WNCC sweeps Williston to go to 3-1 on the season

                The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team received strong pitching performances from two freshmen on Sunday as they captured a doubleheader from Williston State College at Cleveland Field.

               The Cougars won 4-2 behind a a five-inning, four-hit pitching performance from Challis Wright. Then Gia Bernal gave up five hits in five innings as the Cougars had some timely hitting to register a 5-2 in the second game.

               WNCC coach Mike Jones said Sunday was definitely better than Saturday when they split a doubleheader against Williston.

               "We had a a lot better day today," Jones said. "I still think we came out a little bit shaky at the very beginning of the first game, but once we were able to settle in and have better at bats, things got better. There guy had trouble throwing strikes and we weren't swinging the bat. Once they went to the bullpen and had a guy that threw some strikes, we were able to put some hits together."
               Jones was really impressed with the effort his freshmen starting pitchers gave.

               "We had two freshmen start the games today Challis and Gia both did outstanding jobs," he said. "They really threw a lot of strikes. Gia's strike percentage was outstanding. That was a good sign that we had freshmen go out there and settle in and compete so hard."

               Wright, the right-hander from Aurora, Colo., picked up the win in game one tossing five innings of work. He allowed four hits, while walking two and striking out two. After that, Zak Porter through one inning in picking up a hold before Brett McPhail earned the save in throwing the seventh.

               Williston struck first in the opener as Casey Patrick earned a lead-off walk and scored on a sacrifice fly. WNCC took the lead in the second inning as Trevor Kreisel walked followed by a single by Josh Bride. Both runners came around to score on passed balls for a 2-1 lead.

               WNCC padded its lead to 4-1 in the fifth. Benly Ramos started things with a one-out single followed by a single by Jake Vore. After Kreisel walked to load the bases, Bride game through with a 2-out single to score Ramos and Vore.

               Williston State scored one in the seventh and had the bases loaded with just one out, but McPhail got a ground ball to third base to force out the second out at home and then ended the game on a strikeout.

               Bride led the Cougars offensively with a 2-for-3 effort including a run scored and two RBIs.

               The Cougars received strong pitching performances from Bernal and reliever Keeton Krause. Bernel went five innings in allowing five hits and two runs, while striking out four and hitting two batters.

               Krause came in to toss the final two innings to get the save as the freshman from Aurora, Colo., didn't allow a hit while walking two and striking out one.

               WNCC got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the third inning. Andy Padron led off the frame with a walk and scored on a Max Brennan double. Brennan came around to score on a Ramos single for the 2-0 lead.

               The Tetons tied the game in the top of the fifth with two runs on two hits and an error. The big hit came from Tyler England with a 2-run single that got by the outfielder to tie the game at 2-2.

               WNCC came back, however, in the bottom of the frame with three runs. Jose Gonzalez started things by reaching on error. Gonzalez came around to score the go-ahead run on a Brennan double. The Cougars were just starting as Ramos earned a walk and then Brennan and Ramos both scored on a double by Jake Vore that nearly left the yard in right centerfield for the 5-2 lead.

               WNCC finished the contest with six hits. Brennan led the way with a 2-for-3 contest with two runs scored, two RBIs and two doubles. Ramos and Vore each finished with two RBIs each.

               Jones said added while his team didn't get very many hits in the two contest, what they did accomplish is come up with some big hits. They also took chances on the bases as well.

               "We came up with some nice clutch hits and drove in some runs in some one-out situations," he said. "We were also aggressive on the bases, getting quite a few advances on stolen bases with the ball in the dirt. We are definitely making some progress. We have a lot of work to do, but hopefully we will get there."

               WNCC, 3-1, will now go on the road for five games in Great Bend, Kan., against Barton Community College beginning Friday.

               "We have five games against a really good team coming up," he said. "We are hoping for some good weather. We will continue to work everyone in for some playing time and maybe try some guys at a few different positions."

Game One

Williston              100 000 1 -- 2 6 1

WNCC                  020 020 x -- 4 4 1

WP -- Challis Wright, LP -- Conner Oliver, S -- Brett McPhail. 2B -- WSC (Colton Gatherum).

Second Game

Williston              000 020 0 -- 2 5 2

WNCC (3-1)         002 030 x -- 5 6 2

WP -- Gia Bernal, LP Andy Vehr, S -- Keeton Krause; 2B -- WNCC (Max Brennan, Jake Vore), WSC (Conner Oliver).

