MCC Baseball faces NJC in opening round of tournament

Pairings and game times have been announced for the Region IX tournament starting Thursday in Colorado Springs.

MCC will take on Northeastern Junior College Thursday in the opening game starting at 10 a.m. (CT) at UCHealth Park in Colorado Springs.

The Indians tied for third place in the Region IX (Empire League) standings with an 18-10 record. They take on sixth-seeded Northeastern Junior College (10-18). In the other opening round game, No. 4 Western Nebraska (18-10) will play No. 5 Lamar (10-18) at 1 p.m.

The losers of Thursday’s first-round games will play an elimination game at 4 p.m.

MCC and NJC split their four games this season. In McCook on April 5, MCC won the first game 11-4 and lost the second game 25-3.

In the 11-4 win, sophomore Aiden Johnson (Westminster, Colo.) pitched six innings with three walks and seven strikeouts. The MCC offense pounded out 19 hits including four each by sophomore Michael Quick (Oshawa, Ontario) and freshman Maddox Shaver (Belleville Ontario). The Plainsmen walloped five home runs in Game 2 and outhit MCC 19-3.

Three days later in Sterling, Colo. the Plainsmen won the first game 8-7 and MCC won the second game 18-12. 

In the opening game, MCC came back from a 6-1 deficit in the fifth inning to tie the game 6-6 and in the sixth tied the game at 7-7 but NJC scored the game winner on a sixth inning home run. The Indians trailed 6-0 after one inning of Game 2 but came back with a nine-run fourth inning behind a four-for-five game from sophomore Will Edwards (Sydney, Australia) and a seven-inning relief outing from sophomore Jereniel Herrera (Panama City, Panama).

MCC’s Johnson and NJC’s Sage Ferguson are two of the top three pitchers in the Region IX leaders. Johnson is 7-3 with a 3.81 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 54 innings. Feguson is 7-2 with a league-best 2.93 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 55 innings. He ended the season Saturday with six no-hit innings and six strikeouts against Western Nebraska. MCC’s Ethan Badcock (Adelaide, Australia) is the Region IX saves leader with six. Badcock is 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 38 innings.

Offensively freshman Cory Wouters (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) leads MCC with a .403 batting average which is second in Region IX. He has eight homers and 38 RBIs. Sophomore Jackson Yeager (Omaha Westside HS) leads the Indians with 54 RBIs, hitting .376 with eight home runs. Blake Dale (sophomore, Riverton, Wyo.) leads the team with 10 home runs, and is batting .302 with 37 RBIs. Sophomore Luke Bies (La Vista / Omaha Gross) is in a three-way tie for second in home runs with eight. He is hitting .354 with 45 RBIs.

MCC is second in the Empire League with 451 runs scored, hitting .358 with 60 home runs and 30 stolen bases. NJC has a team batting average of .305 with 59 home runs and 133 stolen bases. The Plainsmen are third in team ERA at 7.01 with MCC fourth at 7.05.

No. 1 Southeast Community College (25-3) and No. 2 Otero (20-8) received first-round byes. No. 7 Trinidad State (9-19) and No. 8 Luna Community College (2-26) did not qualify for the tournament.

On Friday Southeast will play the winner of the Western Nebraska/Lamar game at 1 p.m. while Otero plays the winner of the McCook/NJC game at 4 p.m. Consolation games are set for 7 p.m.

Saturday’s consolation game start at 10 a.m. with the winner’s bracket championship game set for 1 p.m. with the loser of that game taking on the survivor in the consolation bracket at 4 p.m.

On Sunday the championship game is set for noon, with a second game set for 3 p.m. if necessary.

All the latest information for MCC baseball including up-to-date schedule and changes as well as statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com

 

REGION IX TOURNAMENT

May 9-12

At Colorado Springs, Colo.

Thursday’s Schedule

Game 1 – No. 3 McCook (18-10) vs. No. 6 Northeastern Junior College (10-18), 10 a.m. (CT)

Game 2 – No. 4 Western Nebraska (18-10) vs. No. 5 Lamar (10-18), 1 p.m.

Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. loser of Game 2, 4 p.m. (elimination game)

Friday’s Schedule

Game 4 – No. 1 Southeast CC (25-3) vs. Game 2 winner, 1 p.m.

Game 5 – No. 2 Otero (20-8) vs. Game 1 winner, 4 p.m.

Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs Game 4/5 loser (lowest seed), 7 p.m. (elimination game)

Saturday’s Schedule

Game 7 – Game 6 winner vis Game 4/5 loser (higher seed), 10 a.m. (elimination game)

Game 8 – Game 5 winner vs Game 4 winner, 1 p.m.

Game 9 – Winner of Game 7 vs. loser of Game 8, 4 p.m. (elimination game)

Sunday’s Schedule

Game 10 – Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner,

Game 11 (if necessary) – Game 10 winner vs. Game 10 loser