The Western Nebraska Community College softball team put together two completely different wins in topping Lamar Community College Saturday afternoon at Volunteer Field.
Emma McMillan tossed a 3-hitter while striking out three in leading the Cougars to a 2-0 win in the first game.
The second game saw Mickie Mills and Bri George launch home runs in a 12-1, 5-inning win.
The two wins move the Cougars to 18-6 in the conference, three games ahead of second-place Otero, and 28-16 overall. Otero is 17-9 in the conference and 28-12 overall.
The Cougars will be back in action Sunday when they host McCook Community College in a conference doubleheader beginning at noon at Volunteer Field. It will also be sophomore recognition that day.
"We finally played defense," WNCC coach Katelyn Groves said. "It was a great day today. Emma threw well and Mickie threw well today. Our defense showed up and played behind them. We made a couple errors, but we didn't let it snowball and get away from us."
The first game was a defensive battle and the Cougars did everything right in the field behind McMillan's pitching. Lamar had just one player touch second base in the game and the Cougar defense turned a big second-inning double play to thwart a scoring opportunity.
Then there was McMillan's arm where the right-handed flamethrower faced just 23 batters in seven innings of work and threw just 98 pitches, 61 of which went for strikes.
The offense did the job they needed to get the win. WNCC managed just five hits, but the hits came at key times.
WNCC went up 1-0 in the second. Hannah Baesler singled and came around to score on a Tylar Davis double to centerfield for the early lead.
The Cougars added an insurance run in the fifth as Lindsey Allie tripled and scored on a Mills double for the 2-0 lead.
Three of the Cougar five hits went for extra bases. No Cougar had more than one hit in the contest.
The second game was a different story offensively. WNCC put up 14 hits in the 12-1. While the offense came alive, the defense stayed solid once again behind the 3-hit pitching of Mills. Mills faced just 22 batters in five innings of work in allowing three hits, a run, and striking out two.
The Cougar bats gave Mills plenty of support. WNCC jumped on top with four runs in the first and second inning. The first inning saw Mills start things with a double and scored the first run on a Michaela Kelly single. Kelly and Bri George would later score to make it 3-0 and then Sam Davis sacrificed home Baesler after an 11-pitch plate appearance for the 4-0 lead.
The Cougars added another four runs in the second. Mills started things with a solo home run. Abriana Ramirez singled and scored on a Kelly triple. George made it 8-0 with one swing of the bat launching a 2-run home run to centerfield.
Milles started her third consecutive inning with a single. Kelly followed with a single and George walked to load the bases. McMillan then stroked a 2-out pitch for a double to score three runs for the 11-1 run.
WNCC added one more run in the fourth as Ramirez singled home Mills for the fourth time in game two.
WNCC had four players finish with multi-hit games. Mills led the way with a 4-for-4 game with four runs scored, a double, home run, and a RBI. Michaela Kelly finished with three hits including a triple, three runs scored and two RBIs. Ramirez and Tylar Davis each had two hits. Davis had a double.
McMillan finished with a double with three RBIs, while George had a home run with three runs scored and two RBIs.
WNCC, who controls their own destiny in winning the conference and hosting the regional tournament, has two important conference games on Sunday against McCook. Groves said if they play like they did Saturday, they should be fine.
"Defense in game one and energy in game two will be the key," she said. "If we can do those things I think we will be just fine against McCook. We have to show up with our energy level. I am just looking for my kids to come out and having fun playing at home. Tomorrow is sophomore day and we have five great sophomores that have done a good job for us since they have been here. We are excited to celebrate them."
The five sophomores that will be recognized are Michaela Kelly, Emma McMillan, Abriana Ramirez, Reagan Solomon, and Gabi Loya.
Game 1
Lamar 000 000 0 – 0 3 2
WNCC 010 010 x – 2 5 0
WP – Emma McMillan.
2B – Tylar Davis, Mickie Mills.
3B – Lindsey Allie.
Game 2
Lamar 001 00 – 1 3 4
WNCC 443 1x – 12 14 3
WP – Mickie Mills.
2B – Tylar Davis, Emma McMillan, Mickie Mills.
3B – Michaela Kelly.
HR – Mickie Mills, Bri George.