WNCC softball sweeps Frank Phillips

                BORGER, Texas -- The Western Nebraska Community College softball team stopped a four-game losing skid by sweeping a doubleheader from Frank Phillips on Sunday.

               The Cougars pounded out 27 hits in the two contests. In the opener, WNCC used a 12-run third inning to register a 12-5 win.

               WNCC kept the offensive explosion going in game two as they came away with a 12-4 win behind a stellar pitching performance from Amanda Jones.

               In the opener, Frank Phillips jump all over the Cougars early, leading 5-0 after two innings. The third inning was all Cougars as they sent 15 batters to the plate and finished with 11 hits. The big blows in the inning came from Bianca Duran who had a single and solo home run. Other big hits included a run-scoring singles by Mariah Shepherd, Mariah Faifer, and Sarah Haryluk, a 2-run double by Danielle Hearn, and a run-scoring double by Gabi Palacios.

               After WNCC went up 12-5, the defense settled in and shut down the Frank Phillips offensive attack.

               Duran picked up the win in the circle by throwing a complete game. She allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out nine.

               Six Cougars finished with multiple hits. Palacios led the way with a 4-for-4 game with two runs scored, two RBIs, and a double. Sarah Hawryluk went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI, while Jocelyn Stubbs went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Also, Hearn went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a run scored and a double, while Aria Agle went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

               WNCC continued its offensive explosion in the second game pounding out 11 hits and scoring a run in six of the seven innings.

               Hawryluk and Palacios each finished the game going 3-for-5. Hawryluk had three runs scored, three RBIs, and three stolen bases, while Palacios had three RBIs, a run scored, two doubles and a stolen base.

               Shepherd also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. The only other extra base hit was a double by Agle.

               WNCC struck first, scoring two runs each in the first and second innings and the a single run in the third for a 5-0 lead. Frank Phillips came back in the bottom of the third with four runs to cut the deficit to one, 5-4.

               The Cougars quickly came back as they plated two runs in the fourth. Agle started things with an one-out double and scored on a single by Bree Bitton. Shalese Connery later scored on a sacrifice fly by Duran to go up 7-4.

               WNCC put the game away in the fifth with four runs on four hits. The big hit was the 2-run double by Palacios that scored Connery and Hawryluk. The final run came in the seventh as Hawryluk scored on a double by Palacios.

               Jones picked up the complete win by allowing four runs on six hits. The sophomore from Las Vegas, Nev., walked just three batters and struck out 10. Jones also delivered 18 of 31 first-pitch strikes. She also had 91 strikes in her her 146 pitches to get the win.

               WNCC, 3-4, will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Lamar Community College and Trinidad State Junior College for sub-region contests on Saturday and Sunday.

              

First Game

WNCC                  00(12) 000 0 -- 12 16 1

Frank Phillips       140 000 0 -- 5 7 3

WP -- Bianca Duran; 2B -- Gabi Palacios, Danielle Hearn.

Second Game

WNCC (3-4)         221 240 1 -- 12 11 2

Frank Phillips       004 000 0 -- 4 6 8

WP -- Amanda Jones; 2B -- Palacios 2, Aria Agle.

WNCC baseball splits with Williston State on Saturday

               The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team opened the season by splitting a doubleheader at Cleveland Field against Williston State College.

               The Cougars won the opener 6-5 in eight innings as Josh Bride led off the extra frame with a triple to centerfield and then scored two batters later on a passed ball to end the contest.

               Williston State out-hit the Cougars 8-7, but WNCC made good use of its hits. Williston State stranded 11 on base in the contest.

               WNCC opened the scoring by scoring two runs in the second as Bride and Jake Vore each scored. WIlliston State went on top after plating three runs in fifth inning on two hits. The Cougars answered right back wtih two runs of their own in the fifth as Max Brennan tripled to score Andy Padron to tie the game. Brennan later scored to put WNCC up 4-3.

               Williston state came back scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to grab a 5-4 lead. WNCC forced extra innings when Nick Vanthillo doubled home Jose Gonzalez.

               Vore paced the Cougars from the plate with a 2-for-4 game with an RBI. Also getting an extra base hit in the game was a double by Vanthillo and triples by Bride and Brennan.

               Trevor Kreisel picked up the win, tossing the last three innings, allowing three hits, two runs and striking out seven. Jeff Schmitt started the contest, going five innings in allowing five hits, three runs and striking out two.

