The Western Nebraska Community College softball team received two strong pitching performances Sunday afternoon at Volunteer Field to sweep Trinidad State Junior College and move into first place in Region IX conference action.
The Cougars took the opener 4-2 behind a complete game 6-hitter by Andy Hancock while Whitney Fields and Jordan Smith combined for an even more dominating 2-hitter in the second game, a 6-0 victory.
With the two wins, the Cougars have an 8-game winning streak and sit 35-11 on the season. More importantly, they’re in sole possession of the top spot in the conference standings with a 17-3 record, 2-1/2 games in front of Trinidad.
Hancock said the team knew the importance of Sunday’s games coming in, especially after splitting a four-game series with the Trojans earlier in the season. “We knew that these were going to be big games. We knew if we came out to play as a team and play Cougar Ball, we would come out with two wins.”
The Cougars won with the basics: play good defense, get strong pitching, and manufacture runs with the speed. Hancock, who has won six straight games including a no-hitter 9 days ago, said the goal of the pitching staff was just go out there and do their job and let the defense take care of the rest.
“I knew if I just did my job and let my teammates have the opportunity to play defense, then we would be successful,” she said. “All of us pitchers want to do well and we are there to back each other up if we need help. So, it is a big confidence booster to know that your defense is there to back you up.”
Hancock pitched out of some jams, but never lost the lead after the Cougars scored twice in the 1st on a dropped fly ball in right.
. In fact, of the six strike outs in the game, the right-handed flame thrower struck out four Trojan hitters looking.
The first game, however, was a dogfight. WNCC took a 2-0 lead in the first as Courtney Cloud and Jessica Ball scored on a dropped fly ball in right field off the bat of Whitney Fields for the early lead.
Trinidad came back with a single run in the third to slice the lead in half, but WNCC got it back in the 5th as Macy Child had a lead-off single and scored on the next pitch as she stole second and continued the rest of the way around the bases on a throwing error.
Trinidad cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the sixth, but matched that in the bottom of the inning as Alysa Linford tripled and pinch runner Lindsay Guymon scored off a single by Kenzie Sawyer.
WNCC had just six hits in the contest led by Sawyer and Child with two hits each. Linford had the only extra base hit with her triple.
Hancock tossed all seven innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs whil striking out 6, all but 2 on called strikes. she had mastery of her pitches, not walking a batter while delivering 67 pitches for strikes.
While Fields and Smith were dominant in the second game with their combined 2-hitter, there were tight moments. The Cougars scored in every inning from the 2nd to the 5th, but with just 2 runs in the 2nd on an RBI single by Medina and only single runs in the other 3 frames.
Fields, who struck out 2 and walked 3, ran into trouble in the 4th when Trinidad loaded the bases with just one out and the Cougars up 3-0, but Smith came in with a strike out and a lazy pop up to the catcher to end the threat. She gave up one hit while striking out 4 in closing the door the rest of the way.
Offensively, the Cougars generated just 8 hits, all singles, but they swiped 12 bases, led by Cloud with 5. Jessica Ball had 3 and Medina with 2. Cloud also led the team with 3 hits while Fields and Medina each had 2.
Hancock says now that the team is in first place, they want to finish the season strong and aren’t overlooking anyone. “There is no rest for us right now. We will keep working hard because we know that all the teams will come at us. We will be ready and keep working hard in the games.”
Up next is a conference doubleheader Wednesday at home against Northeastern Junior College, who is 5-4 in its last 9 games after splitting doubleheaders over the weekend with Lamar and Otero. First pitch Wednesday is 3:00.
First Game
Trinidad 001 001 0 – 2 6 2
WNCC 200 011 x – 4 6 0
WP – Andy Hancock; 3B – Alysa Linford.
Second Game
Trinidad (19-11) 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
WNCC (35-11) 021 110 x – 5 8 1
WP – Jordan Smith.