2024-25 WNCC Cougar Baseball News
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Former Cougar signs with Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League, helps them to victory on Wednesday night
July 10, 2025Former Western Nebraska Community College baseball player signed his first professional baseball contract earlier this week. Then, Wednesday night, picked up his first professional win, helping the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League on the east coast in topping State College Spikes 11-4. Panduro said he signed to play the second half of the season but since he finished school and was draft eligible, they wanted him to come the last week “maybe to impress some scouts with an affiliation to MLB teams.” In his first appearance for the Frederick Keys in the game in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, Panduro entered the game in the fourth inning and did not allow a hit or run in four innings of work while walking two and striking out three to get the win. -
WNCC’s Brandon, Wilson make baseball all-region team
May 22, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team had a successful season and the Cougars had two players placed on the Empire Conference Region IX All-Region team that was released earlier this week. WNCC starting pitcher Clayden Brandon and starting shortstop Vaughn Wilson earned First Team honors this past season.
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WNCC baseball camp set for June 2-5
May 19, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball camp is less than two weeks away as the WNCC baseball coaches and former/current players will be holding their annual Cougar Baseball Camp Jun3 2-5 at the 23 Club Fields in Scottsbluff. The camp is an opportunity for baseball players to work on their baseball skills during a fun week of instruction and games. The WNCC coaches take an invested interest in helping the local players learn the fundamentals of baseball and providing an opportunity to play at WNCC. The WNCC coaches and players will be giving insight in helping the player to fine-tune your baseball skills in the form of offense, batting, and pitching. The camp costs $60 per camper and runs from 9 a.m. to noon all four days for players aged seven through 14. For more information on the camp, contact WNCC baseball coach Mike Jones at jonesm@wncc.edu. A camp flyer and online registration can be found at the WNCC Athletic Website at http://wncc.wnccathletics.com or a direct link at https://wnccathletics.com/information/camps.
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WNCC falls to Southeast, ends season at 27-26
May 10, 2025PUEBLO, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College wrapped up its season with a 9-1 loss to Southeast Community College in an elimination game Saturday afternoon. The Cougars finished the season with a winning record of 27-26 and went 2-2 at the regional tournament this weekend. The team put together a 5-game and 6-game winning streaks throughout the season. The tournament championship is set as Northeastern Junior College will face Otero College for the title on Sunday. Otero will need to win twice against NJC. The earlier games on Saturday saw NJC knock off 9-7. Otero came right back and eliminated Southeast 8-7.
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WNCC baseball downs Lamar in regional tourney
May 09, 2025PUEBLO, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team got a strong pitching performance from Julian Garza and the Cougars came back to capture a 10-6 win ober Lamar Community College on Friday at the Region IX Tournament in Pueblo, Colorado. WNCC, 27-25, earned the right to play Lamar after the Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen scored in the bottom of the ninth to top Lamar 13-12 in the winner’s bracket. The other side of the winner’s bracket Friday saw Otero top top-seeded Southeast Community College 6-3. In this game, the Cougars had to battle back from a deficit as Lamar scored twice in the first and three times in the second for a 5-1 lead.
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WNCC baseball still alive at regional tournament
May 08, 2025PUEBLO, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team is still alive at the Region IX tournament in Pueblo, Colorado, after splitting a pair of games. WNCC opened the tournament in falling to Lamar Community College 6-3 where the Cougars managed just four hits. WNCC followed that game up win an elimination game Thursday night and Jin Kobayakawa was a triple shy of the cycle as the Cougars registered a 6-3 win over McCook Community College, eliminating McCook. McCook fell in the first round 6-5 to Otero Thursday afternoon. The Cougars will have another elimination game Friday at 5 p.m. against a team to be determined from the winner’s bracket semifinal games that will be played earlier Friday.
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WNCC baseball opens regional tournament Thursday against Lamar
May 06, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College bid for a Region IX title will begin Thursday when the Cougars will face Lamar Community College in the first-round of the Region IX tournament. WNCC earned the third seed for the tournament and will battle the sixth-seed Lamar at 11 a.m. in Pueblo, Colorado. The other first-round game will have No. 5 Otero College battle No. 4 McCook Community College at 2 p.m. The tournament will be played at Runyon Park in Pueblo, Colorado. Runyon Park is very similar to Cleveland Field with a turf infield and grass outfield. Video of the tournament will be on the TSBN Sports Network at https://tsbnsports.com/2025-region-9-baseball-tournament/.
