WNCC baseball splits with Northeastern Junior College

                The Western Nebraska Community College and Northeastern Junior College baseball teams know how important it is for their teams to capture wins in conference plays.

               Both squads are looking for a playoff spot in the Empire Conference and Saturday's contest did little to help each other as the two squads split a doubleheader at Cleveland Field.

               In the opener, WNCC pounded out 11 hits and Jeff Schmitt tossed a four-hitter as the Cougars registered a commanding 9-1 win. The second game saw NJC score a single run in the seventh inning and then held on despite a WNCC seventh-inning rally to register the 4-3 win.

               WNCC coach Mike Jones said that the split still kept the Cougars in a hunt for a playoff as they still trail Otero Junior College by a half of game. Otero is fourth and in the final playoff spot.

               "A sweep would have been great, but getting a split keeps us in it," WNCC coach Mike Jones said. "We are still in it. We have plenty of baseball left. We are starting to gain some momentumand starting to play better."

               WNCC easily could have captured the sweep, especially how they came out and dominated game one.

               "We came out and played well in both games today," WNCC coach Mike Jones said. 'The first game was really good. We had a lot of scoring opportunities that we really capitalized on. We really put it together offensively."

               As much as the Cougars excelled in in the first game, the second game saw the Cougars fall on the short end.

               "The first three innings were pretty sloppy," Jones said. "We game them a lot of base runners with walks. Unfortunately we can't defend a walk. We need to be able to throw strikes and make them put the ball in play."

               WNCC quickly took control of the game in the first as Paul Singh, Nelson Quintero and Camilo Baldelomar all singled to load the bases. Singh scored the first run on a fielder's choice hit by Reiner Alamberry. Quintero later scored another run for the 2-0 lead.

               The Cougars added a single run in the third before opening up the game with four runs in the fourth. Baldelomar doubled in the first run of the fourth, scoring Jacob Montoya. Later, Baldelomar scored on an Alamberry hit for the 7-0 lead.

               WNCC plated two more runs in the fifth on three hits. The big hit was a run-scoring double by Montoya. Montoya later scored on a single by Singh.

               WNCC had four players finish with multiple hits. Nelson Quintero led the way with a 3-for-4 game with three runs scored. Camilo Baldelomar finished the game with a 2-for-2 stint at the plate with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.

               Paul Singh and Reiner Alamberry each went 2-for-3. Singh had two runs scored and a RBI, while Alamberry had three RBIs.

               The second game started out ragged as the first two innings feature a combined six walks and not hits as WNCC held a 2-1 lead.

               NJC came back to tie the game at 2-2 with a run in the third. NJC took the lead with a run in the fifth at 3-2 only to see the Cougars came back to tie the game with a single run at 3-3. Singh walked and scored on a 2-out single by Alamberry.

               The Plainsmen scored the the go-ahead run in the seventh on just one hit with Josh Montano scored on a sacrifice fly by Greg Cleary. WNCC mounted a seventh inning comeback, loading the bases on two walks and a single by Baldelomar, but couldn't the equalizing run across.

               Terry McNabb took the loss on the mound, going four innings and giving up two runs and three hits. McNabb also struck out six in the loss. Trevor Kriesel started on the mound and went three innings, giving up two runs, two hits, and walking five.

               WNCC managed six hits in the contest, led by Montoya's 3-for-3 game. Singh went 0-for-2 in the game, but had two runs scored an dtwo walks.

               WNCC, 13-23, will next be in action Tuesday when they host Colorado State University. They will then host McCook Community College in another conference game.

               "We need to let this one go and get ready for the next one," Jones said. "We have a lot of baseball this week."

First Game

NJC                       000 000 1 -- 1 4 2

WNCC                  201 420 x -- 9 11 1

WP -- Jeff Schmitt; 2B -- Camilo Baldelomar, Ray Tiel, Jacob Montoya.

Second Game

NJC                       101 010 1 -- 4 5 0

WNCC                  200 010 0 -- 3 6 0

LP -- Terry McNabb.

Empire Conference Standings

Team                          Conf                Overall

Lamar                        14-2                21-11

Trinidad                     8-5                  24-13

McCook                     8-6                  16-14

Otero                         6-9                  23-15

WNCC                        6-10                13-23

NJC                             5-15                17-26