PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team dropped a pair of games to South Mountain Community College Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix.
WNCC and South Mountain hooked up in a dandy in the first game before South Mountain pulled out the 6-4 win. The second contest was all South Mountain with the 18-1 win.
The doubleheader was a meeting between Western Nebraska Pioneers coaches. Jimmy Turk. who was the Pioneers head coach last summer, serves as an assistant for South Mountain, while WNCC head coach Mike Jones was an assistant for the Pioneers.
The first game saw South Mountain jump out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. WNCC came back scoring one in the second and two in the third to knot the game. Ethan Miller blasted a solo home run in the second for the first run of the game.
The second inning started with a Luis Alcantara double followed by a run-scoring triple by Brevin Owen. Owen came around to score on a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 3-3.
South Mountain came back with three in the fourth to grab a 6-3 lead. WNCC scored once in the fifth as Mitch Osborne scored on a Dermot Fritsch double.
WNCC finished with four hits in the contest, all extra-base hits. Miller had a home run with two RBIs and a run scored, while Owen had a triple and RBI. Alcantara and Fritsch each had doubles in the contest.
Kyler Harris took the loss on the mound, going four innings in surrendering six hits and six runs while striking out five. Nate Kolb tossed the final two innings in allowing three hits and no runs.
The second game was all South Mountain. The Arizona school scored seven in the first inning and never looked back in taking the 18-1 win.
WNCC had just two hits in the contest with the hits coming from Mitch Osborne and Ty McAninch.
Game 1
WNCC 012 010 0 – 4 4 1
S. Mountain 300 300 x – 6 9 0
LP – Kyler Harris.
2B – Luis Alcantara, Dermot Fritsch.
3B – Brevin Owen.
HR – Ethan Miller.
Game 2
WNCC 001 000 – 1 2 2
S. Mountain 705 15x – 18 18 2
LP – Garrett DeClue.