The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team received strong pitching and timely hits in capturing an Empire Conference doubleheader over Otero Junior College by identical 3-0 scores Thursday afternoon at Cleveland Field in Scottsbluff.
The first game saw Dawson Hurford strike out nine in leading the Cougars to the win. The second game saw Corbin Kirk and Owen Vanthillo combined on 13 strikeouts to lead the Cougars to the victory.
Hurford said it was a total team effort both offensively and defensively in the Cougars conference wins.
"I thought the team played really well," Hurford said. "We played together and everyone focused on their goal. We started off a little cold in hitting and then everyone started playing well together. We hit for each other. We pitched for each other. That is how we ended up winning."
The pitching performances Thursday were awesome as the four pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts, three hits, and no runs. And that came a day after the Cougars swept Miles 11-1 and 20-19.
"Pitching was phenomenal today," Hurford said. "We limited our walks which was definitely what got us to know where we should be. My limiting the walks, we threw less pitches which let us go longer. We just played well."
Not only the pitching, the entire team played well collectively.
"We definitely played well as a unit. We wanted to play for each other especially this being our first conference games," Hurford said. "It is huge to get these conference wins to start off the season. It just brings energy and momentum, and we just need to carry off of it and hopefully we will see where this goes."
WNCC and Otero will face each other for another conference doubleheader Friday beginning at noon. Hurford said they need to play the same way on Friday.
"We have to come out with the same energy, get rest tonight, and get ready for the games tomorrow," Hurford said.
The first game was highlighted by pitchers Hurford and Brian Bruxvoort as they struck out 10 and limited Otero to just three hits. The two pitchers also walked just one.
Offensively, the Cougars had eight hits with Eli Hernandez leading the way with three of the hits, all singles. Joe Kinneberg had a double in the win while Maxime Adam had a triple.
WNCC scored single runs in the second, third and fifth innings and the way the pitchers were pitching, that was all the offense they really needed.
The second inning saw Kinneberg double and score on a Drew Book single for the 1-0 lead. WNCC made it 2-0 with a run in the third when Adam tripled and scored on a Jordan Rollins single.
WNCC closed out the scoring with a single run in the fifth when Adam walked and scored on a Jack Jones single.
The second game saw an even stellar pitching performance from Kirk and Vanthillo as the two had 13 strikeouts and allowed just two hits. The two pitchers walked just one.
Kirk picked up the win in tossing four innings of no-hit ball while striking out eight and walking just one. Vanthillo finished the game with three innings pitched in relief while allowing two hits and striking out five.
Both teams didn't find offense until the fifth inning when WNCC plated two runs. The fifth started when Ethan Johnson walked and then Quinn McCafferty was hit by a pitch. Johnson came in to score on a single by Adam and McCafferty scored on a single by Jordan Rollins.
The final run was in the sixth when Howard had a one-out solo home run.
Vanthillo closed out the game in the seventh. He allowed the lead-off batter to get a single, but then induced a groundout, a lazy pop out to first base and then got the final out on a strikeout for the win.
WNCC was led at the plate by Adam with two hits including a double and a RBI. Howard had a home run in the game.
Game 1
Otero 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
WNCC 011 010 x – 3 8 1
WP – Dawson Hurford; S – Brian Bruxvoort.
2B – Joe Kinneberg.
3B – Maxime Adam.
Game 2
Otero 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
WNCC 000 021 x – 3 5 0
WP – Corbin Kirk; S – Owen Vanthillo.
2B – Maxime Adam.
HR – Dylan Howard.