WNCC baseball team drops another close game at McCook

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, of the Star-Herald.

MCCOOK - The recent theme of close games not ending in favor of the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team continued Wednesday afternoon as the Cougars dropped a 5-3 decision at McCook Community College.

It was WNCC's sixth loss in a row. The last five of those losses have all been by two runs or less.

"We just got outplayed today. McCook is fighting for a playoff spot and played with a little bit more intensity. We didn't handle it very well," WNCC coach Mike Jones said. "We need to understand that we can't let our guard down just because we have a little bit of a lead for a playoff spot. We're at the point in the season right now where everybody's fighting for a playoff spot and we need to be ready to play."

The good news for the Cougars is they still maintain a bit of a cushion in the race for the regional playoffs. WNCC is now third in the standings behind Lamar Community College and Trinidad State Junior College. The Cougars are five games clear of McCook in the loss column. McCook moved into fourth place just ahead of Otero Junior College. The top four teams in the standings advance to the regional tournament.

Against McCook on Wednesday, the Cougars mustered just five hits. One of those hits came off the bat of Elvis Garcia, who blasted a solo home run in the top of the first to put WNCC in front 1-0.

WNCC's lead grew to 3-1 in the fourth after Camilo Baldelomar drove in a pair of runs. However, McCook answered with one run in the bottom of the inning before plating three runs in the fifth to take the lead for good.

Carlos Luzon took the loss on the mound for WNCC. He allowed five runs and struck out two in 4 2/3 innings of work. McCook finished the game with 13 hits.

The Cougars, now 11-8 in the conference and 17-27 overall, will host Otero in a crucial four-game series this weekend. Doubleheader action on both Saturday and Sunday will begin at noon at Cleveland Field in Scottsbluff.

"These games are going to important," Jones said. "We're a good team when we are focused and hungry. We weren't very hungry today and McCook sure was. It's just that mentality you have to come out with for every game."

All six teams in the conference will be in action against each other this weekend. In addition to the WNCC-Otero series, McCook will play Northeastern Junior College and Lamar will battle Trinidad State.

WNCC 100 200 000 - 3 5 0
McCook 010 130 00x - 5 13 0
LP - Carlos Luzon.
HR - Elvis Garcia.