Lady Indians outscore Luna 24-1 in Saturday sweep

The McCook Community College softball team swept a home doubleheader from Luna Community College Saturday winning 17-1 and 7-0.

The Lady Indians opened the series with their first eight hitters reaching base in Game 1 on seven hits and a walk, leading to a nine-run first inning and a 17-1 win. Sophomore pitcher Sadie Kahl (sophomore, Calgary, Alberta) struck out 10 Rough Riders in the five-inning game.

MCC got a four-hit game from freshman Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia), and three-hit games from sophomore Lexi Knapp (Berthoud, Colo.) and freshman Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta) who drove in seven runs including a three-run home run in the first.

"Pitchers were great today and we also had great defense," said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. "We are an extremely tough team to beat. We hit the ball well in Game 1 and Sadie had a heck of a game."

In Game 2, freshman Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out four.

"Game 2 was more challenging at the plate for us," said Mendenhall. "We need to focus in more at the plate. I'm thinking Luna will be a lot tougher tomorrow."

Luna falls to 4-26 on the season and 1-5 in Region IX play.

MCC improves to 22-4 and 6-0 in Region IX.

These two teams will close out their series with another doubleheader Sunday starting at 11 a.m. at the Jaycees Sports Complex.

GAME 1 – McCook 17, Luna 1: After a leadoff single from Paige Warren and a walk from sophomore Laila Gutierrez (Seminole, Texas), the Lady Indians seized control of the game with a three-run home run by Payton Kinsley in a nine-run first inning. Warren tripled in two runs in her second at bat of the inning to put MCC up 8-0. She came home on an RBI-single by Kinsley.

In the third, MCC loaded the bases with a leadoff single from Angela Banzet (sophomore, Surrey, British Columbia), a single from Warren and a walk by Gutierrez before Kinsley doubled in all three runners to give MCC a 12-0 lead.

The Lady Indians scored five times with two outs in the fourth inning on a Warren RBI-single, a two-run error and RBI-singles by Knapp and Sadie Kahl.

Kahl closed out the game on the mound with a one-two-three fifth to end the game on the eight-run rule. She allowed two hits, no earned runs and struck out 10 Rough Riders.

MCC had 17 hits in the game with four from Warren, three each by Knapp and Kinsley and two-hit games from Kahl and sophomore Anna Elliott (Calgary, Alberta). Kinsley had seven RBIs and Warren three.

GAME 2 – McCook 7, Luna 0: Paige Warren and Lexi Knapp ignited the offense with a five-run first inning with Warren's leadoff double and Knapp's two-run single putting the Lady Indians up 3-0 then with two outs, sophomore Ayana Goodwin (Broomfield, Colo.) doubled in two more runs to make it a 5-0 MCC lead.

Laila Gutierrez tripled to lead off the MCC second and scored on a Rough Rider error to put the Lady Indians ahead 6-0 where the score remained until the sixth when Gutierrez reached on a two-out Luna error and scored on a double by Payton Kinsley.

Kaliyah St. Amand went the distance in recording the shutout in the circle. She allowed two hits, walked three and struck out four.

MCC's defense didn't make an error and recorded three doubleplays in the game including two by right-fielder Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.) who ended the first when she made a catch and doubled a runner off base and duplicated the feat again with no outs in the seventh. The Lady Indians also turned an infield doubleplay in the fifth inning.

The Lady Indians had six hits in the game with two by Gutierrez. Knapp and Goodwin both had two RBIs.