The Western Nebraska Community College softball team knew what was on the line this weekend if they wanted to make the Region IX tournament and that was to win some games.
The Cougars did that in exciting action, scoring 26 runs with clutch hits from different players in the two wins over Trinidad State College Friday at Volunteer Field.
The first game saw the Cougars score in all six innings they batted, including a five-run fifth that gave WNCC the 16-11 win. The second contest saw WNCC jump to a 7-1 lead, fall behind 8-7 and then score two runs in the seventh on a walk-off hit by Alyssa Albaugh that scored Abbey Arntsen with the winning run for the 10-9 victory.
WNCC moves into sixth place in the conference standings with the sweep at 11-15 and 18-24 overall. Trinidad State falls to 11-19 and 14-32 overall. The two teams will be back in action Saturday for a doubleheader at Volunteer Field beginning at 11 a.m.
These two games are important as Trinidad State wraps up the regular season after Saturday, while the Cougars have four games with North Platte Community College next weekend. The top six teams will make the Region IX tournament that begins in May.
Tina Horton, who led off the day with a home run in game one, said the keys to the wins were the grit and fire that they showed in both games.
"The keys to the wins were the grit we showed and how we never backed down from anything, and keeping our bats hot is the key to our success," the sophomore from Australia, said. "The game of softball is all about scoring the most runs so our goal more recently has been to score every inning or win every one, so it us key to winning games."
Arntsen, who scored the winning run in the second game as well as getting the win in the circle, said these wins were huge in how they battled through all 14 innings on the day.
"I think the biggest thing for us today was staying confident and not letting the momentum swing too far away from us," the freshman from Saskatchewan, Canada, said. "We stayed calm at the plate even when things didn't go our way, which is what put us on top at the end."
In both games, the Cougars held multi-run leads. The first game saw WNCC lead 6-2 and then 9-6 before trailing 11-9. The second contest saw the Cougars jump to a 7-1 lead before trailing 9-8 in their final at bat. Arntsen said the way the team battled back from those bad innings was a momentum-swinging moment.
"It's so important to find a way to come back after bad innings," Arntsen said. "You are not going to have perfect games all the time so being able to respond to bad innings can win you games. We did a really good job of putting runs on the board almost every inning, which gave us control over the game. Momentum is a huge part of softball and today we dominated that."
WNCC built big leads in both games, but a feisty Trinidad squad came back in both games to grab the lead late. WNCC found a way after that to regroup and get runs for the wins. Horton said everyone, somehow whether offensively or defensively, contributed to the win.
"It means that we keep rolling with everything thrown at us and we just have to persevere and use our highs to keep the momentum moving from now on," she said.
Arntson said the wins were a team effort on Friday.
"When everyone is contributing, it takes the pressure off one single person and makes us stronger overall as a group," she said. "We can rely on each other when we need it. Whether it's a big hit, defensive play, pitching, or energy in the dugout, everyone contributes in some way."
The first game saw the Cougars get 13 hits including three-hit games from Horton and Jasmine Castro. Horton had a double and home run with three runs scored, while Castro had three hits with a double, triple, two runs scored, and five RBIs.
Also collecting two hits in the win were Tori Travers, Adi Duke, and Alyssa Albaugh.
WNCC wasted little time scoring with three first inning runs. Horton led things off with a solo home run. Duke followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0.
Trinidad added two in the second, but WNCC plated two in the bottom of the second and one in the third for a 6-2 lead. The Trojans tied the contest with four in the fourth to tie the game at 6-6. WNCC came back with three in the bottom of the frame, including a two-run double from Castro and then Castro scored on an Ellie Soper groundout.
Trinidad went in front 11-9 with five runs in the fifth, scoring all five runs with two outs on four straight hits. WNCC didn't let that get to them as they plated five runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to take a 14-11 lead. Hayley Blumenschein started things by reaching on an error. Horton then singled. Travers scored one run with a ground out. WNCC loaded the bases and Castro tripled to score three more runs. Castro scored to make it 14-11 on an Albaugh single.
WNCC added two insurance runs in the sixth, while holding Trinidad scoreless in their final two at bats for the win.
The second game was one where the Cougars controlled the contest early, leading 7-1. Then, WNCC had one of those bad innings, giving up six runs in the fifth to allow Trinidad to tie the game.
Trinidad took their first lead of the game with a run in the sixth. WNCC answered in the bottom of the sixth. Soper earned a walk. With two outs, Travers singled home Soper with the tying run.
The seventh inning saw Trinidad get a single to lead off the frame followed by a sacrifice to move the runner to second. The Trojans scored the go-ahead run on a single to right field for the 9-8 lead.
WNCC manufactured runs in the seventh. Castron reached base on an error followed by a single by Arntsen. With runners in scoring position, Hayley Blumenschein hit a ball to third base and Castro ran home on the throw over to first for the tying run. Two pitches later, Albaugh laced a hard ball to the pitcher that resulted in Arntsen sliding home with the winning run.
WNCC finished with nine hits in the contest, led by multi-hit games from Horton and Travers. Travers had a double while Horton had two singles, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Soper scored three times while Blumenschein scored twice.
Game 1
Trinidad 020 450 0 – 11 9 3
WNCC 321 352 x – 16 13 3
WP – Mia Migliaccio.
2B – Jasmine Castro, Tina Horton, Tori Travers.
3B – Jasmine Castro.
HR – Tina Horton.
Game 2
Trinidad 100 061 1 – 9 15 3
WNCC 130 301 2 – 10 9 5
WP – Abbey Arntsen.
2B – Gracie Holm, Tori Travers.