The Western Nebraska Community College pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts in shutting out Dawson Community College in a doubleheader at Volunteer Field Friday afternoon. In the opener, Kelsey Garner struck out 12 and allowed three hits in leading the Cougars to the 4-0 win. The second game saw Casey Simpson and Stephanie Townsend combine on a 5-inning, no-hitter in the Cougars 9-0 win that pushed the Cougars to 5-1 in conference play and 18-12 overall.
Both teams will be back at it Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. It will be Schleroderma Awareness Day, where all proceeds go to the Schleroderma Foundation.
Friday’s action definitely was controlled by the Cougar pitchers.
“We kept them off balance and didn’t let them get any good hits. All three of us did a good job,” Garner said. “I was pretty satisfied with the way I pitched and I can’t really complain.”
The Cougars defense also shined in the opening contest behind Garner’s sizzling pitching performance. Garner quickly set the tone by striking out eight of the first 11 batters. In the meantime, the Cougars bats scratched across four early runs.
WNCC scored once in the first as Adena Hagen had a double and scored on a Katie Groves single to right field for a 1-0 lead.
Actually, that was all the runs WNCC really needed with Garner in the circle. But, the Cougars added three more runs in the third. Kelly Pearson led off with a double. Groves followed by reaching base on an error and then Sofia Gomez singled to load the bases.
Alyssa Hickey scored two runs with a double to left field and Garner helped her own cause by roping a single for the 4-0 lead.
WNCC finished the first game with 10 hits. They also left five runners in scoring position. Hagen led the team with a 2-for-4 performance, including two doubles and a run scored. Gomez finished 2-for-3. Pearson, Hickey and Tonya Atencio each added a double in the contest.
Garner said they struggled against Dawson’s pitcher Megan Dewar.
“Their first pitcher kept us off balance,” Garner said. “She was throwing some junk, but we didn’t hit the ball as solid as we did the second game.”
Game two was definitely a different story for the Cougars, both offensively and defensively. First off, Casey Simpson was masterful in the circle, picking up the win in going four innings and striking out four. Simpson allowed just one base runner as Amanda Morris reached first in the fourth inning on a throwing error.
Other than that, WNCC just nickel-and-dimed the Buccaneers to the tune of nine runs on 10 hits.
WNCC opened the contest by plating two runs in the first inning. Pearson led off by drawing a walk and scored on a Groves single to center field. Groves came around to score on a Hickey single to right field.
WNCC added four more runs in the second inning. Atencio led off with a single. Pearson followed by reaching base on an error. With two outs, Groves and Gomez had run-scoring singles to help WNCC to a 6-0 lead.
The Cougars added a single run in the third on two hits, and then plated two more runs in the fourth. The fourth inning saw Garner start things by drawing a walk. Garner scored after Lauryn Smith roped a triple to left field. Smith came around to score on an Atencio single.
The Cougars had a three players finish with multiple hits. Atencio, Smith and Groves all finished with 2-for-3 performances. Groves had two runs scored, a RBI and a stolen base, while Smith had a triple, two runs scored and a RBI. Atencio had two singles, run scored, a stolen base and a RBI.
The Cougars ran the bases well in the second game, recording five stolen bases.
Garner said Friday’s performance was much better than the last time the Cougars were on the field Tuesday night in a 7-6 loss to Black Hills State University.
“I think the hitting performance and the defense was way better then the last time we were on this field,” the sophomore from Regina, Saskatchewan, said. “All-around it was a better performance. It was really good when we can execute with runners on base and end up scoring them. We don’t want to leave runners in scoring position and not get them in.”
The Cougars will need to continue playing well in the doubleheader Saturday and not overlook the Dawson Squad.
“They [Dawson] have gotten better every year. They’ve seen all of our pitchers [today], so they will be ready. They will know what to expect,” she said. “We will just have to fight right back because we saw their pictures too. We just have to come out hard and score first.”
Game One
Dawson 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
WNCC 103 000 x – 4 10 1
WP – Garner, LP – Meghan Dewer; 2B – WNCC (Pearson, Hagen 2, Hickey, Atencio).
Game Two
Dawson (3-10) 000 00 – 0 0 1
WNCC (18-12) 241 2x – 9 10 1
WP – Simpson, LP – Brittany Fedler; 3B – WNCC (Smith).
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