The Western Nebraska Community College softball team used two home runs to capture the opening game of its contest with McCook Community College, but then had trouble stringing hits together in game two, as the two Region IX teams split a doubleheader Wednesday at Volunteer Field.
Jacqui Cappuccilli and Megan Bourdon had all the scoring in the first game as the Cougars squeaked out a 4-2 win. The second game saw the McCook Indians outhit the Cougars 11-8 in registering a 5-3 win.
McCook head coach Liz Jacoby said this is the best her team has played this year and it was a strong defense and stellar pitching that gave McCook its first win over the Cougars in at least six years.
"It was a big win for us. I think we have done a lot of things today that we haven't been doing, especially on defense," Jacoby said. "We are usually averaging three errors a game and the kids came out and played errorless defense and the pitching is what made the difference."
WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff knew that this wasn't going to be an easy game, and she was right. WNCC's late-inning comebacks ran out of gas on Wednesday.
" Like I said, they [McCook] have been playing really well and I give them a ton of credit," Winn-Ratliff said. "We don't live off of off-speed pitching very well with the two kids that she threw. The kid that she threw in game two at their place, we hit really well. You have to give Coach Jacoby a ton of credit, she came in with a game plan and it worked. We wouldn't be disciplined at the plate and just put the ball into play; we were trying to put the ball out of the park. "I didn't think we played extremely well in Columbus and Tuesday against North Platte. We were just fortunate enough to pick up some Ws from experience. Your luck eventually runs out and for us today it ran out."
Jacoby said her team is improving each game and Wednesday they showed what kind of team they can be when they play to their full potential.
"We are getting better. Last year was kind of a rebuilding year for our program and this year I have most of the same kids; it is just how much better they have gotten. from the past year," she said. "Coach Winn has a great team up here and when we can play with a team like that, we are doing the right things especially when we are getting toward the end of the year."
Both games were barnburners. In the first game, WNCC got on the board first as Jacqui Cappuccilli blasted a solo home run over the right centerfield fence for the quick 1-0 lead. The lead stayed that way until the fifth inning when the offense cranked up for both squads.
McCook tied the game in the top of the frame as Dani Minor singled and scored on a Jackie Stickley base hit.
WNCC came right back in the bottom of the frame with three runs on three hits. Aria Agle started things with a single followed by Mariah Faifer earning a walk. Megan Bourdon then came through with a 3-run home run over the right centerfield fence to put WNCC up 4-1.
McCook didn't fade as they made a run in the sixth inning. Ashalla Dyer started things with a single, followed by Jennifer Zulkanycz earning a walk. Natasha Coons came through with a 2-out single to load the bases. Danae McCorkle drove in the first run with a single. WNCC catcher Jocelyn Stubbs made a sensational play on a foul ball to end the treat of any more runs.
Ashton Hughes picked up the win in the circle, allowing eight hits and two runs. Hughes only struck out five and walked three.
WNCC managed just six hits in the contest. Bourdon went 1-for-2 with a home run, three RBIs and a walk. The only other extra base hits came from Cappuccilli with a home run and Stubbs with a double.
The second game saw the Cougars strand five batters in scoring position, failing to come up with the big hit to score runs. McCook, on the other hand, came up with the big hits. McCook struck first with a 3-run second inning that saw the Indians pound out five hits, including a big double by Kali Lyons that came with a foot of going out.
WNCC started slicing away at the lead wiht a single run in the fourth as Jordan Schoepflin singles followed by a double by Stubbs to put runners in scoring position with one out. Aria Agle came through with a run-scoring single for the first run of the game, but that was it for the Cougars in the inning.
McCook answered WNCC's single run with two of their own in the fifth inning as Stickley singled and scored on a home run by Veronica Castro to increase the lead to 5-1.
WNCC added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The fifth was the Cougars biggest scoring threat as Ashton Hughes led off with a single and scored on a one-out base hit by Bourdon. Sarah Hawryluk was then punked by a pitch, but both were stranded.
The Cougars' mounted a good run in the sixth as well with both Stubbs and Bree Bitton earning walks to start the inning. But pinch runner Amanda Saldivar was the only one to score on a sacrifice fly by Hughes.
Amanda Jones took the loss in the circle, going all seven innings and giving up five runs and 11 hits. Jones struck out one and walked just one.
Bourdon led the Cougars at the plate with a 2-for-3 game with two singles, a walk and a RBI. Stubbs had the only other extra base hit with a double.
The loss drops the Cougars to 34-11 on the season, but more importantly, the loss dropped the Cougars out of first place in the conference race. WNCC will look to get back on the winning track this weekend when they host conference-leading Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday at 11 a.m. followed by Otero Junior College on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Winn-Ratliff said this conference has gotten better.
"This competition is competitive that if you don't show up to play both games of a doubleheader, you are not going to win," she said. "I felt we were fortunate to win the first game. We have to get better and we have two big teams coming in this weekend that could be momentum differences in the conference as far as the tournament seatings."
First Game
McCook 000 011 0 -- 2 8 0
WNCC 100 050 x -- 4 6 0
WP -- Ashton Hughes; LP -- Veronica Castro; 2B -- WNCC (Jocelyn Stubbs); HR -- WNCC (Jacqui Cappuccilli, Megan Bourdon).
Second Game
McCook 030 020 0 -- 5 11 1
WNCC 000 111 0 -- 3 8 1
WP -- Dani Minor; LP Amanda Jones, S -- Castro; 2B -- WNCC (Stubbs), McCook (Kali Lyons); HR -- McCook (Castro).
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