The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team evened their overall record at 8-8 after taking the 4-game series with Dawson Community College on Friday and Saturday at Cleveland Field.
After defeating Dawson 17-4 and 10-2 on Friday, the Cougars continued playing strong defense and timely hitting on Saturday, topping the Bucs 11-1 and 10-5.
The Cougars are now 8-8 on the season and have won seven straight contests, which is fourth in the record book. The last time the were even in overall record or even more wins was back in the 2021 season when the Cougars won the Region IX tournament.
Saturday's game were a mixed bag. The first game saw WNCC score eight times in the second and won with a run in the fifth for the run-ruled game. The second game was closer as the Cougars trailed 5-4 late in the game before scoring six times in the eighth for the win.
"The pitchers worked hard to day and were good, and the defense was good and the hitters just went out and competed," Shintaro Inoue said.
The second game saw Zane Hendrickx get the win, pitching the final two innings in striking out three and allowing just one hit.
Offensively, WNCC had eight hits, led by Mathieu Levesque with two hits. WNCC had four extra base hits, including a home run by Inoue, a triple by Calvin Johnson, and doubles by Garrett Dodd and Ryan Platt.
But it wasn't easy. WNCC scored one in the first when Platt scored on a passed ball. Dawson tied it with a run of their own in the second. WNCC came back to take a 4-1 lead with a run in the third and two in the fifth.
The third saw Johnson get a triple and score on a Caleb Caciari single. Platt than got a double, but both runners were left stranded. The fifth saw Caciari earn a walk and Levesque get a single. With two outs, Arturo Montiel reached on an error allowing both runners to score.
WNCC squandered the lead, allowing Dawson four runs in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead on back-to-back home runs.
WNCC came back with six in the eighth inning to take the 10-5 lead. It all started when Inoue had a 2-run home run. Tyler Easter followed with a single and scored on Garrett Dodd's double. Dodd and Harris each scored on a wild pitch and the final run came in on a ground out.
The first game of the day saw Valentin Blanc go all five innings in allowing just four hits and one run while striking out eight.
Offensively, the Cougars had three players with two hits in Bryce Peterson, Dylan Harris, and Inoue. Peterson led the way with a double and three RBIs, while Harris had two runs scored. Inoue had a triple with three runs scored.
That first game saw WNCC score one in the first on a Bryce Peterson run-scoring single. The Cougars put the game away with eight in the second. Kensei Oikawa had a run-scoring double followed by Harris with a run-scoring single. Hunter McCollum scored one to make it 6-0 and Ashton Ross closed out the inning with a 2-run home run.
WNCC went up 10-1 with a run in the fourth on a Peterson Sacrifice fly, and then ended the run in the fifth on a 2-out, double by Peterson that scored Inoue.
WNCC will look to continue the winning ways on Wednesday when they travel to Norfolk to take on Northeast Community College in a doubleheader.
Inoue said they need to continue to work hard to keep going.
"We need to continue to work hard," he said. "We need to have good at bats, good pitching, and defense."
Game 1
Dawson 001 00 – 1 4 1
WNCC 181 01 – 11 11 0
WP – Valentin Blanc.
2B – Kensei Oikawa, Bryce Peterson.
3B – Alex Ainsworth, Shintaro Inoue.
HR – Ashton Ross.
Game 2
Dawson 010 000 400 – 5 7 3
WNCC 101 020 06x – 10 8 2
WP – Zane Hendrickx.
2B – Garrett Dodd, Ryan Platt.
3B – Calvin Johnson.
HR – Shintaro Inoue.