WNCC softball opens regionals with win over Lamar, Bourdon set new school home run record

               LAMAR, Colo. -- Megan Bourdon set a school record and the Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened the Region IX tournament on a good note, stopping Lamar Community College 3-0 to advance in the tournament Friday in Lamar, Colo.

               Bourdon hammered her 18th home run of the season with a first-inning home run, breaking the record by Katie Groves set in 2009 and received a complete game, shut out performance from Ashton Hughes to stay in the winner's bracket of regionals.

               The 20th-ranked Cougars, 49-13, advance to play Trinidad State Junior College, who was a 9-1 winner over Otero Junior College. Other scores in the tournament saw Lamar drop McCook 13-5 in eight innings and Otero defeat Dawson 8-5.

               WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said they got the win, that is all that matters.

               "Ashton threw OK. She threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. Defensively we are still making mistakes. We just found a way to pull out another W," she said. "We are talking about going one pitch and one game at a time. We need to get good at bats and get a good performance in the circle."

               After Bourdon's first inning home run, the score stayed 1-0 until the fifth inning when the Cougars added two more runs. Mariah Faifer led off with a walk and scored on a single by Bourdon. Bourdon scored the third run of the game on a single by Sarah Hawryluk.

               WNCC managed seven hits in the contest. Bourdon went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a home run. Amanda Saldivar and Hawryluk each collected to singles in the contest.

               Hughes stifled the Lamar hitters, scattering four hits while striking out seven.

               Saturday's tournament schedule has Dawson facing Lamar at 11 a.m., McCook facing Otero at 1 p.m., Trinidad facing WNCC at 5 p.m., and the winners of the 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. game facing each at 5 p.m.

               The tournament championship is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday. Tournament games are being video streamed live at www.lamartvcolorado.com.

Lamar                   000 000 0 -- 0 4 1

WNCC (49-13)    100 020 x -- 3 7 3

WP -- Ashton Hughes; HR -- Megan Bourdon.