LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team moved into third place of the Empire Conference after sweeping Luna Community College in Las Vegas, New Mexico on Friday.
                The Cougars received a strong pitching performance and timely hitting including home runs from Vaughn Wilson, Matt Levesque, and Tucker Deal for the 10-5 win. The second game saw the Cougars jump out to a 9-0 lead and then held on for the 14-12 win as the Cougars hammered four more home runs from Cooper Burgess, Ren Sato, Catcher Gladysh, and Austin Cooper.
                The win moves the Cougars to 12-10 in the conference and 21-22 overall. The Cougars are a game out of second place held by Northeastern Junior College. WNCC and Luna will have another doubleheader on Saturday.
                Saturday’s second game was an offensive showcase as the Cougars had 20 hits with the four home runs and three doubles.
                WNCC was led by Jin Kobayakawa who finished with four hits with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Gladysh and Burgess each had three hits. Burgess had a home run with four RBIs, while Cather had a home run with two runs scored.
                Cooper, Wilson, Sato, and Landon Lockwood each had two hits.
                WNCC wasted little time in scoring in the second game, scoring three times in the first. Kobayakawa had a double that scored the first run and then Burgess had a 2-run home run to make it 3-0.
                WNCC added a single run in the second as Cooper had a solo home run for the 4-0 lead.
                WNCC made it 8-0 with four in the third. Lockwood started things with a double and then Sato had a 2-run home run. Harbison followed with a double and scored on a Kensei Oikawa single. Oikawa scored the final run of the frame on a Kobayakawa single.
                WNCC made it 9-0 with a run in the fourth on a Gladysh solo home run.
                With the score at 10-1, Luna scored five times in the fifth to make it a 10-6 contest. WNCC came right back and plated three runs in the sixth. The big hit was a 2-run single by Wilson to make it 13-6.
                Luna made it a 13-12 game with six runs in the seventh. WNCC added an insurance run in the eighth inning as Wilson scored on a Burgess single. Luna had a rally going in the ninth with two on, but Zane Hendrickx shut the door and picked up the save.
                The first was a battle as WNCC finished with 12 hits with seven going for extra base hits. Wilson and Levesque led the way offensively with three hits each. Both had home runs with Wilson scoring three runs with two RBIs, while Levesque had two RBIs and a run scored.
                Burgess had two hits with two doubles and two RBIs.
                WNCC scored two in the first as Wilson blasted a 2-run home run. Luna came right back with three in the first. Luna went up 4-2 with another run in the second. The Cougars plated three in the third for a 5-4 lead. The third saw the Cougars score the three runs with two outs as Burgess doubled home Wilson for the first run. Lockwood followed with a run-scoring single to tie the game and then Levesque singled home Oikawa for the lead.
                WNCC added a single run in the fifth and then two in the sixth for an 8-4 lead. The sixth saw Tucker Deal get a home run. Wilson then doubled and scored on a Burgess double. Luna added a single run in the sixth to make it 8-5.
                WNCC added two insurance runs in the seventh. Levesque had a solo home run. Jase Satterfield followed with a double and scored on a Calab Caciari single.
                Austin Neeley then came in to relieve starting pitcher Clayden Brandon and got the three batters he faced to hit three infield grounders for the win.
 
Game 1
WNCC                203 012 2 – 10 12 2
Luna                    310 001 0 – 5 10 3
WP – Clayden Brandon.
2B – Vaughn Wilson, Cooper Burgess 2, Jase Satterfield.
HR – Vaughn Wilson, Matt Levesque, Tucker Deal.

Game 2
WNCC                314 113 010 – 14 20 0
Luna                    000 150 600 – 12 18 0
WP – Julian Garza; S: Zane Hendrickx.
2B – Jin Kobayakawa, Landon Lockwood, Will Harbison.
HR – Cooper Burgess, Ren Sato, Catcher Gladysh, Austin Cooper.
 
