MCC Baseball opens Region IX play with 6-3 win over NJC

LA JUNTA, Colo. – The McCook Community College baseball team got solid pitching and timely hitting in a 6-3 win Saturday over Northeastern Junior College. This series-opening win came in La Junta, because the field in McCook was not ready because of weather.

"We really got two very good outings on the mound today," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. "Offensively we did enough, had a couple key hits and took advantage of a couple mistakes defensively.

Sophomore starter Mikey Acierno (Thornton, Colo.) and freshman reliever Ethan Badcock (Adelade, Australia) teamed up on the mound to pick up the nine-inning win.

MCC opened the first game of the series with a first-inning run on singles by Michael Quick (freshman, Oshawa, Ontario), sophomore Josh Maysonave (Austin, Texas) and sophomore Oliver Davies (Canberra, Australia).

NJC tied the game 1-1 with a run in the second and went up 2-1 with a run in the fourth inning in which Acierno hit a couple batters and surrendered two hits.

"Mikey gave us great start, had one inning that he really had to minimize the damage, and he got out of it with only giving up a run," said Olsen.

In the bottom of the fourth, MCC responded with a two-out rally. With a runner on first via a walk, Trent Elshire (Plattsmouth) singled, and an NJC error put MCC up 3-2 and a double by sophomore Riley Watson (Sydney, Australia) made it a 4-2 MCC lead.

In the NJC fifth, the Plainsmen were able to score a run on a two-out single, a hit batter and an MCC error. Badcock came on in relief after two outs.

Acierno went 4.2 innings and allowed five hits, two earned runs, he walked three and struck out five. Badcock pitched 4.1 innings, allowed three hits, a walk, no earned runs and he fanned four.

"Ethan came in and was lights out, 4.1 scoreless innings," said Olsen. "I'm really proud of how both those guys threw."

Leading 4-3 in the fifth MCC got a one-out triple off the bat of sophomore transfer Alliskair Descartes (Thornton, Colo.) and an RBI-single by freshman Zeke Minic (Thornton, Colo.).

The score remained 5-3 until the eighth when MCC added another run on a walk, two passed balls and a fielder's choice.

"On defense we had one inning that we made two errors, back-to-back, but managed to only give up one run and then we really made some plays in some pressure spots that you have to do to win games," said Olsen.

MCC had eight hits in the game with two by Quick.

NJC goes to 7-7 on the season and 0-1 in the Empire League (Region IX) standings.

"It was good to get off on the right foot, but got two more tomorrow," said Olsen.

MCC goes to 5-6 (1-0) on the season and the two teams will play a Sunday doubleheader starting at noon, with a seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game.

For all the up-to-date information on MCC baseball this season including up-to-date scheduling changes, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com