MCC baseball swept by Southeast CC
BEATRICE – The McCook Community College baseball team lost twice Friday to Southeast Community College to knock the Indians into third place in the Region IX standings as the regular season ends.
Southeast won 9-8 with a walk-off win in the seventh inning of Game 1 and came back from a 10-1 deficit in Game 2 to win 16-13.
“We put ourselves in position to get both games and just couldn’t hold them in either game,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.
In Game 1, the Bobcats overcame a 5-0 deficit in the fourth inning and came back with a five-run sixth inning to take an 8-7 lead, and after MCC tied the game in the seventh, the home team walked off the win in the bottom of the inning.
Game 2, was a game that featured 14 total home runs (eight by MCC), the Indians jumped to a 10-1 lead but
SECC scored 11 runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and held the Tribe scoreless in the final three innings to take the four-game series 3-1.
The Bobcats tie the Indians for second place in the final Region IX standings at 18-10, but SCC will receive the higher seed in the post-season tournament because of the head-to-head tie breaker.
“We had a great start at the plate, up 10-1 early and then Southeast just did a good job of chipping away with a few runs every inning. We just game them too many free base runners and they got the ball out of the yard,” said Olsen. “They are tough at their home park and they knew how to play it today.”
Freshman Owen Weales (Bowmanville, Ontario) hit three home runs for MCC in Game 2 and sophomore Connor Charvat (Elkhorn South H.S.) had a two homer game.
SCC goes to 27-23 overall. MCC finished the year at 39-17. The 39 wins are the most ever for the program, which began playing baseball in 2002.
“We have a good body of work, and we’ll be ready to go next Wednesday when the tournament starts,” said Olsen
Pairings for the Region IX Tournament and game times will be set after this weekend’s games. The top six teams in the final standings will qualify for the post-season tournament in Pueblo, Colo., with the top two teams (Northeastern Junior College and Southeast Community College) getting first-round byes in a double-elimination format. The tournament goes Wednesday through Saturday.
The Region IX tournament winner will host the four-team Western District playoffs starting May 14. The NJCAA College World Series runs May 23-June 1 in Grand Junction, Colo.
GAME 1 – Southeast CC 8, McCook CC 7: Owen Weales singled to lead off the game and scored on a triple by Kon Yoshimura (Nagasaki, Japan), who put MCC up 2-0 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Jakoby Hamer (Edmonton, Alberta).
Sophomore Hunter Southey (Auckland, New Zealand) led off the second with a single and scored on an RBI-single by freshman Bunji Nakao (Auckland, New Zealand). Weales drove home Nakao with a sacrifice fly to give MCC a 4-0 lead. (transferred from Northern Oklahoma - Tonkawa,)
MCC loaded the bases in the third inning with one out but were unable to push home any runs. Nakao singled to lead off the fourth inning, advanced to third on Yoshimura’s single and scored on a passed ball to put the Indians ahead 5-0.
Southeast cut into the lead with a two-run home run in the home-half of the fourth off MCC starting pitcher
Raul Romero (Brisbane, Queensland Australia).
The Indians responded with a run in the fifth as sophomore Corbin Lochhead (Vegreville, Alberta) led off with a single, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored to make it 6-2 on an RBI-single by Southey. Southeast got that run back in the bottom of the frame on a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly.
Weales was hit by a pitch to lead off the MCC sixth and after a Bobcat error and an out, he scored on an RBI-groundout by sophomore Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.) to put MCC ahead 7-3.
“I felt good with us up by four runs in Game 1 with two innings to play and we got Nolan Jackson in the game – he’s done well in these situations all year but they just got a couple hits off him and we got beat,” said Olsen.
Southeast got a single and a two-run homer to start off the sixth inning, and trailed 7-5 as Romero left the game, pitching five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, four walks and four strikeouts. Freshman reliever Nolan Jackson (Grimsby, Ontario) came on for MCC and struck out the first hitter then gave up a single, the Indians committed an error and then the Bobcats took an 8-7 lead with a three-run home run.
Freshman Kieren Cutler (Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador) led off the MCC seventh with a triple and tied the game 8-8 with two outs on an RBI-single by Nakoa.
Southeast got a leadoff single and a stolen base and put the winning run on third base with a sacrifice bunt. After a pair of intentional walks to load the bases. Down 1-2 in the count, Southeast’s Kadyn Martinez hit a line drive single to win the game. Jackson was charged with the loss, pitching 1.1 inning, allowing the one run on two hits, three walks (two intentional) and two strikeouts.
MCC out-hit SCC 11-10 with the designated hitter Nakao leading MCC with three hits in four at bats and two RBIs. Yoshimura was three-for-four and Southey had two hits.
GAME 2 – Southeast CC 16, McCook CC 13: Southeast took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out RBI-single off MCC freshman starter Mikah Targett (Sydney, New South Wales Australia).
Kieren Cutler tied the game 1-1 with a leadoff home run in the second inning, his ninth of the season. After a Corbin Lochhead single and a lineout, Connor Charvat hit a two-run home run, his 10th of the year. After Bunji Nakoa walked, Owen Weales hit his nine homer of the year, a two-run shot, to put MCC ahead 5-1.
With two outs in the third inning and a runner on first base, the Indians got back-to-back home runs from Hunter Southey and Charvat to go up 8-1. It was Southey’s 12 homer and Charvat’s 11th. After a Nakao single, Weales launched a two-run home run to put MCC ahead 10-1. It was Weales’ second of the game and 10th of the season.
Southeast came back with a three-run homer in the bottom of the third to cut the MCC lead to 10-4 and hit a solo shot in the fourth to make it a 10-5 game. Targett pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
Weales hit his third homer of the game in the fifth inning to give the Indians an 11-5 lead. It was his 11th round-tripper of the year.
Southeast scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the MCC lead to 11-9 on a two-run double and a two-run home run. Freshman Santiago Rodriguez (Okotoks, Alberta) pitched one inning in relief for MCC allowing three earned runs on two hits, a walk and one strikeout.
Lochhead hit a two-run home run in the sixth, his sixth of the year, to put MCC ahead 13-9.
Southeast took the lead for good scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a solo homer, a walk, a single, a one-run MCC error, a doubleplay and a three-run home run to lead 14-13. Freshman Isiah Lopez (Midland, Texas) pitched 1.1 innings, allowing five runs on three hits, two walks and a strikeout.
After MCC went out in order in the seventh, the Bobcats scored three runs in the bottom of the inning on a two-run home run and an RBI-double to lead 16-13. Freshman Justin Ackerman (Parksville, British Columbia) pitched 1.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits, no walks and no strikeouts.
The Indians got a pair of two-out walks in the eighth but didn’t score and the offense was retired in order in the ninth.
Sophomore Colby Kaplan (Parker, Colo.) pitched a scoreless eighth inning with one strikeout.
Weales, Charvat and Southey all had three-hit games for MCC. Weales had five RBIs, Charvat had three with Southey and Lochhead both driving in two runs each.
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