WNCC baseball goes 1-3 against Lamar

Posted: Apr 04, 2021

LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team went 1-3 against Lamar Community College in Empire Conference action Friday and Saturday.

WNCC lost the first three games but came back to get the fourth game 7-4 as Paul Panduro went six innings in striking out 10 and not walking a batter in getting the win.

WNCC started the game on a tear, scoring three in the first and one in the second for a 4-0 lead. The first inning saw Matt Womack blast a 3-run, 2-out home run for the 3-0 lead. The second inning saw Jordan Rollins double in Quinn McCafferty for a 4-0 lead.

Lamar sliced the WNCC lead in half with two in the fourth, but WNCC answered with two in the fifth on singles by Michael Felton and Luis Alcantara for a 6-2 lead.

Lamar added a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-3. Both teams then added a single run in the seventh. WNCC's seventh inning run came on a Dillon Fabricus 2-out solo home run.

Lamar's seventh-inning run came as the Lopes had two singles, but then Owen Vantillo struck out the final three batters to get the save.

The first game Saturday was not a good game as the Cougars fell 23-4 as the Lopes out-hit WNCC 15-4.

Womack got a single in the second and the Michael Felton walked to put two on. But neither could score. Lamar then went on to lead 23-0.

The Cougars finally got something going in the fifth innings. Caleb Coats led off with a walk and scored on a Joey Olson single. Jayden Orozco followed with a single and Rei Kimura walked to load the bases. Olson scored on a balk call and then Felton came through with a double to score to more for the four runs, but that was all they could get.

WNCC finished with six hits in the contest. Womack had a home run with four RBIs in the win. Fabricus had a home run and two RBIs while Alcantara had a single with two runs scored.

Friday's first game was an offensive show as the two teams combined for 35 runs and 28 hits. WNCC had a 9-0 lead after an inning and a half. The Cougars scored two in the first as Rollins doubled in two runs.

WNCC added seven in the second, scoring all seven runs with two outs. Joe Kinneberg and Coats singled and Alcantara was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Olson then singled to score two runs. Rollins then singled to score three runs for a 7-0 lead. Womack and JT Cafferty followed with run-scoring doubles for the 9-0 lead.

Lamar scored five in the bottom of the second, but WNCC came right back to score two in the third and five in the fourth for a 16-5 lead. The third inning saw back-to-back solo home runs by Coats and Alcantara to start the innings.

The fourth inning saw Alcantara slap a double to score two runs and then Olson double to score two runs. Olson score the fifth run in the inning on a passed ball for the 16-5 lead.

That was all the runs WNCC could get as the Lamar offense heated up, scoring one run in the fourth, eight in the fifth, and five in the sixth to lead 19-16.

The second game Friday was a close contest. WNCC scored first with a Olson solo home run.

Lamar came back with single runs in the first three innings to lead 3-1. WNCC cut the deficit to a single run as Sergio Tarango blasted a solo home run.

WNCC didn't get anymore runs and Lamar added three insurance runs in the fifth for the 6-2 win.

WNCC had five hits in the contest. Alcantara had two hits to lead the team.

WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Beatrice to face Southeast Community College in a doubleheader. WNCC will then host McCook Community College in a 3-game series next weekend.

Saturday's Games

Game 1

WNCC 000 04 – 4 4 3

Lamar 376 7x – 23 15 2

LP – Dawson Hurford.

2B – Michael Felton.

Game 2

WNCC 310 020 1 – 7 6 1

Lamar 000 210 1 – 4 10 2

WP – Paul Panduro; S – Owen Vantillo.

2B – Jordan Rollins.

HR – Dillon Fabricus, Matt Womack.