WNCC, McCook split contests on Friday
 
                MCCOOK – Western Nebraska Community College softball team extended their win streak to 14 games with a 12-6 in the first game of a doubleheader Friday against McCook Community College in McCook.
                McCook came back and registered a 9-1 win in game two. McCook’s win locked up the Region IX regular season title and the right to host next week’s Region IX tournament.
                Pairings for the tournament will officially be released after Sunday and the only thing that is unsure of for the Region IX tournament is the fourth team, which will be either Trinidad State or Northeastern Junior College. WNCC will be the third seed while Otero will be the second seed in the regional tournament.
                But the regular season is not over just yet. McCook will come to Volunteer Field on Sunday for a doubleheader and it will be an important contest as the Cougars will be looking to enter the regional tournament on a win streak and will try to win the regular season series against McCook.
                Sunday’s contest will also be special as the eight sophomores on the Cougar team will be recognized around 12:15 p.m. The first pitch of the game will then take place around 1 p.m. The eight sophomores include Kay’Leigh Blair, Randi Mitchell, Mykah Klumpp, JoLee Huffaker, Sierra Hilgner, Jenika Fuentes, Kayli Cooper, and Reagan Werth.
                Friday’s first game saw the Cougars score nine runs in the fifth and sixth innings to open up a tight contest. Lydia Tibbals had the big bat in the opener, finishing with four hits with five RBIs, four runs scored, a double, and two home runs.
                Mitchell, Klumpp, and Huffaker all had two hits each in the contest. Mitchell had a triple with two runs scored, Klumpp had a double with two runs scored and two RBIs, and Huffaker had a double. Hilgner also had a double in the win.
                WNCC fell behind after one inning, but tied the game with a run in the second inning when Tibbals led off with a double followed by a Huffaker single. Tibbals scored on a ground out later.
                WNCC went up 2-1 with another run in the third when Mitchell singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kallie Stocking. McCook came right back to take a 3-2 lead with two in the bottom of the third.
                WNCC tied the game with a run in the fourth when Tori Travers had a 2-out single to score Tibbals. McCook came right back to go up 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the fourth.
                It was the fifth inning that WNCC took the lead for good with three runs all with two outs. Hilgner started things with a double. Tibbals scored all three when she blasted a 3-run home run for the 6-4 lead.
                WNCC added six more runs in the sixth. Alyssa Albaugh walked and scored on a Mitchell triple. Stocking earned a walk and Mitchell and Stocking each score on a 2-out double by Klumpp. Tibbals followed with her second home run of the game, a 2-run shot for the 11-4 lead. The Cougars weren’t through as Huffaker tripled and scored on a fielding error for the 12-4 lead.
                McCook added two in the sixth, but that was all the Cougar defense would allow as they got the win.
                Cooper picked  up the win, going all seven innings in scattering 12 hits while striking out eight.
                The second game saw McCook score six first-inning runs. WNCC had something going in the fourth as the Cougars loaded the bases on three singles from Stocking, Tibbals, and Huffaker. Stocking then scored on a hard ground ball that was fumbled to keep the bases loaded. The play of the inning happened in the next batter as Tori Travers had a ball that went high above the second baseman, but McCook’s Ayana Goodwin made a leaping catch and got the double play to thwart any more runs.
                McCook came back after that double play and scored two runs and then scored the game-ending run in the sixth for the win.
                WNCC was led at the plate by Stocking with two hits. Travers had the only extra base hit with a double.             
 
Game 1
WNCC                011 136 0 12 13 1
McCook             102 102 0 – 6 12 3
WP – Kayli Cooper.
2B – Sierra Hilgner, Mykah Klumpp, Lydia Tibbals.
3B – Randi Mitchell, JoLee Huffaker.
HR – Lydia Tibbals 2.
 
Game 2
WNCC                000 100 – 1 5 0
McCook             600 201 – 9 12 3
LP – Kallie Stocking.
2B – Tori Travers.