McCOOK – The NJCAA Region IX softball tournament got underway Thursday in McCook, and 3-time defending champion and top-seeded Western Nebraska Community College started on a strong note…beating Lamar Community College 9-0 in 5 innings behind a combined 2-hitter from Bianca Duran and RaVae Herrera.
Lamar had beaten McCook 6-5 earlier in the day. WNCC, now 53-8 and winners 13-straight, needs just one more win to advance to the second round of the regional tournament…a best-of-3 series that they would host starting Sunday.
WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff thought her team was solid both defensively and offensively in the win over Lamar. “I thought for the most part we played very well,” she said.
“Both Bianca and RaVae pitched well and we got some timely hits. They were fun to watch today. We are going to enjoy this win for a couple hours and then get refocused for tomorrow (Friday).”
The Cougar pitchers were definitely on in the opener. Duran, named NJCAA National Pitcher of the Week honor on Wednesday, faced just one batter over the minimum in going 4 innings…giving up 1 hit and 1 walk with 1 strikeout. Herrera gave up a hit but struck out 2 in her one inning.
Offensively, the Cougars did their usual pounding of the ball with 10 hits…half of them for extra bases, including 2 homers and 3 doubles.
The game was actually close for the first 2-1/2 innings. The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd on an RBI double by Lindsey Shiels-Brophy, then blew the game open in the 3rd with 7 runs on 6 hits.
Kasey Cash led off with her team-leading and school record-extending 22nd home run of the season, and Jennifer Cottle followed 2 batters later with her 13 homer after fouling off 6 pitches to stay alive.
The Cougars then loaded the bases on an error, single, and walk. Duran brought in 2 runs with a double, Cash drove in one with a single, and Cottle walked with the bases loaded to force in the 7th run of the inning. Kayla Romey ended the scoring an inning later with an RBI single.
The Cougars defense maintained the shutout by getting the game-ending out in the 5th when centerfielder Hailee Meacham fielded a single and fired home in time for Cottle to tag out a runner trying to score from second base.
Cash, and Cottle, and Duran all had 2 hits. Cottle was 2-for-2 with a homer, double, 3 RBIs and a run scored. Cash was 2-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs and a run scored. Duran had a double and a single, 2 RBIs and a run scored.
The 6-team Region IX Tournament is divided into a pair of 3-team pools for a double-elimination first round. The coaches yesterday morning decided to use two fields on Friday, eliminating the need for games on Saturday and moving up the Friday schedule.
McCook and Lamar will now play at 11:00 with the winner meeting WNCC at 1:00. A victory by the Cougars would give the pool title, while a loss would force a deciding game at 3:00.
In the other bracket, Trinidad State Junior College defeated Northeastern Junior College 11-2, then lost to 2nd-seeded Otero Junior College 3-2. Trinidad and NJC play again Friday at 11:00 with the winning meeting Trindad at 1:00 and deciding game, if needed, at 3:00.
The best-of-3 second round between the pool winner will be at the site of the higher seed, which would be WNCC . Games times will Sunday at 5 and 7 p-m, with a third game – if necessary – on Monday.The Region IX winner will then host the Region 6 champion from Kansas in a best-of-3 series next weekend for a berth in the NJCAA national tournament.
Streaming video of all the Region IX games may be found at http://www.ihigh.com/wncc/.
Lamar 000 00 – 0 2 3
WNCC 017 1x – 9 10 1
WP – Bianca Duran; 2B – Duran, Jennifer Cottle, Lindsey Shiels-Brophy; HR – Cottle, Kasey Cash.
Thursday’s Results
Trinidad 11, NE Colorado 2
Lamar 6, McCook 5
Otero 3, Trinidad 2
WNCC 9, Lamar 0
Friday’s Schedule
11 a.m. – Trinidad vs. NJC and Lamar vs. McCook (losers eliminated)
1 p.m. – Otero vs. winner Trinidad/NJC and WNCC vs. winner Lamar/McCook
3 p.m. – if-necessary games of the two 1 p.m. games. Otherwise, the winners advance to the championship series on Sunday at the home of the higher seed at 5 and 7 p.m.