MCC Baseball sweeps Cougars; improve to 14-2

SCOTTSBLUFF – The McCook Community College baseball team took a pair of games from Western Nebraska Wednesday winning 20-14 and 6-5.

In Game 1, the Indians trailed 6-3 in the second inning and 10-5 in the fifth inning before exploding for five runs in the fifth, seven runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Freshman Matthew Botticelli (Edmonton, Alberta) had a home run with four RBIs. Sophomore transfer Hunter Southey (Auckland, New Zealand) drove in three runs. Freshman Jakoby Hamer (Edmonton, Alberta) had three hits and sophomore Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.) doubled and hit his ninth home run.

“It was kind of a different day, in Game 1 we just had to stay on the game long enough to get it going offensively,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. “We had a big last couple innings and really got some nice swings off.”

In Game 2, Hamer and Southey continued their hot bats with four combined hits and three RBIs and freshman Nolan Jackson (Grimsby, Ontario) took over on the mound with two outs in the sixth and retired four of the five batters he faced to save the game.

“In Game 2, Western did a good job with their pitching order and really kept us off balance,” said Olsen. “We did enough to win but were slowed down a little more than normal offensively. I thought our pitchers competed well. Western has some really good hitters, and Nolan came in and really had a nice outing. It was a good two wins.”

While the Cougars are a Region IX opponent these games did not count in the Region IX standings and were considered part of the nonconference schedule. When the two teams meet again April 23 in Scottsbluff and April 25 in McCook, those games will count in the Region IX standings.

Western Nebraska falls to 5-15 on the season.

MCC improves to 14-2. The Indians will travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa this weekend for a three-game series with No. 15 Iowa Western Community College (9-6). The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and play a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME 1 – McCook CC 20, Western Nebraska 14: The Indians scored three runs in the first inning on a pair of Cougar errors and doubles by Jakoby Hamer and Tyler Reyburn (Frederick, Colo.).

Starting pitcher Tobey Cassino (sophomore, Arvada, Colo.), who missed all of last season with an injury, returned to the mound with a scoreless first inning. He allowed one hit.

“Tobey got his first inning back off Tommy John surgery last year and it was great to get him out there again,” said Olsen. 

Western Nebraska got a pair of home runs in the second to take a 6-3 lead off sophomore Kaden Noble (Orillia, Ontario). MCC cut the gap to 6-4 with two runs in the third. The Cougars scored four runs in the fourth to take a 10-5 lead. Noble allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out one in two innings of work. Freshman reliever Tyler Parent (Newmarket, Ontario) gave up three runs, and three hits in his inning of work.

In the MCC fifth, two hit batters and a walk loaded the bases and one run scored on a wild pitch, another on a passed ball with the third run of the inning scoring on an RBI-groundout from Matthew Botticelli. With two outs, the Indians got consecutive doubles by freshman Owen Weales (Bowmanville, Ontario), Hunter Southey, and Hamer to tie the game at 10-10.

Freshman Timmy Hunt (Ashland, Neb.) slowed down the Cougar offense when he relived in the fifth and sixth. He allowed two hits, one earned run, he walked two and struck out three and became the winning pitcher when the

MCC offense took charge in the sixth.

“Timmy Hunt threw a couple crucial innings for us and really was a huge key to the win,” said Olsen.

The Indians piled up seven runs in the sixth with a two-run single by freshman Kon Yoshimura (Nagasaki, Japan), an RBI-double by Weales, a three-run homer by Southey and a solo home run by Dalton Berg to give MCC a 17-10 lead.

A WNCC error and a walk set the table in the MCC seventh for Botticelli who clubbed a three-run home run to put MCC up 20-11.

Sophomore Jeff Bullock (Medicine Hat, Alberta) closed out the game on the mound, giving up three earned runs on four hits, no walks and he struck out two.

MCC had 15 hits in the game. Botticelli led the way with two hits and four RBIs. Hamer had three hits while Southey drove in three on his two hits. Weales and Berg both had two extra base hits and Yoshimura had three RBIs.

GAME 2 – McCook CC 6, Western Nebraska CC 5: Jacoby Hamer hit a solo homer in the first and the Indians scored two runs in the second on three-straight singles from freshman Lucas Munns (Toronto, Ontario), sophomore Chase Williams (Brampton, Ontario) and Kon Yoshimura to take a 3-0 lead.

Freshman Justin Ackerman (Parksville, British Columbia) started on the mound and pitched a scoreless first inning, allowing one hit and striking out three.

Williams was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth, Munns followed with a double and Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Owen Weales. Hunter Southey singled home Munns to put MCC up 5-0.

Western Nebraska got back in the game in the fourth with a pair of solo home runs off freshman Santiago Rodriguez (Okotoks, Alberta). Rodriguez pitched the second, third and fourth innings, allowing three hits, two walks, two earned runs and four strikeouts. The Cougars got two more on a two-run homer in the fifth off reliever Colby Kaplan (sophomore, Parker, Colo.) to close the deficit to 5-4. Kaplan went 1.2 innings allowing two earned runs on three hits, a walk and a strikeout.

Yoshimura singled to lead off the MCC sixth, stole second and scored on an RBI-single from Southey to put MCC up 6-4. Western responded with a run in the bottom of the inning on a single and double to lead off the inning and an RBI-groundout to make it a 6-5 game.

Freshman Nolan Jackson (Grimsby, Ontario) took over on the mound with two outs in the sixth and pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the save. He allowed one hit and struck out one.

MCC had 12 hits in the game with two each from Southey, Hamer, Williams, Munns and Yoshimura. Hamer’s homer was his fifth of the season.

Up-to-date information about MCC baseball including up-to-date schedule and changes, livestream links for home games, rosters, photos, statistics and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website,www.mccindians.com