MCC Softball takes two from No. 18 Blue Devils

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The McCook Community College softball team swept a pair of games from Kansas City Kansas Community College Saturday. The Lady Indians took the first game from the No. 18 D2 team 3-2 and won the second game 9-2.

Freshman Lyndsay Keogh (Surrey, British Columbia) hit a three-run home run in the third inning of Game 1 to back the pitching of sophomore Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia).

“They did a good job of keeping us off balance at the plate in the first game,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “and Kaliyah threw a heck of a game for us.”

Sophomore Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) picked up a complete game win in the pitching circle in Game 2 as MCC got a three-run homer by freshman Hallie Schneider (Alliance, Neb.) and a solo shot from sophomore Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.).

“We took better approaches at the plate in Game 2 and took advantage of some of their mistakes and Paige threw a good game for us,” said Mendenhall.

MCC goes 3-1 on the weekend against two teams ranked in the top 20 of D2 (Johnson County CC and Kansas City, Kan. CC) and improve to 11-3 on the season.

“I’m happy with going 3-1 on a tough weekend,” said Mendenhall.

The Blue Devils fall to 3-2 on the year.

The Lady Indians will be right back in action Monday at Goodland, Kan. to face Fort Hays Tech Northwest (1-5) for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. at the Tiger Softball Complex.

On Saturday, Region IX play starts as MCC travels to Trinidad, Colo. for a four-game series with two games Saturday and two more Sunday.

GAME 1 – McCook CC 3, Kansas City KCC 2: The Lady Indians scored all three of their runs in the third inning. Paige Warren led off with a bunt single and stole second base. After a Blue Devil error, Lyndsay Keogh lined a three-run home run to centerfield to give MCC the 3-0 lead.

KCKCC got a run back in the fourth with a solo home run. The score remained 3-1 until the bottom of the seventh when the Blue Devils got back-to-back one-out singles and scored a run on a sacrifice fly but with the tying run on third base, Kaliyah St. Amand struck out the final batter to secure the win.

St. Amand allowed five hits, walked one and struck out five.

MCC had just four hits with Keough’s home run, Warren’s single, a double by St. Amand in the third inning and a single by freshman Hayley Smith (Chestermere, Alberta).

GAME 2 – McCook CC 9, Kansas City KCC 2: MCC scored three runs in the second on a Lyndsay Keogh walk, a fielder’s choice, a single by sophomore Marleigh Mitchell (Mission, British Columbia) and three-run home run by Hallie Schneider. The Lady Indians added two more in the third. Starting pitcher Paige Warren and freshman Josie Wright (Calgary, Alberta) singled to lead off the inning both stole second and both scored on a throwing error to put MCC up 5-0.

Kashlin Beck lined a solo home run in the third to make it a 6-0 game. MCC added three more runs in the inning. Freshman Brooklyn Gillen (McCook) singled and Warren walked. With two outs Payton Kinsley (sophomore, Didsbury, Alberta) singled home Gillen; Warren scored on an error; and freshman Lacyn Keller (McCook) singled home Kinsley to give the Lady Indians a 9-0 lead.

KCKCC scored a run in the fourth and an unearned run in the fifth for the final runs.

Warren pitched seven innings to pick up the win in the circle, she allowed six hits, walked one and struck out two.

MCC had nine hits, with two by Kinsley. Schneider led the Lady Indians with three RBIs.

Up-to-date information about MCC  softball 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