Four combine on no-hitter as CCCC sweeps KWU JV

SALINA — Four pitchers combined on a no-hitter as the Cloud County Thunderbirds shut out the Kansas Wesleyan University junior varsity 11-0 in the second game of a doubleheader Monday afternoon.
Billy Bechard, a freshman from Concordia, threw the first three innings for Cloud County. He struck out three and walked two.
Jacob Dauer worked one perfect inning, and struck out one.
Carson Marsh struck out one and walked one in one inning of work.
Connor Peterson pitched the final inning of the six-inning victory by the T-Birds.
“I started with Billy, and that was as good as he has been since he has been here. He really located his fastball and commanded the breaking ball,” Cloud County coach Eric Gilliland said, “Passed the baton to the next guy, and Jacob was really good. Carson was good and then Connor came in and closed the door. All of those guys were efficient with their pitches and threw a ton of strikes.
Cloud County (15-6) won the first game of the twinbill, 5-0.
The T-Birds got off to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning in game two.
Cooper Schlochtermeier hit a solo home run in the second inning to give Cloud County a 2-0 advantage. He had two hits in three at bats and drove in two runs.
“It was a cool moment,” Gilliland said of Schlochtermeier's home run, “Cooper is one of those guys who does everything right and is a great kid with a lot of ability. He swung the bat very well, stole a few bases and made a diving play in the field as well.”
Two runs in the fourth inning extended the T-Birds' lead to 4-0.
Ramon Vingochea blasted a two-run home run in the fifth inning to make it a 6-0 game. He had two hits in four at bats.
Cloud County tacked on five runs in the sixth inning to go up 11-0.
The game ended after the bottom of the sixth because of the 10-run rule.
Clayton Loranger went 3-for-4 at the plate for the T-Birds. Grant Schmidt had two hits and drove in two runs.
“I kind of challenged the guys after game one to treat game two like we were playing for a conference championship and I thought they responded well,” Gilliland said, “We swung the bats well and threw a combined no-hitter, so you can't ask for much more.”
Braden Pierce and Jack Theilen teamed up on a four-hit shutout in Cloud County's 5-0 victory in game one.
Pierce gave up three hits in three innings. He struck out nine and walked two.
Theilen went the final four innings and allowed one hit, struck out five and walked one.
Cloud County broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the third inning.
The T-Birds added three runs in the sixth to make it 6-0.
Vingochea had three of Cloud County's six hits in the game.
Alex Rice was 2-for-3 at the plate.
The T-Birds have won 10 of their last 12 games, and are scheduled to play at home for the first time this season on Thursday. They will open a Jayhawk Conference West Division series against Colby.