MCCOOK – Western Nebraska Community College softball team extended their win streak to 14 games with a 12-6 in the first game of a doubleheader Friday against McCook Community College in McCook.
McCook came back and registered a 9-1 win in game two. McCook's win locked up the Region IX regular season title and the right to host next week's Region IX tournament.
Pairings for the tournament will officially be released after Sunday and the only thing that is unsure of for the Region IX tournament is the fourth team, which will be either Trinidad State or Northeastern Junior College. WNCC will be the third seed while Otero will be the second seed in the regional tournament.
But the regular season is not over just yet. McCook will come to Volunteer Field on Sunday for a doubleheader and it will be an important contest as the Cougars will be looking to enter the regional tournament on a win streak and will try to win the regular season series against McCook.
Sunday's contest will also be special as the eight sophomores on the Cougar team will be recognized around 12:15 p.m. The first pitch of the game will then take place around 1 p.m. The eight sophomores include Kay'Leigh Blair, Randi Mitchell, Mykah Klumpp, JoLee Huffaker, Sierra Hilgner, Jenika Fuentes, Kayli Cooper, and Reagan Werth.
Friday's first game saw the Cougars score nine runs in the fifth and sixth innings to open up a tight contest. Lydia Tibbals had the big bat in the opener, finishing with four hits with five RBIs, four runs scored, a double, and two home runs.
Mitchell, Klumpp, and Huffaker all had two hits each in the contest. Mitchell had a triple with two runs scored, Klumpp had a double with two runs scored and two RBIs, and Huffaker had a double. Hilgner also had a double in the win.
WNCC fell behind after one inning, but tied the game with a run in the second inning when Tibbals led off with a double followed by a Huffaker single. Tibbals scored on a ground out later.
WNCC went up 2-1 with another run in the third when Mitchell singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kallie Stocking. McCook came right back to take a 3-2 lead with two in the bottom of the third.
WNCC tied the game with a run in the fourth when Tori Travers had a 2-out single to score Tibbals. McCook came right back to go up 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the fourth.
It was the fifth inning that WNCC took the lead for good with three runs all with two outs. Hilgner started things with a double. Tibbals scored all three when she blasted a 3-run home run for the 6-4 lead.
WNCC added six more runs in the sixth. Alyssa Albaugh walked and scored on a Mitchell triple. Stocking earned a walk and Mitchell and Stocking each score on a 2-out double by Klumpp. Tibbals followed with her second home run of the game, a 2-run shot for the 11-4 lead. The Cougars weren't through as Huffaker tripled and scored on a fielding error for the 12-4 lead.
McCook added two in the sixth, but that was all the Cougar defense would allow as they got the win.
Cooper picked up the win, going all seven innings in scattering 12 hits while striking out eight.
The second game saw McCook score six first-inning runs. WNCC had something going in the fourth as the Cougars loaded the bases on three singles from Stocking, Tibbals, and Huffaker. Stocking then scored on a hard ground ball that was fumbled to keep the bases loaded. The play of the inning happened in the next batter as Tori Travers had a ball that went high above the second baseman, but McCook's Ayana Goodwin made a leaping catch and got the double play to thwart any more runs.
McCook came back after that double play and scored two runs and then scored the game-ending run in the sixth for the win.
WNCC was led at the plate by Stocking with two hits. Travers had the only extra base hit with a double.
Game 1
WNCC 011 136 0 12 13 1
McCook 102 102 0 – 6 12 3
WP – Kayli Cooper.
2B – Sierra Hilgner, Mykah Klumpp, Lydia Tibbals.
3B – Randi Mitchell, JoLee Huffaker.
HR – Lydia Tibbals 2.
Game 2
WNCC 000 100 – 1 5 0
McCook 600 201 – 9 12 3
LP – Kallie Stocking.
2B – Tori Travers.