               WNCC let the second game get away as the Cougars led 6-4 entering the sixth inning and then allowed the Tetons to score two in the sixth and three in the seventh to capture the split. WNCC then missed out on an opportunity to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth as they loaded the bases with just one out, but Williston turned a double play to get out of the inning.

               The Cougars scored twice int he first as Vore walked and scored on a Brennan triple to centerfield. Brennan then came around to score on a Oscar Familia single.

               After Williston went up 4-2 in the third, the Cougars came right back to tie the game at 4-4. Brennan once again tripled to score Vore. Brennan later scored on a Familla single.

               WNCC took a 6-4 lead after five with two more runs. Vanthillo started things with a triple that scored Familla. North Platte's Zach Ostergard then doubled to score Vanthillo to put WNCC up. Williston fought back in scoring twice in the sixth on three hits to tie the game and then won the game in the seventh with three runs on two hits and two errors.

               Brennan and Familia each finished the contest with two hits and two RBIs each. Brennan also had two RBIs.

               Tre Meier suffered the hard luck loss on the mound, going just one inning and allowing two hits, two walks and three runs. Terry McNabb started the contest, going five innings in allowing six hits, four runs while striking out four. Dalton Goings also saw action, going one inning in allowing three hits, two runs and one strikeout.

               The two squads will have another doubleheader at Cleveland Field on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. The first game can also be watched live via the Internet on ihigh.com/wncc.

First Game

Williston              000 031 10 -- 5 8 3

WNCC                  020 020 11 -- 6 7 2

WP -- Trevor Kreisel; 2B -- Nick Vanthillo; 3B -- Max Brennan, Josh Bride.

Second Game

Williston              301 002 3 -- 9 11 1

WNCC                  202 020 0 -- 6 8 4

LP -- Tre Meier; 2B -- Zach Ostergard; 3B -- Brennan, Vanthillo.

WNCC men pick up 21st win with big win over Northeast Nebraska

               The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team used two huge first runs and then dominated play the rest of the way in securing the 85-52 sub-region win Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.

               The win was huge for the Cougars who are still alive for a shot to host the regional tournament. The win also snapped a two-game losing skid and pushed the Cougars to 8-2 in the sub-region standings. Northeastern Junior College is still on top of the sub-region with an 8-1 mark after coming back from an 18-point deficit against Laramie County Community College to win 64-57. Otero is up there as well in the standings with a 9-2 sub-region record.

               Saturday, however, the Cougars returned to their old self and won the game because of 52 percent shooting as well as out-rebounding Northeast 55-23. Terrance Motley and Du'Vaughn Maxwell put on a clinic as the two sophomores combined for 40 points. Motley led all scorers with 21 points, including a stretch in the first half that saw the Phoenix, Ariz., product score 12 straight points in the first half.

               "They came out and they were more unselfish then the previous two games. We started to remind ourselves of the little things that we need to do as a team to be successful," WNCC coach Russ Beck said. "I am pleased with the win. We are still focused on the prize and we are going to take it one game at a time and let the chips fall as they may. We just want to prepare ourselves to be playing our best ball at the regional tournament."

               Beck also said the rebounding edge was crucial as well as the team played well defensively.

               "Defensively, we were talking a lot more and we were playing better help-side defense," he said. "That put us in a better position to rebound the ball. The defense needs to stay on that track."

               WNCC and Northeast were tied at 8-8 early and then the Cougars went on a 9-0 run on two buckets each by Maxwell and Tahir Little for a 17-8 lead. The Hawks then scored four straight points, but that was when the Cougars went on the 14-0 run to lead 31-12 on their way to the 35-19 halftime lead.

               The second half was all WNCC as they never let the Hawks make two straight buckets. On the flipside, every Cougar that suited up scored as WNCC finished with 15 assists. Mike Peltz and Mason Smith had four assists each.

               Maxwell and Motley were the only Cougars in double figures, but Marko Kovacevic had a huge night with nine points and seven rebounds. Brady Mason also finished with seven points and five rebounds, while Little, Peltz and Allen Beck each had six points.

               Northeast was led by Cameron Adderley with 18 points, including connecting on 8 of 9 free throws. KJ Bluford also pitched in 10 points.

               WNCC, 21-6, will next be in action Wednesday night when they face Eastern Wyoming College in a sub-region contest in Torrington, Wyo. The game was originally slated for Tuesday, but was moved because of the Scottsbluff and Torrington high school boys game that was also slated for Tuesday.

               "That will be the border war and it will be a fun game," Beck said. "We will have to prepare ourselves both on the court and just mentally to go in there and compete with those guys."