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WNCC falls to NJC, gets third seed for regionals
May 03, 2025STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team managed just three hits on Saturday and the Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen earned the No. 2 seed for the Region IX tournament with a 7-0 win over the Cougars in Sterling, Colorado, during Pack the Park Night. WNCC, 25-24 on the season, falls to 16-12 on the conference and will have the No. 3 seed for next weeks regional tournament that begins Thursday in Pueblo, Colorado. The top two teams get a first-round bye while the next four play a first-round game.
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WNCC, NJC baseball split contests on Friday
May 02, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball needed two wins Friday to lock up the second seed for the Region IX tournament next weekend. Instead, the two teams split contests at Cleveland Field which sets up Saturday’s regular season final between the two teams as pivotal with the winner claiming the second seed for regionals while the loser will get the third seed. The first and second seeds will get a first-round bye in the regional tournament while the next four teams will have to play a first-round playoff game in the regional tournament that begins Thursday in Pueblo, Colorado. Saturday’s 9-inning contest will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Sterling, Colorado. Friday’s contest went WNCC way in the opener as the Cougars registered a 7-3 win and only trailed once in the contest. The second game saw NJC earn the 5-0 win.
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WNCC baseball downs NJC in key conference game
May 01, 2025STERLING, Colo. – Catcher Gladysh had two home runs and the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team had four home runs total as the Cougars registered a key Empire Conference 13-5 win over Northeastern Junior College Thursday in Sterling, Colorado. The win moves the Cougars to 24-22 overall but, more importantly, to 15-10 in the conference. NJC is now 30-22 overall and 16-9 in conference. The two teams have three games left this weekend and the one that captures two wins will get the important second seed in the Region IX tournament next week. WNCC will host NJC in a doubleheader on Friday, May 2 and then the two teams will wrap up the series with a 9-inning game on Saturday in Sterling, Colorado. Gladysh said these were huge wins for the team and they need to keep playing like this the rest of the series and season.
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WNCC baseball team sweeps Luna on Saturday
April 26, 2025LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball are still in the hunt for the second seed for the Region IX tournament after sweeping Luna Community College on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, the Cougars won 10-5 and 14-12 on Friday. Saturday’s action was a complete team effort as the Cougars pounded out 16 hits in game one, including home runs from Jin Kobayakawa, Matt Levesque, and Kyler Adams for the 11-2 win. The second game saw the team get 21 hits with three doubles and five home runs, including two from Will Harbison, and one each from Kobayakawa, Vaughn Wilson, and Catcher Gladysh. Ren Sato also broke a long-standing record as he finished with five singles in the contest, breaking the record of four that was held by nine other players. The Cougars move above .500 for the season at 23-22 and to 14-10 in the Empire Conference, which is a game behind second-place Northeastern Junior College. WNCC and NJC play this weekend to wrap up the regular season as the Cougars travel to NJC on Thursday and Saturday for single games and will host the Plainsmen on Friday in a doubleheader.
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WNCC baseball takes doubleheader from Luna on Friday
April 25, 2025LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team moved into third place of the Empire Conference after sweeping Luna Community College in Las Vegas, New Mexico on Friday. The Cougars received a strong pitching performance and timely hitting including home runs from Vaughn Wilson, Matt Levesque, and Tucker Deal for the 10-5 win. The second game saw the Cougars jump out to a 9-0 lead and then held on for the 14-12 win as the Cougars hammered four more home runs from Cooper Burgess, Ren Sato, Catcher Gladysh, and Austin Cooper. The win moves the Cougars to 12-10 in the conference and 21-22 overall. The Cougars are a game out of second place held by Northeastern Junior College. WNCC and Luna will have another doubleheader on Saturday. Saturday’s second game was an offensive showcase as the Cougars had 20 hits with the four home runs and three doubles.
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WNCC baseball splits with Otero on Monday
April 21, 2025LAJUNTA, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team split an Empire Conference doubleheader with Otero College on Monday. The Cougars scored all the runs they needed in the first game in the fourth inning as they earned the 4-3 win. The second contest saw WNCC give up seven late runs to fall to the Rattlers 7-4. WNCC is now in a dogfight in the conference standings as four teams are tied for third with 10-10 records and WNCC is one of them. The other three teams with 10-10 records include Otero, McCook, and Lamar. Southeast Community College leads the conference at 17-3 followed by Northeastern Junior College at 13-7. WNCC, now 19-22 overall, will hit the road to play a 4-game series with Luna Community College on Friday and Saturday. Luna is 6-14 in the conference and 12-30 overall.
