Whitney Fields tossed a one-hitter and the Western Nebraska Community College softball team captured a Region IX conference sweep over McCook Community College Friday afternoon at Volunteer Field.
In the opener, Andy Hancock tossed a 2-hitter and the Cougars pounded out 10 hits for a 9-1 win. The second game saw Fields toss a gem of a game, allowing a fifth-inning double as the Cougars won 8-0.
With the two wins, WNCC goes to 17-3 in conference play and 35-7 overall. McCook falls to 7-9 in the conference and 20-20 overall.
WNCC will be back in action Saturday and Sunday when they face Central Community College-Columbus on Saturday and then Otero Junior College in key conference games Sunday. Both games will start at 12 noon.
Friday, however, WNCC did the right things to get the two wins and it started with two outstanding pitching performances.
Fields' second game pitching performance stood out as Fields struck out six in getting the win.
Offensively, the Cougar bats started early scoring four runs in the opening inning and then two runs each in the second and third.
WNCC's four, first-inning runs came on just three singles. The next innings was different. Payten Davies led off the second with a single followed by a 2-out double from Christian Bobian. Haille Weber and Kenzie Sawyer followed with run-scoring singles to put the score at 6-0.
The third inning saw Celyn Whitt rip a run-scoring triple and then later scored on a hit by Payten Davies for the 8-0 lead.
WNCC pounded out eight hits in the win. Weber led the team with two hits with two runs scored and a RBI. Sawyer had one hit and scored had two RBIs.
The only extra base hits came from Bobian with a double and Whitt with a triple.
The offense came alive late in the first half. When it did, the Cougars plated seven runs in the final three innings to bust open a tight 2-1 game.
The runs started when the Cougars scored one in the fourth on a Bobian two-out single that scored Whitt.
WNCC plated two more in the fifth on a 2-run double by Whitt that scored Sawyer and Cassie Jones.
The Cougars ended the game on the 8-run rule in the sixth as Courtney Medina doubled and scored on a Weber single. Sawyer then ended the game with a 3-run home run to centerfield. The home run was Sawyer's 15th of the season and broke the career home record that was previously 38 held by Bianca Duran and Jessica Ball.
WNCC finished with 10 hits, led by the 3-for-4 performance from Sawyer. Sawyer finished with a home run, three RBIs, and three runs scored. Also collecting two hits each were Whitt and Courtney Medina. Whitt had a double with two RBIs and a run scored, while Medina had a double and a run scored.
Hancock went six strong innings in allowing just two hits and striking out four.
First Game
McCook 010 000 – 1 2 3
WNCC 200 124 – 9 10 0
WP – Andy Hancock; 2B – Courtney Medina, Celyn Whitt; HR – Kenzie Sawyer.
Second Game
McCook 000 00 – 0 1 3
WNCC 422 0x – 8 8 0
WP – Whitney Fields; 2B – Christian Bobian; 3B – Celyn Whitt.