NE Nebraska       19 33 -- 52

WNCC (21-5)      35 50 -- 85

NORTHEAST NEBRASKA

Jacquard Hagen 8, Jimmie Coleman 2, KJ Bluford 10, Rashad Ingraham 7, Cameron Adderley 18, Kyle Rutledge 4, Eric Tucker 3.

WNCC
Tahir Little 6, Mike Peltz 6, Allen Beck 6, Cal McCoy 2, Brady Mason 7, Du'Vaughn Maxwell 19, Mason Smith 3, Raul Delgado 4, Marko Kovacevic 9, Terrance Motley 21, Marcus Johnson 2.

Cougar women topple Northeast Nebraska for 19th win of the season

                The Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team used a a strong first half to pick up their 19th win of the season with a 61-48 sub-region win over Northeast Community College Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.

               The Cougars' who have been struggling losing three of their last four contests, played one of their best contests of the season. WNCC, who led 15-12 early, went on a 13-0 midway through the opening quarter to lead 28-12. WNCC led 33-22 at halftime.

               WNCC coach Dave Harnish was extremely proud of his team with the way they played.

               "I would definitely have to say that this is the best game of the year that we have played," he said. "I thought it was a gutsy effort. We saw things tonight of kids wanting the ball , wanting to post up, making moves, blocking out, getting on the floor, and taking charges. I thought it was very much a team effort tonight and it was our best win of the year. I am certainly very proud of them. I thought we competed hard. We got tired and let them back in it, but we had the toughness to stay with it, knock some shots down and stop the runs."

               Harnish said the first half, especially, was what he wants to see game in and game out.

               "The first 15 minutes of the game I thought we played great," he said. "We got a little tired there before half and let them back in it. That was frustrating because I was hoping we could get up by 20 at half."

               The Cougars were hitting on all cylinders for much of the first half. The 13-0 run was huge as they nine of the points from the free throw line, going 9 of 10. The only two field goals came from a steal and bucket by Kelsey Doddridge ad a bucket by Lisa Durden.

               Northeast made a mini run late, cutting the lead to 30-22, but Durden nailed a 3-pointer with a couple ticks left on the clock for the halftime lead.

               The Hawks clawed themselves back into the contest in the second half, scoring the first five points of the half and later cut the lead to just two points, 46-44, as they went on a 13-0 run with 4:20 to play.

               WNCC stopped that run by playing tough defense, outscoring Northeast 15-4 the rest of the way. Leona Garrett came up big down the stretch with four points and Samantha Sanders sliced and diced her way to nine of her game-high 18 points down the stretch.

               The Cougars won the contest because of their shooting, where they hit for 44 percent from the field. WNCC also sizzled from the line, shooting 72 percent (21-of-29). Northeast also sizzled from the charity stripe, connecting on 17 of 19 shots, but only shot 21 percent from the field and converted just 3 of 13 long range shots.

               WNCC had three players finish in double figures. Sanders led all scorers with 18 points, including going 7 of 10 from the line and dishing out five assists.

               Also collecting double digits in scoring was Garrett with 13 points and 6 of 9 free throw shooting, and Durden with 10 points and two 3-pointers.

               Northwest was led by Erica Long with 13 points followed by Sasha Carter with 10 points.

               WNCC, 19-7, will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Torrington, Wyo., to face Eastern Wyoming College in a sub-region contest. That game was originally slated for Tuesday, but was changed because of the Torrington and Scottsbluff boys high school game.

Northeast Nebraska        22 26 -- 48

WNCC (19-7)                     33 28 -- 61

NORTHEAST NEBRASKA

Akwar Abula 2, Lynae Richardson 2, Sasha Carter 10, Allyssa Weatherd 8, Erica Long 13, Lynn Eggerling 2, Therese LInquist 2.

WNCC

Samantha Sanders 18, Leona Garrett 13, Lisa Durden 10, ChaCha Ofoegbu 6, Kelsey Doddridge 6, Jessica Aratani 8.

WNCC softball goes 1-4 in Midland Tournament

               MIDLAND, Texas – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team opened the season at the Midland Classic in Midland, Texas, where the Cougars ran into some hot teams, finishing the tourney with a 1-4 record.

               The No. 19 Cougars opened the tournament going 1-2 on Friday and then finished things dropping both games on Saturday.

               On Friday, the Cougars defeated El Paso Community College 10-1 before falling 7-1 to Midland College and then 10-3 to Vernon College.

