Lady Indians win 12th straight in Sunday sweep over Luna

The Lady Indian softball team won its 12th straight game in a Sunday doubleheader sweep over Luna Community College. McCook Community College won 13-2 and 8-1 to complete the four-game series sweep over the Rough Riders.

"We had two more quality starts from our pitchers and had some clutch hits and stellar defense," said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. "We have all the tools to be a very good ball club."

In Game 1, MCC got home runs from freshman Payton Kinsley (Didsbury, Alberta), sophomore Rocio Mascorro (Brownsville, Texas) and sophomore Anna Elliott (Calgary, Alberta) and sophomore Sadie Kahl (Calgary, Alberta) picked up the complete-game win in the pitching circle.

Freshman Kaliyah St. Amand (Duncan, British Columbia) struck out 11 hitters in Game 2, allowing one earned run in seven innings. Freshman Peytann Weiland (Aurora, Colo.) drove in three runs for MCC.

"I was thinking the wind would be a factor, but we did a nice job adjusting to it," said Mendenhall. "We have a lot of depth on this team which we will need to keep winning but this team can flat out play," said Mendenhall.

Luna falls to 4-28 on the season and 1-7 in Region IX play.

MCC improves to 24-4 and top the region standings at 8-0.

The Lady Indians will be home Thursday to play North Platte Community College in Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference play. MCC is 4-0 in the NCCAC while North Platte is 0-4 in the Nebraska conference and 2-12 overall.

First pitch Thursday at the Jaycees Sports Complex is 2 p.m.

GAME 1 – McCook 13, Luna 2: The Lady Indians "stole" the first run of the game with sophomore Laila Gutierrez (Seminole, Texas) hitting a one-out double, then stole third base and later home to put MCC up 1-0.

Rocio Mascorro powered up the MCC offense in the second with a two-run home run, freshman Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia) lined a two-run double, Gutierrez had an RBI-single and Payton Kinsley hit a two-run home run to give the home team an 8-0 lead.

The Rough Riders scratched out two runs in the fourth on two singles, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and an MCC error to make it an 8-2 game.

MCC put the game out of reach with five more runs in the fourth. Warren singled, advanced two bases on an error and scored on another Luna Error. Gutierrez walked and stole second and third but was caught stealing home. Sadie Kahl hit a two-run double and Anna Elliott hit a two-run home run for the final runs of the game.

Kahl allowed five hits and two runs in five innings pitched. She walked one and fanned six.

MCC had 11 hits in the game with two each by Warren, Gutierrez and Ayana Goodwin (sophomore, Broomfield, Colo.). Gutierrez stole five bases.

GAME 2 – McCook 8, Luna 1: After Luna took a 1-0 lead in the first on a pair of singles and a walk, MCC tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff triple by Paige Warren and a sacrifice fly by Laila Gutierrez and later went up 2-1 on a Luna error, a stolen base by Anna Elliott and a passed ball.

Gutierrez doubled in a run in the second to give MCC a 3-1 lead. Lexi Knapp doubled to lead off the third inning and after an error and a single by Ayana Goodwin loaded the bases, Peytann Weiland doubled in all three runners to put MCC ahead 6-1. Sophomore Angela Banzet (Surrey, British Columbia) singled in Weiland.

MCC's final run came in the sixth with a one-out single by Payton Kinsley, a stolen base by courtesy runner Haley Emmerson (freshman, Sterling, Colo.) and a fielder's choice with Elliott batting.

After allowing the two-first inning hits and a walk, MCC starting pitcher Kaliyah St. Amand only allowed one single for the rest of the game and picked up the seven-inning complete game win. She allowed three hits, one walk and struck out 11.

MCC had 10 hits in the game with two each by Kinsley, Goodwin and Banzet.