said. “Alec [Voci] comes up with a big double in the second game to start off a big inning. She hasn’t seen a lot of time and that was great for her, especially on sophomore day.
“We were just piecing things together today. All-in-all, it is about bending and not breaking, and we did that again today. They went up early in both games and we allowed ourselves to do what we do best to get back in the game. I thought at the plate we were much more patient with the count. We lowered our strikeouts from the last time we played them and made their pitchers work a lot harder than before. We won twice [earlier this season] at their place but the games were in the seventh inning. It is nice that we didn’t have to rely on those big seventh-inning, hero-type games. We saw some kids do some things that hadn’t been doing things.”
In the opener, Trinidad State got on the board as Alyse Billick hammered a Garner fast-ball over the fence for a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
WNCC responded quickly, plating six runs in the bottom of the second inning to lead 6-1. The inning started as Alyssa Hickey was plunked by a pitch. A couple of batters later, Katie Groves rapped out a single that scored two runs. After Lauryn Smith got on by an error, Adena Hagen singled scoring another run.
WNCC added two insurance runs in the fifth inning to go up 8-1. Brittany Chacon had a two-out double off the fence to start the rally. Groves then roped a triple down the rightfield line and scored on an overthrow to third base.
Trinidad sliced the lead in half with three runs in the seventh, including a 3-run home run by Leah Hanson.
Garner picked up the win in the circle, allowing just four hits while striking out 10.
WNCC finished the contest with eight hits. Groves went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a triple, while Hagen went 2-for-4. Chacon finished the contest 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double.
Garner also picked up the win in the second contest in relief of Simpson. Garner entered with a 3-1 deficit and faced just nine batters, striking out six.
In the meantime, the Cougar bats woke up after falling behind 3-1 in the fifth inning. The bottom half of the frame saw the Cougars score four times to jump in front 5-3. Tonya Atenciio started things with a single followed by Chacon earning a walk. Then, with one out, Lauryn Smith tripled to left field to tie the score.
After Smith scored on a passed ball, Kelly Pearson single to right field to score Hagen for the fifth run.
WNCC added another four runs it the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Voci started things with a hard-hit double to left centerfield. Groves later had a run-scoring single, followed by back-to-back, run-scoring doubles by Smith and Hagen for the final margin.
Garner gets the win, allowing no hits and getting six strike outs in three innings of work. Simpson allowed just six hits and struck out three in her time in the circle.
WNCC finished with 10 hits, led by Smith and Hagen with two hits each. Smith was 2-for-4 with a double, triple, two runs scored and three RBIs, while Hagen was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a double, RBI, and a stolen base.
WNCC (27-15) will next be in action later this week when they face Friends College J.V on Thursday, followed by contests with Sterling College J.V , Colby Community College and the 2-day Colby Tournament.
First Game
Trinidad
WNCC
WP – Garner, LP – Julia Diehl; 2B – WNCC (Chacon; 3B – WNCC (Groves); HR – Trinidad (Billick, Hanson).
Second Game
Trindiad (21-16)
WNCC (27-15) 000 144 x – 9 10 2
WP – Garner, LP – Rachel Lovato; 2B – WNCC (Smith, Hagen, Voci); 3B – WNCC (Smith).
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