WNCC baseball drops two games to Northeastern on Sunday, falls to fifth in conference standings

STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team finds themselves behind the eight ball after dropping 3 of 4 games to Northeastern Junior College over the weekend, including falling twice to the Plainsmen on Sunday.

And, what makes the losses hard to swallow is the fact the Cougars could have won Sunday’s contests, falling 10-9 in eight innings in the first game and 3-1 in the second game.

“We had plenty of chances to win the ball games,” WNCC coach Mike Jones said. “In the first game, we put together a big rally and came back and made it a one run game. We were then able to get another run on the board and get it tied. Even in the extra innings, we had an inning there where we could have scored, but we couldn’t come up with the big hit.

“In the second game, we had plenty of opportunities. We had guys in scoring position a lot and couldn’t come up with any hits. Late in the ball game, it was a 1-1 game and we had the bases loaded with one out. Unfortunately we had a batter strike out and then the next guy hit a ground out to end the inning. We definitely had our chances.”

NJC took a commanding 9-2 lead after four innings and seemed to be in control. But, the Cougars found their offense, plating six runs in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 9-8. WNCC tied the game in the seventh inning to force extra innings.

Chris Hook had the big offensive game, blasting a 3-run home run in the fifth to bring the Cougars back. Aurelio Monteagudo and Greg Crowe paced the Cougars from the plate with 3-for-4 games. Monteagudo also had two runs scored and a double. Crowe finished the game with a double, three RBIs and a run scored.

Also collecting multiple hits was Dustin Javins, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double.

Marco Jimenez took the loss on the mound, pitching the final inning. Jimenez allowed three hits in the contest. Jackson Salazar started, scattering eight hits and striking out four.

The second game was a little bit better for the Cougars as they opened the scoring with a single run in the second inning as Luis Caprilles scored on a Javins hit. The lead stayed that way until the fifth inning when NJC tied the game at 1-1. The Plainsmen won the game with two runs in the sixth inning.

The Cougars managed just for hits in the game off the bats of Caprilles, Crowe, Rich Miller, Norbert Susini.

Kyler Edgehouse took the loss on the mound despite pitching well. Edgehouse scattered five hits, while striking out six.

With the losses, the Cougars fall to 8-10 and to fifth place in conference play. Only the top four teams in the conference standings qualify for the Region IX playoffs.

“This was a bad week for us. We lost five out of six games, which really hurt us in the standings,” Jones said. “We dropped quite a bit in the standings and we are now playing catch-up. It puts a lot of pressure on us during this home stand over the next three weeks. We need to show up and play well and win some ball games.”

Northeastern Colorado holds down the top spot with a 12-6 conference record followed by Lamar Community College (11-7), Otero Junior College (10-8) and Trinidad State Junior College (9-9). WNCC is fifth at 8-10 followed by McCook bringing up the rear at 4-14.

If the Cougars are hoping to make the regional playoffs, they will need to change their fortunes in games at home beginning this weekend when they host Otero in a four-game set.

“This weekend is really, really big,” Jones said. “Otero sits there 10-8 and we are at 8-10 and that is a big swing. We will see what happens.”

First, though, the Cougars have a scheduled game with Colorado State on Wednesday at Cleveland Field, weather permitting. First pitch of that game will be at 3 p.m.

Weather is not looking good right now [for the CSU game], especially with snow in the forecast for Wednesday,” Jones said. “That is OK. We will then get some practice in indoors and get focused for this weekend.”

First Game

WNCC 020 000 10 – 9 11 3

NE Colorado 030 600 01 – 10 11 2

LP – Jimenez; 2B – A. Monteagudo, Javins, Crowe; HR – Hook.

Second Game

WNCC (18-19) 010 000 0 – 1 4 1

NE Colorado (24-10) 000 012 x – 3 5 2

LP – Edgehouse;

Conference Standings

College Conference Overall

NE Colorado 12 - 6 24 – 10

Lamar C.C. 11 - 7 16 – 15

Otero J.C. 10 – 8 17 – 21

Trinidad State 9 – 9 24 – 16

Western Nebraska 8 – 10 18 - 19

McCook C.C. 4 – 14 14 – 26

This Week’s Games

Wednesday

McCook at Northeastern Colorado
Lamar at Trinidad State
Garden City at Otero
Colorado State at Western Nebraska

Saturday’s Games

Northeastern Colorado at McCook C.C.
Trinidad State at Lamar C.C.
Otero J.C. at Western Nebraska

Sunday’s Games
Northeastern Colorado at McCook C.C.
Trinidad State at Lamar C.C.
Otero J.C. at Western Nebraska