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WNCC baseball earns split with Otero with wild 17-13 win in second game
April 17, 2025LAJUNTA, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College and Otero baseball teams are still tied for fourth as each team captured a win on Thursday in the first day of the 4-game Empire Conference series in LaJunta, Colorado. The first game saw the Cougars lose a heartbreaker as the Rattlers scored five times in the sixth inning to capture a 6-5 win. The second contest was a high-scoring contest that saw the Cougars score five times in the 10th inning to get the 17-13 win. The two teams combined for 30 runs and 30 hits in the contest. The two teams were slated to play Friday but because of weather conditions down in LaJunta, that doubleheader will now be played Monday, April 21 in LaJunta. WNCC and Otero are still tied in the conference at 9-9, but they are just a game out of third place behind Lamar, who is at 10-7. WNCC is 18-21 overall.
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WNCC baseball sweeps Trinidad on Saturday
April 12, 2025It was a good weekend for the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team as they swept Trinidad State College in the 4-game series Friday and Saturday. On Friday, the Cougars won 7-6 and 11-1. Saturday’s action was just as impressive as Rocco Harmon went six innings in allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts for the 2-0 Cougar win in the first game. The second game saw the Cougars score six runs in the first inning, including three straight triples in earning the 13-5 win in the 9-inning game. Freshman Will Harbison said this was one of the best weekends that they have had.
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WNCC baseball tops Trinidad State on Friday
April 11, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team captured a pair of Empire Conference wins Friday at Cleveland Field over Trinidad State College. The first game was a battle as Clayden Brandon went six strong innings and then Alex Renfrow got the save as the Cougars earned the 7-6 win. The second game saw Julian Garza go six strong innings and the Cougars earned the run-ruled 11-1 over the Trojans. The two teams will be back at Cleveland Field for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.
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WNCC baseball team drops doubleheader to Lamar
April 07, 2025A day after sweeping Lamar Community College in an Empire Conference doubleheader on Sunday, Western Nebraska Community College baseball dropped a pair of games to the Runnin’ Lopes by scores of 11-1 and 6-2. The Cougars fall to 13-20 overall and to 4-8 in conference play. WNCC will host Trinidad State College in a 4-game conference series on Friday and Saturday. Those will be their last home games for three weeks as their next home game will be May 2 against Northeastern Junior College. Monday’s contests were contests where the Cougar bats were silent. In game one, the Cougars managed just one hit and fell behind 5-0 through 2 ½ innings. The third inning was when the Cougars managed to scratch across a run. Jase Satterfield led off by reaching on an error. With two outs, Vaughn Wilson doubled in Satterfield for the run.
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Brandon nearly perfect in game one to help Cougars claim two wins
April 06, 2025Clayden Brandon tossed a 1-hitter and faced just 21 batters as the sophomore from West Herriman, Utah, nearly had a perfect game as the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team opened the 4-game Empire Conference series with an 1-0 win over Lamar Community College Sunday afternoon at Cleveland Field. The Cougars followed that outstanding pitching and defensive performance of game one with an offensive show in capturing game 20-5. The Cougars finished with 18 hits and seven doubles to get the Sunday sweep. The win moves the Cougars to 13-18 overall and 4-6 in conference play while Lamar drops to 16-21 overall and to 5-5 in the conference. The two teams will wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Monday at Cleveland Field. First pitch is slated for 12 noon.
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WNCC baseball splits with McCook on Friday
March 28, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team earned a split with McCook Community College on Friday in an Empire Conference doubleheader at Cleveland Field. The first game was a dandy as the Cougars came back from a 3-0 deficit, getting a 3-run home run from Vaughn Wilson in the sixth to force extra innings. Then, in the ninth inning, Catcher Gladysh got a walk off single to score Wilson with the winning run for the 4-3 victory. The second game saw McCook scored 14 runs in the final four innings to capture the 16-6 win. The first game was plenty of exciting and was a good defensive and pitcher’s dual between the two Nebraska junior colleges.
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WNCC baseball splits with McCook on Thursday
March 27, 2025MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College and McCook Community College traded shutout wins on Thursday in McCook in Empire Conference action. WNCC received a complete-game pitching performance from Clayden Brandon in game 1 as the right-hander went all seven innings in allowing just three hits for the 5-0 win. Game two saw WNCC outhit McCook 8-7, but the Cougars just couldn’t get key hit to score any runners as McCook captured the 9-inning, game two 4-0.
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WNCC falls twice in offensive showcases
March 22, 2025With winds gusting to around 40 mph on Saturday, the Western Nebraska Community College and Southeast Community College had an offensive show in an Empire Conference showdown. The two teams on the day combined for 67 runs, 43 hits, 17 home runs, 15 doubles, and the two teams used 14 pitchers. On top of all that, Vaughn Wilson became the second player in Cougar history to hit for the cycle during the second game of the doubleheader when Wilson had a single, double, triple, and home run with three runs scored and three RBIs. The only other player to hit for the cycle in Cougar history was Brian Trivette in 2002.
