Bri George and Michaela Kelly each homered three times and the Western Nebraska Community College softball claimed two wins over Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday and closed to one win from hosting the Region IX tournament May 8-11.
Reagan Solomon tossed a 2-hitter and George and Kelly homered twice in the first game as the Cougars won 15-0 over the Plainswomen.
The second game saw the Cougars put up 15 hits in five innings, including home runs by George and Kelly in earning the 12-4 win.
The Cougars move to 28-18 on the season but more importantly go to 20-6 in conference play and three losses ahead of second place Otero, who is 17-9 in conference play.
Kelly said it was a good team win today.
"The whole day as a team, it was our goal to win those games and we accomplished that goal and we were successful," the sophomore from Colorado said. "We realize we don't have a long time together and we only have certain weeks of games together on this field. It is just up to us that go all out and all in together."
What Kelly and George did on the field Tuesday was unbelievable. The third and fourth batter in the lineup finished with a combined 9 of 10 hits including six home runs, two doubles, 15 RBIs, and 10 runs scored.
But it wasn't just those two either. Everyone contributed in the wins either offensively or defensively on the day.
"Everything went right for us. It was a good team win all the way around," Kelly said. "It is awesome to put some of those players in and then trust they are going to get the job done. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that they wouldn't get the job done. They did an awesome job of finishing and closing."
The opening game was a complete team effort on both sides of the ball. Solomon threw a strong contest in allowing just two hits and striking out two while facing just 21 batters and throwing 72 pitches.
Offensively, the Cougars had 17 hits, including seven doubles and four home runs.
Kelly led the attack with three hits. Kelly had a double, two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored. George had two hits, both home runs, along with three RBIs, and two runs scored.
Abriana Ramirez, Sam Davis, Emma Glawson, and Lindsey Alllie all had two hits. Glawson had two doubles with two runs scored and a RBI. Allie had two singles with three runs scored and two RBIs. Ramirez had a double with two runs scored and three RBIs.
WNCC opened the first game with two in the first on a 2-run, 2-out home run by George.
The Cougars opened the game with seven runs in the second to lead 9-0. Sam Davis started the inning with a single and scored on a Glawson double. Ramirez followed with a 2-run double to make it 6-0. Kelly made it 8-0 with a 2-rum bomb and then George made it back-to-back home runs with her second homer in as many innings for the 9-0 lead.
WNCC added four more in the third inning as Glawson led off with a double followed by run scoring singles by Allie and Ramirez. Kelly then launched her second homer of the game, a 2-run shot to make it 13-0.
The Cougars added two more in the fourth to finish off the game at 15-0.
The second game saw WNCC score in four of the five innings, including putting up a five spot in the opening frame off three straight singles from Mickie Mills, Ramirez, and Kelly. George than drew a walk to score the first run followed by RBI singles by Baesler and Glawson and RBI hits from Sam Davis and Tylar Davis for the 5-0 lead.
WNCC added a single run in the second to lead 6-0 before NJC scored three in the third on a 3-run home run to cut the lead to 6-3. The Cougars added three each in the fourth and fifth. The fourth saw George launch a 3-run shot. Kelly hit her third of the day in the fifth with a 2-run shot that ended the game via the 8-run rule.
WNCC finished with 15 hits in the contest, including three from Kelly. Kelly had a home run, double, three runs scored, and three RBIs.
Glawson also had three hits, all singles with a RBI. Mills, Ramirez, Baesler, and Allie all had two hits. George had a home run with five RBIs and two runs scored.
Glawson picked up the win in the circle, going three innings in scattering four hits, allowing three runs, and striking out two. Mills tossed two innings in allowing two hits, one run and striking out three.
WNCC, 28-18, will next be in action Monday when they host McCook Community College in the doubleheader that was suspended on Easter at 2 p.m. The Cougars will then host NJC in the final regular season game on May 1 at 3 and 5 p.m.
Game 1
NJC 000 00 – 0 2 3
WNCC 274 2x – 15 17 0
WP – Reagan Solomon.
2B – Hannah Baesler, Sam Davis, Emma Glawson 2, Michaela Kelly, Mickie Mills, Abriana Rameriz.
HR – Bri George 2, Michaela Kelly 2.
Game 2
NJC 003 01 – 4 6 0
WNCC 510 33 – 12 15 1
WP – Emma Glawson.
2B – Michaela Kelly.
HR – Bri George, Michaela Kelly.