MCC Baseball wins twice in Region IX opener

The McCook Community College baseball team opened Region IX play at home Friday and swept a doubleheader over Lamar Community College 7-1 and 11-10 in walk-off fashion.

“I’m pretty pleased with how the day went today,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.

MCC got solo home runs in the fourth inning of Game 1 from Luke Bies (sophomore, Omaha Gross) and freshman Nathan Hutchison (Riverton, Wyo.) to put MCC in the lead for good. That’s all the support starting pitcher Aiden Johnson (sophomore, Westminster, Colo.) needed to pick up the win with relief help from sophomore Ethan Badcock (Adelaide, Australia).

“We put together a complete Game 1, we obviously pitched really well, but we also defended and got some timely hits, the two HR’s were huge,” said Olsen.

In Game 2 both teams scored in six of the nine innings, but it was MCC that came up with three runs in the eight and walked it off in the ninth with the game-winning RBI coming from Hutchinson.

“We definitely weren’t perfect in Game 2 but we really showed some fight, we got down came back, got down came back, just kept competing at a high level,” said Olsen. “I kind of feel like that has been missing a bit and we really had it today,

Badcock came on to pick up the win in relief.

“I just felt like effort was really there today and glad it paid off with two wins,” said Olsen.

Lamar goes to 10-18 on the season and 0-2 in the Empire League (Region IX).

MCC goes to 7-13 and 2-0 in the Empire League.

The two teams conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. at the Jaycees Sports Complex.

All the latest information for MCC baseball including up-to-date schedule and changes as well as statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com

GAME 1 – McCook CC 7, Lamar 1: The Runnin’ Lopes plated the first run of the game in the third inning with a single and a two-out double. MCC responded in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff single by freshman Nathan Hutchison. He was retired on the bases on a fielder’s choice but freshman Cory Wouters (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) singled and after a hit batter, MCC tied the game 1-1 on a bases-loaded walk with sophomore Jason Serafinchon (Spruce Grove, Alberta) batting.

Luke Bies led off the MCC fourth with a solo home run and with two outs Hutchison homered to left field to put MCC ahead 3-1.

Wouters led off the fifth with a double and scored on a single by sophomore Jackson Yeager (Omaha Westside) to make it a 4-1 MCC lead.

Aiden Johnson pitched the first five innings for the Indians, allowed six hits, no walks and recorded seven strikeouts. Sophomore Ethan Badcock (Adelaide, Australia) came on in the LCC sixth and hit the first two batters he faced but turned a doubleplay on a comebacker to the mound and retired the final hitter of the inning on a flyout.

Sophomore Jake Quinlivan (Sydney, Australia) singled to lead off the sixth inning and later scored on a wild pitch and Yeager drove in two runs on an RBI-single.

“We did a good job of tacking some runs in the sixth,” said Olsen. “It was nice to get us a little breathing room.”

Badcock retired the Lopes in order in the seventh inning.

MCC played errorless ball behind Johnson and Badcock and outhit Lamar 9-6 with Hutchison, Wouters, Yeager and Quinlivan all having two-hit games and Yeager had three RBIs.

GAME 2 – McCook CC 11, Lamar 10: After Lamar’s first four hitters reached base, MCC starting pitcher Leif Friedrich (freshman, Surrey, British Columbia) induced a doubleplay but a single by the next batter put the Runnin’ Lopes up 3-0.

MCC’s first hitter Nathan Hutchison was hit by a pitch, Michael Quick singled and both scored – Hutchison on an RBI-single from Jackson Yeager and Quick on a Lamar error.

After Lamar took a 4-2 lead in the second, MCC got a run back in the bottom of the frame with a double by Jake Quinlivan and an RBI-single from sophomore Blake Dale (Riverton, Wyo.).

Quinlivan led off the MCC fourth with a single and tied the game on a Hutchison single. MCC took a 5-4 lead on a single by Cory Wouters.

Lamar tied the game with a solo homer in the fifth but MCC took the lead back in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Dale to make it a 7-5 MCC lead.

Freshman starting pitcher Leif Friedrich (Surrey, British Columbia) took the lead one out into the sixth inning before giving up a double and a walk. Sophomore Zack Lane (Phoenix, Ariz.) surrendered a game-tying double to the first batter he faced but got out of the inning with a 7-7 tie and kept the Runnin’ Lopes off the scoreboard until the eight when he hit two of the first three batters he faced.

He ended up pitching two innings and allowed two unearned runs on two hits and a walk. Ethan Badcock came on in relief, but an MCC error allowed a pair of runs to score and give Lamar a 9-7 edge.

A Lamar error opened the door for MCC in the eighth and Wouter’s drove home Quick on an RBI-groundout. With two outs sophomore Jason Serafinchon (Spruce Grove, Alberta) put MCC on top 10-9 with an RBI-double.

Lamar tied the game in the ninth on a wild pitch.

Freshman Maddox Shaver (Belleville Ontario) led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but was retired on a fielder’s choice with Quinlivan batting. With two outs, Quinlivan stole second and scored the game-winner on a walk-off RBI-single by Hutchison.

Badcock pitched 1.2 innings for the win in relief, allowing one hit, three walks, one earned run and two strikeouts.

MCC outhit Lamar 14-11. Quick led the way with three hits and the Indians got two-hit games from Hutchison, Serafinchon, Quinlivan and Dale, who drove in a team-best three.