Friday, April 12, 2013

WNCC softball gets five home runs, sweeps Trinidad



              The 17th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College softball team hammered five home runs and captured a doubleheader from Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday afternoon at Volunteer Field.
               In the opener, Danielle Hearn, Bianca Duran and Kasey Cash each hammered homers in leading the Cougars to the 14-4, five-inning win. In the second game, Cash pounded her 18th home run this season and Nicole Weiss added a solo shot as the Cougars shut-out Trinidad State 8-0.
               The wins were the Cougars 13th straight. More importantly, pushed the Cougars to 14-2 in conference play. The 34-7 Cougars will next be in action Tuesday when they travel to McCook for a conference doubleheader.
               Saturday wins were definitely a team win, both offensively and defensively.
               "I think we played really well and we played as a team," sophomore Danielle Hearn said. "It wasn't just one person's effort, it was everyone's. We did really good in stringing base hits together and capitalizing on their defensive errors. Our defense also did amazing and I think our pitching staff did really good. They gave us ground balls and pop files. The pitching staff stood out today."
               Offensively, the Cougars pounded out 24 hits with half going for extra bases. Hearn said the offense came around from top to bottom in the line-up.
               "We did really good both games of stringing hits together," Hearn, who had a home run in game one, said. "When we had people on base, we did our role and had to get base hits. We did really good in pounding the ball."
               Defensively, WNCC did another stellar job. In the second game, Trinidad failed to get a runner on third base. Then, in the first game, WNCC thwarted plenty of Trojan scoring opportunities, stranding Trojan runners at third base in three of the five innings.
               Duran picked up both wins in the circle. In the opener, Duran went three innings in allowing two runs on five hits and striking out two. RaVae Herrera finished off the game, tossing two innings in allowing two runs on four hits and striking out two.
               Duran was even more stellar in the second game. The right-hander allowed just two hits in five innings of work while striking out four.
               WNCC allowed just single runs in the first and second innings and two runs in the fifth inning in game one. Offensively, WNCC's bats started exploding right out of the gate. Duran and Cash started the game with singles and both scored on a Jennifer Cottle 2-run single for a 2-1 lead. After Trinidad tied the game at 2-2, WNCC game back with four runs in the second and six in the third for a 12-2 lead.
               The second innings saw Hearn starts things with a solo home run. Herrera followed with a double that hit the bottom of the fence. Duran then smashed a 2-run home run that one-hopped the second fence. Cash and Angel Council kept the extra base hitting alive with back-to-back doubles for the 6-2 lead.
               The third inning saw Cash smash a 3-run home run over left-centerfield for a 9-2 lead. Council followed with a double and Cottle a single. Both scored on a hit by Shepherd that scooted by the right-fielder and Shepherd ended up standing on third.
               Duran and Cash each had three this, three runs scored and three RBIs in the game. Cottle also had three this with two EBIs and a double, while Council and Hearn each had two hits. Hearn also scored three runs.
               WNCC kept the offense going in the second game, WNCC scored three runs in the opening inning off a 2-run double by Cottle. The Cougars added two more runs in the second as Weiss led off with a solo home run followed by doubles by Herrera and Duran for a 5-0 lead.
               WNCC put the game away in the fourth with three runs on three hits. The big hit was Cash's 18th home run of the season, a 3-run bomb to centerfield for the 8-0 lead.
               Cash and Duran each had two hits in the contest. Cash had two runs scored, three RBIs and a home run, while Duran scored twice from her lead-off batting position.

First Game
Trinidad               110 02 -- 4 9 1
WNCC                  246 2x -- 14 16 2
WP -- Bianca Duran; 2B -- Kasey Cash, Angel Council, Jennifer Cottle, RaVae Herrera; HR -- Duran, Cash, Danielle Hearn.     

Second Game
Trinidad               000 00 -- 0 2 0
WNCC                  320 3x -- 8 8 2
WP -- Duran; 2B -- Duran, Jennifer Cottle, RaVae Herrera; HR -- Cash, Nicole Weiss.




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