WNCC baseball team suffers a pair of losses in tournament

  The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team suffered a pair of losses in the South Mountain tournament on Friday.
               The Cougars had a rough middle two innings in dropping an 11-6 game to Glendale Community College in the first game. WNCC came back and gave up early runs in suffering a 5-2 setback to South Mountain Community College to finish pool play with a 1-3 record. WNCC will play Scottsdale Community College at noon for third place.
               The Cougars will face  Friday afternoon in the Southern Mountain tournament in Phoenix, Ariz               WNCC coach Mike Jones said they had a rough day, despite playing a little better against South Mountain then Glendale.
               “We gave up a lot of big hits and Glendale is a team that runs the bases really well,” Jones said. “They are really aggressive and unfortunately we made a couple bad pitches at the wrong time and they were able to capitalize on them. “
               Against South Mountain, Jones said they had their chances.
               "We played really good. [Carlos] Luzon pitched really well and we played really good defense behind him. We are just struggling to score runs. Pitching and defense was excellent. South Mountain has a good team and we just have to find a way to score runs.
               South Mountain struck first, scoring single runs in the first and third inning for a 2-0 lead. WNCC cut the deficit in half with a run in the fourth. Kevin Sanford singled and later scored on a 2-out single by Benly Ramos.
               South Mountain responded right back with two runs in bottom of the frame. WNCC came back with another run in the fifth, as Sanford scored Paul Singh with a double to left field. That was all the scoring WNCC would manage despite having opportunities in the sixth and ninth innings.
               Missed scoring opportunities hurt the team once again, Jones said.
               "As an offensive team we are still struggling," he said. "Being on this trip and getting a chance to play every day, you can see that we are starting to figure some things out. But, we still have a ways to go."
               Luzon took the loss on the mound going 6.2 innings in scattering eight hits and giving up four runs. Jake Stutzman finished the game going 1.1 innings in allowing a run and a hit.
               "Luzon pitched well and kept them off balance. He was mixing up all his pitches in all different counts," Jones said. "He had them baffled for the entire game, really."
               WNCC pounded out seven hits in the contest with Sanford and Ramos each getting three hits. Sanford finished with a run scored, RBI and a double, while Ramos three singles and a RBI.
               In the opener, Glendale broke on top first, scoring twice in the second on three hits. WNCC bounced back in the third, scoring four times on four hits. Jose Villafane, Trevor Kreisel and Paul Singh all singled to load the bases. Camilo Baldelomar then unloaded the bases, driving in all three runs with a triple to right field to help WNCC take a 5-2 lead.
               The lead stayed that way until the fifth when Glendale scored four times to retake the lead at 6-4. Glendale added two more in the sixth for an 8-4 lead. WNCC cut the deficit in half with two runs in the eighth on two hits. Kreisel started things by drawing a walk and came around to score on a Kevin Sanford single. Baldelomar stole home later.
               Any hopes of a comeback were dashed in the bottom of the eighth as Glendale scored three more times for the 11-6 win.

Tim Beard suffered the loss on the mound, going five innings in allowing six runs on eight hits.

Offensively, WNCC managed just seven hits in the contest. Baldelomar paced the team with a 2-for-3 day including two runs scored and three RBIs. Kreisel also had a good game, going 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

               Jones said it was disappointing of the two losses, especially how well they played Thursday in the 3-0 win over Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

“We played so well yesterday,” Jones said. “The great thing is that we showed yesterday of how good we can be. We know what is there; we just have to work on being more consistent and showing up every single day and playing the best baseball we can. Right now we are really inconsistent. The talent and knowledge is there, we just have to work on our focus and confidence more than anything.”

First Game
WNCC                  004 000 020 – 6 7 3
Glendale              020 042 203 – 11 11 0
LP – Tim Beard; 3B – Camilo Baldelomar.

Second Game
WNCC                  000 110 000 -- 2 7 0
S. Mountain        101 200 01x -- 5 9 1
LP -- Carlos Luzon; 2B -- Kevin Sanford