PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team's magical season came to an end but it wasn't without a fight at the Western Districts in Prescott, Arizona, Friday morning.
WNCC scored first but it wasn't enough as the College of Southern Nevada team scored eight early runs to earn a 13-3 win over the Cougars, ending WNCC's season with a 26-29 record. Southern Nevada advances on in the tournament with an elimination game later Friday.
Michael Felton, who had a 29-game hitting streak and a 31-game on-base streak this season, said his team didn't play badly at districts.
"I don't think we played badly at all," Felton said. "Paul came in and fooled a good number of them (in Thursday's game]. Trevor came in, hit his spots well, Southern Nevada just put bats on the barrel more often than us. Offensively, I think we showed we can compete with those ranked teams, the difference between number of hits in each game were little and we put good swings on the ball consistently."
WNCC did compete and to compete at the district level was something special. Felton said the experience to play in Arizona was unreal.
"It was amazing; the field was beautiful and the weather was great," he said. "The teams were solid and respectful so it was a great atmosphere."
WNCC might have ended the season, but they achieved so much this season, especially have last season cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year many of the players and coaches thought they couldn't have competed for a regional title as well.
This year, though, the team captured the programs' second regional title. Felton said this year was so special in so many different reasons.
"This year means so much because of the sting our last championship loss in 2019 hit," he said. "This was my last chance to earn this for coach and take back what we deserved. I know that we represented the school and our program well this year, and I couldn't be happier to win Region 9 the way we did with these guys. It was the highest adrenaline rush I've ever felt."
WNCC started the game strong, scoring in the first inning as Caleb Coats singled and scored on a 2-out single by Jordan Rollins for the 1-0 lead.
Southern Nevada came back to plate two in the first on a Damiano Palmegiani 2-run home run to retake the lead.
Southern Nevada, who came into the district finals ranked 13th in the NJCAA polls, added six runs in the second inning. Palmegiani ripped his second home run in as many innings to make the score 6-1. Later, Justin Olson had a 2-run, 2-out home run for the 8-1 lead.
After that, WNCC settled in as they held Southern Nevada scoreless in the third. The fourth inning saw the Coyotes score three runs on two doubles and a single for the 11-1 lead.
The Cougars came up in the fifth needing at least a run to continue the game and the Cougars got that and more. WNCC plated two in the fifth. Felton led off with a double and scored on a Rollins double to make it 11-2. Joey Olson followed with a single. Rollins scored on a Matt Womack fielder's choice hit.
WNCC held Southern Nevada scoreless in the fifth and then had an opportunity to get more runs in the sixth as Jack Jones walked and Quinn McCafferty singled, but WNCC couldn't get a run in.
Southern Nevada ended the game on the 10-run rule as they scored two runs in the sixth on two hits to end the game 13-3.
WNCC finished the game with nine hits compared to just 12 for Southern Nevada. Felton and Rollins each had two hits. Felton had a double while Rollins had a double with two RBIs and a run scored.
WNCC utilized three pitchers on the day.
Trevor Dubray took the loss, going two innings in allowing six hits and eight runs while striking out one. Harold Baez tossed two inning in relieve allowing three runs and three hits, while striking out two. Owen Vanthillo finished off the game with an inning pitched, allowing three hits and two runs.
Felton spent three seasons at WNCC and because of the pandemic, could come back for a fourth year. But his plans are to move on. He said he will remember so much about his time at WNCC.
"I've had so many different memories with so many different people over these last three years, but nothing beats the team meetings," he said. "I think a lot of teams have chemistry issues, and that's something I never truly felt on any team here because we spent so much time together."
Felton has plans to continue his playing, but he wants to make the right decision where to continue his playing and his studying.
"I have some interest from a few schools with offers on the table; I am just making sure the right decision is made," he said. "I plan on pursuing a Graphic Design major and minor in marketing."
Felton added that he wanted to make sure that he thanked everyone for the memories at WNCC.
"I just want to say a huge thank you to Kim, our bus driver, because she's put up with a ton of setbacks on road trips this year and yet we still made it everywhere when we needed to be and was our biggest supporter," Felton said. "I also want to thank all my teammates for trusting me, these are memories that will never go away."
WNCC 100 020 – 3 9 1
S. Nevada 260 302 – 13 12 0
LP – Trevor Dubray.
2B – Mikey Felton, Jordan Rollins, Matt Womack.