WNCC baseball drops contest to McCook

                The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team couldn't hold onto an early lead in falling 7-4 to McCook Community College in an Empire Conference game Tuesday afternoon at Cleveland Field.

               The Cougars, who held a 4-1 lead after four innings, saw the Indians score six unanswered runs in the final five innings to secure the victory. McCook's victory keeps the Indians in the hunt to host a first-round home playoff game while the loss dips the Cougars to 6-11 in conference and 1 1/2 games behind the final playoff spot.

               WNCC coach Mike Jones said his team got comfortable with the early lead.

               "We got comfortable early in the game. We got the lead early and then we lost our intensity," Jones said. "We then started swinging at some bad pitches. We really lost the momentum of the game. They gradually put one run on the board and then another and another and they got themselves back in it. We never answered."

               Jones said playing a complete game is something that this team needs to learn to do.

               "That is the hardest part of coaching young players is getting them to understand the importance of keeping their focus and being able to do all the little things it takes to win a game," he said. "When you start losing focus of the task at hand, you start losing ball games. Unfortunately, for these guys, once they lose focus to get refocused again."

               Early on the Cougars looked as if they were hitting on all cylinders, running out to a 4-1 lead through four innings. WNCC plated two runs in the first innings as Paul Singh walked and scored on a double by Camilo Baldelomar. Baldelomar came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Sanford.

               McCook sliced the lead in half with a run in second inning, but WNCC came back with single runs in the third and fourth. SIngh led off the third with a single followed by Nelson Quintero reaching base on a bunt single. Baldelomar came through with a run-scoring double for a 3-1 lead.

               The fourth inning started with Jacob Montoya earning a walk followed by Jake Peltz getting an single. Montoya scored on a double steal as Peltz was safe at second.

               After that, though, WNCC's bats went silent, registering just two hits over the next five innings. The two hits came from Reimer Alamberry in the seventh and then Montoya in the eighth.

               McCook, on the other hand, caught fire from the plate. The Indians recorded six hits after the fourth inning, including doubles by Eric Montes, Brandon NIckolite and two doubles from Brody Hilgenkamp.

               McCook cut the deficit to one with two runs in the fifth and then tied the game in the sixth. The Indians took the lead for good in the seventh as Kyle Gamble reached on an error and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Pacheco.

               Trevor Kriesel picked up the loss in relieve of Jacob Stutzman. Stutzman started and went five innings while giving up three runs, three hits and walking two. Kriesel tossed 2 2/3 innings in allowing two runs and two hits. Bravard finished off the game, going the last 1 1/3 and allowing two runs.

               WNCC managed just eight hits in the contest, while McCook had seven hits. What aided McCook's cause was four Cougar fielding errors.

               "I didn't think we were sharp defensively," Jones said. "We didn't make a lot of errors, but i thought there were some balls that we should have got to that we didn't get to. We just looked a little sluggish, a little slow on the infield."

               WNCC had a couple of players register a multi-hit game. Alliance's Peltz went 2-for-4 with two singles, while Baldelomar went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored.

               It won't get any easier for WNCC, who is now 13-24. The Cougars will face conference-leading Lamar Community College this weekend. The Region IX finalists from a year ago will face one 9-inning game on Friday and Sunday, and two 7-inning games on Saturday.

               "We now have to go play the team that is leading the conference right know and  they have solid pitching over there at Lamar," Jones said. "We will really have to piece together good at bats full time and keep pressure on them all the time."

McCook (19-16)                010 021 120 -- 7 7 0

WNCC (13-24)                   201 100 000 -- 4 8 4

WP -- Matt Stachura, LP -- Trevor Kriesel; 2B -- WNCC (Baldelomar 2), McCook (Eric Montes, Brandon NIckolite, Brody Hilgenkamp 2).

Empire Conference Standings

Team                                   Region IX             Overall

Lamar                                  16-2                      33-11

Trinidad                              10-7                      27-16

McCook                              9-8                        19-16

Otero                                  8-11                      25-17

WNCC                                 6-11                      13-24

NJC                                      5-15                      17-26