               On Saturday, the Cougars fell 8-6 to Clarendon College and then had an offensive explosion against No. 16 Odessa College17-9.

               WNCC finished with 24 hits and four home runs on the final day of the tournament.

               The Odessa contest was an epic contest between two squads. The Cougars finished with xx hits while Odessa had 20 hits. The Cougars also blasted three home runs, including a solo shot by Bianca Duran and then a 2-run shot by Mariah Shepherd in the third inning. Mariah Faifer also had a run-scoring triple in the third cut the deficit to 7-5.

               Odessa later went up 8-5 before the Cougars tied the contest at 8-8 with three runs in the fourth. Danielle Hearn had the big blast, a 2-run home run. Odessa came back in the fifth, plating seven runs on nine hits to take a 15-8 lead.

               The Cougars had four players who had multiple hits in the contest. Duran led the way with a 3-for-4 game with two RBIs, two runs scored, a home run and double. Hearn also went 2-or-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs, a double and a home run, while Stubbs went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Faifer also went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.

               Duran took the loss in the circle, giving up 17 runs on 23 hits.         

               In the other game on Saturday, WNCC outhit Clarendon in the first game of the day 12-11, but the defense committed seven errors in the loss.

               Stubbs continued to sparkle, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including a double and a home run. Gabi Palacios also had a nice game, finishing 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Also ripping doubles for the Cougars were Hearn, Shepherd and Bitton.

               Amanda Jones took the loss in the circle, going all six innings in allowing 11 hits and striking out two.

               Friday’s action saw the Cougars struggle offensively and defensively after the season-opening win against El Paso. In the win, WNCC rolled over El Paso with a six-run rally in the fourth inning. Jocelyn Stubbs racked up three RBIs on two hits for WNCC, including a double in the first inning and a 2-run home run in the fourth inning.

Duran gave El Paso fits in the circle. EPCC managed just two hits off of Duran, who allowed no earned runs, walked none and struck out two during her four innings of work.

The Cougars also ran wild on the base paths, finishing with six steals. Duran, Palacios, Aria Agle, and Kayla Romey each had one, while Faifer had two stolen bases.

               WNCC pounded out seven hits in the season-opener. Shepherd also finished with two hits, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. The only other extra base hit came from Faifer with a double in the fifth.

               In the loss against Midland, WNCC struck first off a second-inning home run by Agle. Midland came back, belting back-to-back home runs in the third and then added three more runs in the fourth for the win.

               WNCC committed five errors in the contest and managed just four hits.

               Duran picked up the loss, going three innings in allowing three runs on four hits. Amanda Jones threw the final three innings, allowing four runs on four hits.

               WNCC's final game was a contest the Cougars let get away as Vernon pounded out xx hits, including a first-inning grand slam. WNCC tried to come back, cutting the deficit in half in the second inning as Bitton connected on a 2-run home run.

               Vernon bounced back with two runs in the third and a single run in the fourth for a 7-3 lead.

               The Cougars managed just six hits in the contest as Duran and Shepherd each had doubles and Bitton had a home run.

               Jones took the loss in the circle, going just two innings while allowing six runs on 10 hits. Duran finished the game, tossing the final five innings, allowing four runs and six hits.

               The big key in the two losses was fielding. In the win against El Paso, the Cougars committed zero errors, while the team had five errors against Midland and three against Vernon.

               WNCC will continue the road trip as they have a doubleheader with Frank Phillips College on Sunday.

First Game

WNCC                   100 63 – 10 7 1

El Paso                  001 00 – 1 2 0

WP – Bianca Duran (1-0); 2B – Jocelyn Stubbs, Mariah Faifer; HR – Stubbs.

Second Game

WNCC                   010 000 – 1 4 5

Midland                003 301 – 7 8 0

LP – Duran; HR – Agle.

Third Game

Vernon                 402 101 2-- 10 16 0

WNCC                   021 000 0 -- 3 6 3

LP -- ; 2B -- Duran, Mariah Shepherd; HR -- Bree Bitton.

Saturday's Games

First Game

WNCC                   110 031 0 -- 6 12 1

Clarendon            250 200 x -- 9 11 1

LP -- Jones; 2B -- Hearn, Stubbs, Shepherd, Bitton; HR -- Stubbs.

Second Game

WNCC                   104 301 -- 9 12 3

Odessa                  341 072 -- 17 23 4

LP -- Duran; 2B -- Palacios, Hearn, Duran; 3B -- Faifer; HR -- Hearn, Duran, Shepherd.