Paul Panduro struck out 10 and allowed two hits in leading the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team to an 11-1, run-shortened contest at a windy Cleveland Field Sunday afternoon.
The Empire Conference 9-inning game was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Panduro said it was a big lift for the team to get the win the way they did.
"We played really well as a team," the Scottsbluff High graduate and WESTCO Zephyr pitcher said. "We came off two losses from Saturday so we had to come back with some fire in our eyes for this game!"
Panduro's pitching stat line was pretty impressive. Panduro faced just 20 batters in five innings in walking just two and striking out 10. He allowed two hits, a single and the fourth-inning solo home run. Other than that, Panduro was spotless in throwing 82 pitches.
"I felt really great today. After losing both on Saturday, it made me want it even more today," Panduro said. "When I saw that my offense and defense were really doing well for me, I had to return the favor and get there back and put us in a position to win today's game.
Sunday's win was a big turnout around from Saturday's two losses McCook. WNCC scored in three of the four innings they batted in.
"It was really important to get this win, because if we would have lost, it probably would have sent us going on the wrong route to finishing season play," he said. "Hopefully, this win will lead to even more wins and also light some fire in us as a team. The team had my back today, so I had to show them I got theirs too!"
WNCC will look to build off Sunday's win as they host Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday in a doubleheader. The NJC games were scheduled for Wednesday, but because of forecasted high winds, the game was moved to Tuesday.
WNCC opened the scoring in the first as Caleb Coats walked followed by a single by Luis Alcantara. Coats later scored to make it 1-0.
WNCC added three more in the second inning. Sergio Tarango had a single followed by Riley Schanaman reaching on a 2-out single. Coats followed with a walk to load the bases. Michael Felton then scored a run on a single to third base for a 2-0 lead.
Alcantara then singled to score Schanaman and Coats to make the score 4-0.
No one scored in the third. The fourth saw McCook get a lead-off solo home run. WNCC answered in the bottom of the fourth with seven runs for an 11-1 lead.
The fourth started as Coats earned his third straight walk. Felton followed with a walk and both scored on an Alcantara double for a 6-1 lead. Jordan Rollins followed with a single. Rollins came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Matt Womack.
With two outs, Dillon Fabricus and Sergio Tarango each singled. Quinn McCafferty was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Schanaman then came up with a 2-out single to make it 9-1. Coats followed with a 2-run single to make it 11-1.
That was all WNCC needed as Panduro pitched the fifth inning that saw the first two batters strikeout before Panduro walked the next two. Panduro then got the fifth batter of the inning to ground out to Tarango for the final out of the game.
WNCC finished the game with 13 hits, all singles except for one double by Alcantara. Alcantara led the way at the plate with three hits and four RBIs. Four players finished with two hits each, including Felton, Fabicus, Tarango, and Schanaman.
Coats scored three runs on just one hit with two RBIs and three walks. Tarango also had two runs scored.
McCook 000 10 – 1 2 3
WNCC 130 7x – 11 13 1
WP – Paul Panduro.
2B – Luis Alcantara.