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WNCC baseball drops doubleheader to Southeast
March 21, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team dropped a pair of Empire Conference contests to Southeast Community College on Friday at Cleveland Field. The first game saw the Cougars out-hit Southeast, but the Bobcats won the contest 9-3 with four runs in the sixth. The second game saw Southeast score five early runs and then add eight runs in the eighth inning to earn the 16-6 win. Both teams will wrap up the 4-game series on Saturday with the first pitch slated for noon at Cleveland Field.
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Lockwood blasts two home runs, WNCC falls to Central Arizona
March 11, 2025COOLIDGE, Ariz. – Landon Lockwood had a career night in the second game of a doubleheader against Central Arizona College on Tuesday despite the team falling 14-9. WNCC dropped the first game of the doubleheader 3-0 in a pitcher’s dual that saw the three CAC pitchers combine on a no-hitter. The second game was one where Lockwood finished with six RBIs with two home runs and two runs scored. One home run was a grand slam. Vaughn Wilson led the offensive attack with three hits, including a double with two runs scored.
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WNCC baseball team falls to Mesa in tight contest
March 10, 2025MESA, Ariz. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team battled tooth and nail with Mesa Community College on Monday to open their Spring Break trip. The Cougars scored four, second-inning runs for an early lead, but allowed Mesa to score single runs in five innings to take the 5-4 win.
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WNCC baseball splits with Northeast
March 05, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team earned a split with Northeast Community College on Wednesday. Game one saw Cameryn Spence go four strong innings and the four Cougar pitchers allowed just four hits and three runs in earning the 4-3 win. The second game saw the Northeast pitchers toss a one-hitter as the Hawks captured the 7-1 win. WNCC went to 8-6 overall on the season with the split while Northeast went to 11-6.
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WNCC baseball team takes four from Dawson over the weekend
March 02, 2025It was an offensive weekend for the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team as they scored 52 runs in four games in taking all four games from Dawson Community College over the weekend at Cleveland Field. Saturday’s action saw WNCC score 14 runs in the fourth inning enroute to a 20-0 win. The second game saw WNCC open up a close contest with seven, fifth-inning runs to claim the 10-1 win. Sunday’s contests were a little closer. In the opener, WNCC out-hit Dawson 10-5 that saw a home run from Landon Lockwood as the Cougars downed the Bucs 7-2. The second game was one where the Cougars trailed 10-2 after 4 ½ innings, but plated 10 runs in the fifth to take a 12-10 lead and won 15-10. Calab Caciari, who went 2-for-2 with a home run in the second-game win, said the team played well over the weekend.
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WNCC baseball earn a split with Miles on Monday
February 24, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team earned a split with Miles Community College on Monday to wrap up the 4-game series with the Pioneers. The first game saw the Cougars score 10 fifth-inning runs to capture a 14-9 win. The second game saw Miles score in all five innings in posting a 19-9 win in five innings. WNCC will be back at home this weekend when they host Dawson Community College on Saturday and Sunday.
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WNCC baseball drops a pair of contests on Sunday
February 23, 2025The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team worked hard for two days to remove snow to play its home series with Miles Community College on Sunday and Monday. All that hard work ended up as the two baseball teams hooked up with two offensive games as a combined 15 home runs were hit on the day in the home-opener for the Cougars. Miles claimed the doubleheader sweep over the Cougars on Sunday, capturing the first game 18-11 and then earned a 14-7 win in game two. The two teams will be back at it Monday for another doubleheader beginning at 12 noon at Cleveland Field.
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WNCC’s Brandon named Region IX Pitcher of the Week
February 12, 2025Western Nebraska Community College Claydon Brandon picked up some Region IX honors this week after he was named the Region IX Pitcher of the Week for his performance against New Mexico Military Institute. Brandon helped the Cougars to a season-opening 5-1 win over NMMI. Brandon had five innings of work where he didn’t surrender a run while allowing three hits, striking out four, and not walking a batter. Brandon is a right-handed pitcher from West Herriman, Utah.
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WNCC baseball drops doubleheader to NMMI on Saturday
February 08, 2025ROSWELL, N.M. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team dropped a pair of games to New Mexico Military Institute on Saturday to even their record at 2-2 on the season. WNCC opened the season with 5-1 and 12-8 wins over NMMI on Friday. On Saturday, NMMI earned 8-0 and 13-4 wins. WNCC will be back on the road this weekend when they travel to Great Bend, Kansas, for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
