MCC Softball splits games in Branson

BRANSON, Mo. – The McCook Community College softball split a pair of games Saturday in the Branson Turf’s Up Classic. MCC lost 5-4 to Northern Oklahoma-Enid 5-4 in the opening game and beat Southwestern Community College (Creston, Iowa) in six innings 12-3.

The Lady Indians got down 5-0 early in Game 1 and never recovered.

“We had a really slow start offensively in Game 1,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “We had runners in scoring position multiple times and couldn’t get the big hit.  It was nice to see some fight out of the ladies and battle back.”  

MCC came back from an 0-2 deficit in the third inning of Game 2 and scored five runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth inning.

Starting pitcher Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) pitched five innings in the win and had three hits herself along with three from freshman Josie Wright (Calgary, Alberta). Sophomore Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) homered and drove in three runs. And freshman Lyndsay Keogh (Surrey, British Columbia) hit one over the fence.

“We had another slow start at the plate in Game 2, but made our adjustments and had some clutch hits with a runners on,” said Mendenhall. “Our pitchers threw very well today,” said Mendenhall.

MCC goes to 6-2 on the year.

The Lady Indians will open the home schedule Tuesday. First pitch for the doubleheader against Seward County Community College will be 2 p.m.

On Friday MCC is back on the road to Kansas City for four games against a pair of teams ranked in the top 20 in the NJCAA D2 preseason polls. First up is No. 8 Johnson County Community College for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. and then on Saturday MCC plays No. 19 Kansas City Kansas Community College.

GAME 1 – Northern Oklahoma-Enid 5, McCook CC 4: Northern Oklahoma College-Enid broke out on top with a pair of runs in the second inning off sophomore starting pitcher Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) on a pair of leadoff singles, a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly and an RBI-single. The Jets added three more in the third on two singles and a two-out three-run home run to take a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Indians got the offense going in the bottom of the third inning with a leadoff double by Paige Warren and a two-out, two-run home run from Lyndsay Keogh. Sophomore Audrey Reeves (Sterling, Colo.) led off the fourth inning with a solo homer to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Lacyn Keller (freshman, McCook) led off the MCC fifth with a single, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a one-out double by Keogh.

The Lady Indians managed singles in the sixth and seventh innings but were unable to bunch hits together.

“The centerfielder on the other team robbed Kaliyah of a walk off home run to win the game,” said Mendenhall.   

St. Amand absorbed her first loss of the year (3-1), allowing nine hits, five earned runs, two walks and seven strikeouts.

MCC had eight hits in the game with two each by Keller and Keogh.

The Jets improved to 6-5 with the win.

GAME 2 – McCook CC 12, Southwestern CC 3: MCC got down 2-0 with the Spartans scoring runs in the bottom of the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead off starting pitcher Paige Warren.

The Lady Indians got the offense started in the third with a leadoff single from Josie Wright, a stolen base and an RBI-double from freshman Hallie Schneider (Alliance, Neb.). Warren tied the game driving in Schneider and with two outs MCC went in front 3-2 on an RBI-double from Payton Kinsley.

Southwestern scored an unearned run to tie the game in the third but MCC took the lead for good in the fourth on a one-out single by sophomore Marleigh Mitchell (Mission, British Columbia), a stolen base from Audrey Reeves and an RBI-single by Wright to put the Lady Indians ahead 4-3.

Warren pitched five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, no walks and five strikeouts.

MCC closed out the game with five runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth inning. Freshman Brooklyn Gillen (McCook) delivered a two-run double in the fifth to put MCC ahead 6-3. Reeves, Mitchell and Wright all followed with RBI-hits to make it a 9-3 game.

Warren doubled to lead off the sixth inning and Kinsley powered a two-run homer followed by a solo bomb by Keogh for the final runs.

Sophomore Olivia Moorhead (Hershey) pitched the final inning for MCC allowing one walk with one strikeout.

MCC outhit the Spartans 13-5. Warren and Wright each had three. Kinsley drove in three runs.

The Spartans go to 4-4 with Saturday losses to MCC and Crowder College.

Up-to-date information about MCC  softball including up-to-date schedule and changes, livestream links for home games, rosters, photos, statistics and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com