MCC Baseball splits Sunday doubleheader to take series with Northeastern JC

STERLING, Colo. – The McCook Community College baseball team split a Sunday doubleheader with Northeastern Junior College. MCC won the first game 10-3 and lost the second game 17-7 by the 10-run rule in the seventh inning.

Sophomore Owen Lester (St. Charles, Ill.) picked up a complete-game win on the mound for MCC in Game 1.

"We got a great start from Owen in Game 1, he was really good, and we swung the bat well, and played a complete game to clinch the series," said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.

MCC took a 4-0 lead in Game 2 but were outscored 17-3 over the final five innings, as the Plainsmen collected 17 hits including five doubles and two home runs.

"NJC really swung the bat well in Game 2," said Olsen.

The coach said the team had a little bit of a setback as freshman pitcher Aiden Johnson (Westminster, Colo.), who had taken over the third spot in the starting rotation was unable to pitch this weekend.

"He had been pitching really good for us as of late, hopefully skipping a start will heal him up and we'll have him back for the last weekend and playoffs," said Olsen.

Northeastern JC goes to 16-15 in the Empire League North Standings and 25-26 overall.

MCC goes to 18-12 in the standings and maintains its two-and a half-game lead over NJC for second place in the standings with one weekend left in region play. Southeast Community College has clinched first place, with a 26-4 region record, MCC is second, NJC third and Western Nebraska fourth at 8-20. The top two teams in the Empire League North will host a post-season series against the third and fourth place teams in the Empire League South Standings.

MCC goes to 29-20 overall and travel to La Junta, Colo., Monday for a make up game against Luna Community College at 1 p.m.

MCC will wrap up the Empire League schedule with a three-game series against Western Nebraska Saturday and Sunday April 29-30 with the Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

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

GAME 1 – McCook CC 10, Northeastern JC 3: Freshman Michael Quick (Oshawa, Ontario) led off the game with a double and scored on a single by sophomore transfer Alliskair Descartes (Thornton, Colo.). With two outs sophomore Abel Reyes (Puerto Caimito, Panama) drove hoe Descartes to put MCC up 2-0.

NJC got a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning off MCC starting pitcher Owen Lester (sophomore, St. Charles, Ill.) to go up 3-2.

MCC claimed the lead for good in the second on a walk, a two out double by Quick and a two-run single by Descartes giving MCC a 4-3 lead.

Neither team scored in the third or fourth inning but MCC lead off the fifth inning with back-to-back home runs by sophomores Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) and Josh Maysonave (Austin, Texas) to put MCC up 6-3. Quick and Descartes set the table again in the sixth when Quick was hit by a pitch and Descartes singled, then with two outs Maysonave drove home Quick, Reyes drove in Descartes and Maysonave came home on a wild pitch to put MCC in front 9-3.

An NJC error let in MCC's final run in the seventh.

Lester bounced back from the three-run home run in the seventh and shut out the Plainsmen the rest of the way, picking up a seven-inning complete-game win, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, four walks and he struck out eight hitters.

Quick, Descartes, and Maysonave led the 14-hit MCC offense with three hits each and Reyes had two. Descartes drove in four runs in the game.

GAME 2 – Northeastern JC 17, McCook 7: Michael Quick and Alliskair Descartes led off the first with a single and a walk and Ethan Murdoch singled to put MCC up 1-0. In the second, sophomore Tyus Chudomelka (Bellevue) hit a two-out single and Quick followed with a two-run homer to give MCC a 3-0 lead. Josh Maysonave doubled to lead off the MCC third and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Serafinchon (Spruce Grove, Alberta) to put MCC up 4-0.

NJC scored a run in the third and six in the fourth to go up 7-4. Rocky Yates (redshirt freshman, Sydney, Australia) started the game on the mound and went 3.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs on two hits and two walks. Victor Nane, (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) pitched 1.1 innings and allowed three earned runs as NJC added two runs in the second to lead 9-4.

Murdoch hit a two-out, three run home run in the fifth to cut the deficit to 9-7 but the Plainsmen responded with six runs in the sixth inning and put the game away with two in the seventh. Freshman William Coe (North Platte, Neb.) pitched two thirds of an inning and was charged with five earned runs. Freshman Zack Lane (Phoenix, Ariz.) pitched one inning and allowed two earned runs. Sophomore Jackson Bigge (Fort Collins, Colo.) faced the final two batters of the game.

The MCC defense committed five errors in the game.

MCC's offense had nine hits with three by Murdoch and two by Quick and Chudomelka.