The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team trailed 11-2 and stormed back before the Cougars fell 11-10 to Northeastern Junior College in the Region IX Empire Conference contest Sunday at Cleveland Field.

                The contest, which took 3 ½ hours to play, was one where the Plainsmen scored in four of the first six innings, while the Cougars plated runs in the final four innings.

                WNCC head coach Mike Jones said his team showed a lot of grit in making the comeback that they did.

                "This team is getting so much better. They have shown a lot of progress over the last three weeks," Jones said. "We had opportunities, but we didn't quite capitalize enough. If you don't look at the scoreboard and look how we are playing, we are playing so much better."

                That is the main thing is how they team is playing because the most important thing is playing well, entering post-season the beginning of March.

                "We have to take a day off and get right back out there and play again; it is that point of the season for us. That is what the guys are here to do, they are here to play games," Jones said. "Right now, we are playing for a seed on the north. It doesn't matter what seed we get, you got to play a playoff, best two-out-of-three and that is what we are getting ready for."

                WNCC and NJC will get back into action on Tuesday when the Cougars head back to Sterling, Colorado, to face the Plainsmen in a 9-inning contest beginning at 3 p.m. The game was moved up from Wednesday because of weather concerns.

                "This team is really growing a lot," Jones said. "We have a lot of young players and we are getting a lot of innings and they are starting to show a lot of progress."

                Sunday's game saw plenty of big hits from both teams. NJC had four doubles and three home runs while the Cougars had a double, triple, and two home runs.

                WNCC got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first as Roangeraud tripled and scored on a Shintaro Inoue ground out.

                NJC rallied to score 10 runs in the next five innings to take a 10-1 lead. NJC plated three in the second on five hits. The Plainsmen added one in the third, two in the fourth, and four in the sixth for the big lead.

                WNCC came back in the sixth as Isaac Smith led off the inning with a home run. With one out, the Cougars loaded the bases on a single by Fraai, a double by Inoue, and Bryce Peterson getting a walk. But, two ground out fielder's choices ended the threat and got NJC out of the inning only giving up one run.

                The Plainsmen came back in the seventh and scored one run on a home run by J. Cote and had two runners in scoring position, but WNCC pitcher Hunter McCollum got out of the jam by inducing a grounder to second baseman Ethan Johnson to hold NJC down.

                With the Cougars down 11-2, WNCC mounted a comeback in gigantic portions. WNCC plated four runs in the seventh to trail 11-6. Tyler Easter, Garrett Dodd, and Smith all reached base by free passes, two were hit by a pitch and one was walked. Johnson scored Easter with a sacrifice fly. Inoue continued his hot bat as the freshman from Japan belted a 3-run home run to bring the Cougars back to within five.

                WNCC plated another run in the eighth when Drew Book was walked. WNCC loaded the bases with two outs as Dodd earned a walk and Smith got a single. Johnson was then hit by a pitch to force in a run, but that was all the Cougars managed as they left the bases juiced.

                NJC loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but McCollum got the third out by getting the batter to fly out to centerfielder Smith as the Cougars came to the bat in the bottom of the ninth.

                The Cougars loaded the bases after one out as Peterson was hit in the batting helmet. Book was then hit by a pitch to put two on. Ashton Ross then hit a grounder and reached on an error to load the bases. Easter was by a pitch to force in the first run of the innings and Jacob Jackson. Book scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-9. Jacob Jackson earned a walk to load the bases. Johnson was then hit for the second time in the game to force in another run, but that was all WNCC could get as they left the bases loaded once again.

                WNCC had seven hits in the contest compared to 17 for NJC. Three Cougars had two hits each led by Inoue with a double and home run and four RBIs. Fraai had a triple and a single with a run scored, while Smith had a home run, single, two runs scored and an RBI. Ethan Johnson was had three RBIs without a hit, including getting hit by a pitch twice.

                WNCC finished the game with seven players getting hit by a pitch while four Plainsmen earned a free bag by getting pinged by a pitch.

                NJC utilized seven pitchers on the day with starter Brian Walters getting the win, going six innings and Jeffery Behrends getting the save, tossing the final two outs of the game. WNCC used three pitchers. Eli Hernandez went five innings in allowing 10 hits, six runs while striking out four. Adrian Short went one inning in giving up five hits, four runs and striking out two, and Hunter McCollum finished the game, going three innings in allowing two hits, one run, and striking out one.

NJC        031 204 100 – 11 17 1
WNCC   100 001 413 – 10 7 3
LP – Eli Hernandez.
2B – Shintaro Inoue.
3B – Roangeraud Fraai.
HR – Shintaro Inoue, Isaac Smith.