Freshmen lead MCC Softball to 43rd win

COLUMBUS – A short-handed McCook Community College softball team picked up two more wins Monday sweeping Central Community College 11-1 and 10-1.

"We brought all our freshman to Central so the sophomores could stay home and attend the Phi-Theta Kappa Induction Ceremony, Honors Convocation and the athletic banquet, but these freshmen came to play," said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall.

The MCC freshmen helped put the team's win total to 43, just two shy of tying the school record with four regular season games left to play.

"We had just nine girls for the doubleheader and they all stepped up and performed very well," said Mendenhall. "I was truly impressed with the intensity and effort they brought today."

Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) hit three home runs on the day.

In Game 1, MCC broke up a 1-1 in the third inning scoring three runs in the third and adding three runs in the fifth and sixth innings to win on the eight-run rule. Kinsley hit a two-run homer in the game and starting pitcher Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) picked up the win allowing three hits and striking out seven.

MCC was up 3-1 in the fourth inning when Kinsley hit a grand slam in Game 2 and MCC won in five innings. Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) struck out five and allowed three hits to pick up the win.

Central CC goes to 4-8 in the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference and 17-23 on the season.

MCC improves to 43-7. The Lady Indians already won the NCCAC title but finish at 12-0.

Coach Mendenhall's team turns its attention back to Region IX where the Lady Indians are 18-2 – just one win away from clinching the Region IX title.

This weekend the Lady Indians can capture their second-ever Region IX title with one win in the four-game series against Western Nebraska starting Friday at home. Friday's doubleheader starts at 1 p.m. at the Jaycees Sports Complex and will be sophomore recognition day and will be the final regular season home game. MCC will travel to Scottsbluff Sunday to conclude the regular season.

The Cougars have won 13-straight games and are at 14-6 in the region. A WNCC sweep would put the Cougars in a first-place tie with MCC and Otero. The tie breaker comes down to head-to-head runs-allowed. MCC holds the tie-breaker with Otero.

The 2025 Lady Indians also becomes just the second in school history to top the 43 win-mark. The team record for wins is 45 which came in 2015. On Monday MCC surpassed the 42 wins recorded by the 2022 team that captured the school's only regular-season and post-season Region IX title.

"We are having a stellar year, but the future is looking very bright for MCC softball," said Mendenhall.

Only the top four teams in the regular-season standings advance to the post season tournament – which will be the top two teams hosting a best-of-three game series against the third and fourth-place teams.

Winning the regular season conference title would mean MCC would host both rounds of the Region IX tournament.

Heading into the weekend MCC leads the standings at 18-2, Otero has finished the regular season at 18-6, Western Nebraska is 14-6, Trinidad State is 9-11, Northeastern Junior College fifth at 6-14, Luna Community College is sixth at 5-15 and Lamar seventh at 2-18.

In addition to the MCC-WNCC series, other season-ending Region IX series include Trinidad State at Northeastern and Lamar travels to Luna.

GAME 1 – McCook 11, Central CC 1: Paige Warren doubled to lead off the third and Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) hit a two-run home run to put the Lady Indians in front for good. Cassidy Fenske (Gibbons, Alberta) hit a solo shot with two outs to give MCC a 4-1 lead.

Audrey Reeves (Sterling, Colo.) singled to lead off the fourth and Olivia Moorhead (Hershey) doubled. Reeves scored on a passed ball to make it a 5-1 game.

Finske hit an RBI-single in the fifth and Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.) singled in two runs to make it an 8-1 game. Kinsley and Beck both had RBI-singles in the sixth as part of the three-run sixth inning.

MCC outhit Central CC 11-3. Kinsley and Reeves both had three-hit games, Finske and Beck both had two-hit games.

Kaliyah St. Amand allowed three hits, one walk and one earned run over six innings. She struck out seven.

GAME 2 – McCook 10, Central CC 1: MCC went up 3-0 in the first with back-to-back singles from Paige Warren and Kaliyah St. Amand.
Cassidy Fenske singled home St. Amand and Kashlin Beck hit a sacrifice fly to put MCC up 3-0.

Olivia Moorhead (Hershey) and Haley Emmerson (Sterling, Colo.) singled in the fourth and scored when Payton Kinsley hit a grand slam to give the Lady Indians a 7-1 lead. An RBI-single from Audrey Reeves (Sterling, Colo.) made it 8-1.

Kinsley hit a two-run home run in the fifth to give MCC a 10-1 lead.

Warren was the winning pitcher, allowing three hits in five innings. She walked one and fanned five Raiders.

Kinsley went three-for-six with six RBIs to lead the MCC offense. The Lady Indians also got two-hit games from Warren, St. Amand, Fenske and Beck.