Baseball Sweeps McCook At Home

The weather this season has made it an interesting year for the Plainsmen.  The unpredictable weather has made scheduling tough and forced Northeastern to play many games in a short period of time.  Nonetheless, the Plainsmen have adapted to the situations and played the best baseball they can.  This weekend was nothing different as NJC was scheduled to play the McCook Indians in McCook, but a wind heavy snowstorm was predicted to hit in central McCook on the days of the game.  The coaches decided to flip-flop the home and away series, which lead the Plainsmen to play in Sterling this first series, then travel to McCook later.

The day was on Sunday April 15 and consisted of two seven inning games, and the next was on Monday April 16 and consisted of one nine inning game.  The first game would be a 10 run win for the Plainsmen as they were able to initiate the run rule in the sixth.  The game would start with NJC taking the early 5-0 lead by the third inning.  Gunner Pickett would keep pitching well and would stay in for the entirety of the game.  The Plainsmen would add three more in the bottom of the fourth before McCook would get on the board with their two runs in the top of five.  With the score at 8-2, the Plainsmen would hold the Indians in the top of six, then tack four more on to win in walk off fashion.  Davyn Adamscheck and Keegan Meyn would both get a dinger, and Adamscheck would accumulate four RBI's and Ben Newton would get three.

The second game was just as impressive as the Plainsmen would hold MCC scoreless until the final inning.  They would get two runs in the first, as well as another two in the bottom of the third.  With NJC being up 4-0, they would add one more in the bottom of the fourth.  The Plainsmen's last run would come in the bottom of the sixth, making it a 6-0 game.  McCook would give it one last hoorah by getting in two runs in the top of seven, but the Plainsmen's defense would prove to be too much and NJC would win 6-2.  Ben Newton and Russell Strilchuk would both have a home run in this game, and Newton would lead the team in RBI's with three.

With the first two games behind them, the Plainsmen knew they had to lock in and hold it down on their home field.  A rule of thumb is to protect home field at all costs, and winning this one was all they had to do.  The men would come out and dominate the first inning by batting through the order and putting up seven runs.  They would follow that up and add two more in the second.  With the men leading 9-0, they had to make sure they did not cruise and allow McCook back into the game.  In the top of three, the Indians broke the ice by scoring one run, then adding two more in the fourth.  Although McCook had earned those runs, they still were locked in on the task at hand and still were in the lead.  One more run was added by MCC in the fifth, but that would be all she wrote.  The Plainsmen would stay solid and keep the Indians from scoring anymore and defeat them 9-4.  Zach Demchenko would get the win, while Javis Steward, Cole Halpin, and Trystan Kimmel would each contribute by pitching sometime throughout the game.