NJC Baseball sweeps Thursday games with MCC

Northeastern Junior College swept a pair of games from the MCC baseball team Thursday to ensure the Plainsmen will remain the conference leaders through the Easter weekend. NJC downed the Indians 8-6 and 21-8.

“Obviously it was a tough day at the park today,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen.

In Game 1 the Plainsmen broke up a 4-4 tie with a pair of two-run home runs in the fifth inning and held off a late MCC rally.

“In Game 1 we faced a tough arm – a returning first team All-region guy – and I thought we took competitive AB’s against him and got a little going,” said Olsen.

Trailing 4-2 in the fourth inning of Game 2, NJC scored seven runs and kept adding runs.

“We could just never slow them down, their offense did a good job all day long, they were tough outs,” said Olsen.

The Plainsmen improve to 10-0, atop the standings and go to 26-10 overall.

MCC falls to 7-3 and 25-9.

The four-game series moves on to Sterling Colo. Saturday with the two teams playing a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. in Plainsmen Park.

“We need to be a lot better Saturday but I’m fully confident we will be,” said Olsen.

Elsewhere around Region IX this weekend, Luna (3-5) opened a four-game series with Southeast Community College (1-7) today in New Mexico. Otero (4-4) will host Trinidad State (2-6) in a pair of doubleheaders Friday and Saturday, while Lamar (2-6) is set to host a four-game set against Western Nebraska (5-3) Friday and Saturday.

GAME 1 – Northeastern JC 8, McCook CC 6: The two teams traded runs over the first two innings of the game. NJC scored on a solo home run in the first and MCC responded with a leadoff triple by freshman Owen Weales (Bowmanville, Ontario) and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Tyler Reyburn (Frederick, Colo.). The Plainsmen got an unearned run in the second inning, but MCC tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-single by Kon Yoshimura (Nagasaki, Japan).

Northeastern took a 4-2 lead with a pair of runs in the third inning off MCC starting pitcher Aviv Bobrov (sophomore, Shekhanya, Israel). An inning later MCC tied the game 4-4 with a two-out rally capped by a two-run double by Weales.

Bobrov gave up a pair of two-run homers in the fifth as NJC took the lead for good 8-4. He pitched 4.2 innings, allowing 12 hits, seven earned runs, no walks and four strikeouts.

Freshman reliever Santiago Rodriguez (Okotoks, Alberta) kept the Plainsmen off the scoreboard in his 2.1 innings worked, he allowed one hit, walked two and struck out four.

In the bottom of the seventh, MCC loaded the bases on an NJC error, a single by freshman Jakoby Hamer (Edmonton, Alberta) and a walk. With one out freshman Kieren Cutler (Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador) drew a walk to cut the deficit to 8-5 and with two outs sophomore Chase Williams (Brampton, Ontario) drew a bases-loaded walk, but the Indians left the potential tying runs on base.

“We put ourselves in position to tie it or walk it off by loading the bases but we didn’t get the big hit,” said Olsen.

MCC was held to six hits in the game with Weales getting the only extra base hits with his triple and double.

GAME 2 – Northeastern JC 21, McCook CC 8: Tyler Reyburn doubled home Owen Weales in the first and Jacoby Hamer made it 2-0 with an RBI-single. After NJC got a run in the second, The Indians got a solo homer from sophomore Connor Charvat (Omaha, Neb.) in the bottom of the inning and Kon Yoshimura popped a two-run home run to put MCC up 4-1.

The Plainsmen got a leadoff homer in the third then chased starting pitcher Mikah Targett (Sydney, New South Wales Australia) from the game scoring seven runs in the fourth inning with a two-run homer, a three-run homer, a solo homer to lead 8-0. Targett went three innings and gave up seven hits and six earned runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Freshman reliever Timmy Hunt (Ashland, Neb.) finished the inning allowing two hits, one walk and two earned runs with a strikeout.

NJC added to their 9-4 lead in the with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth off sophomore Kaden Noble (Orillia, Ontario). He gave up three earned runs in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh to complete a three-inning outing allowing three earned runs on six hits, three walks and a strikeout.

Kieren Cutler had an RBI-single in the fifth inning and another in the seventh to make it a 14-6 game but NJC added three in the eighth inning and four in the ninth.

MCC got an RBI-double from Reyburn and sophomore Dalton Berg (Frederick, Colo.) in the eighth inning.

Freshman Tyler Parent (Newmarket, Ontario) gave up six runs on six hits in his inning of work and sophomore Jeff Bullock (Medicine Hat, Alberta) allowed one earned run on one hit with a strikeout in the ninth inning.

NJC outhit MCC 22-11 as McCook pitchers also issued eight walks and hit a batter.

Weales, Reyburn, Cutler and Yoshimura all had two-hit games for the Indians.

Up-to-date information about MCC baseball including up-to-date schedule and changes, livestream links for home games, rosters, photos, statistics and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com