T-Birds edge Panthers 15-12 to advance

Jumping out to a 13-5 lead through three innings, the Cloud County Community College baseball team would hold on to defeat the Neosho County Community College Panthers 15-12 in the third and deciding game of the Region VI playoff series, played Friday at the Concordia Sports Complex.
Cloud County dropped the first game of the series to Neosho on Wednesday, and then got a walk-off grand slam home run by Danny Infante in a 6-5 victory in game two on Thursday.
The Thunderbirds put up six runs in the first inning of the third deciding game of the series and then held off the Panthers.
Cloud County (41-16) advances to the NJCAA Plains District Tournament, to be played at Tointon Family Stadium on the campus of Kansas State University, Wednesday through Saturday.
The T-Birds play Kansas City Kansas Community College (47-10) at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the opening game of the double-elimination tournament.
The winner of the Cloud County-Kansas City Kansas game will play the winner of the game between Hutchinson Community College (36-21) and Barton Community College (41-16)  on Thursday. The loser of those two games will also play on Thursday.
The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, with the winner advancing to the NJCAA College World Series.
Infante struck again in the first inning of game three against Neosho when he homered with Adler Pierson aboard.
Brock Wollin hit a solo home run in the inning.
Tom Poole and Kolden Howerton scored on a two-run single by Ty Wevers.
A base hit by Pierson plated Garrett Redden.
Neosho County scored three unearned runs in the top of the second inning.
A two-run double by Poole in the bottom of the second game gave the T-Birds an 8-3 advantage.
The Panthers closed the gap to 8-5 with two runs in the top of the third inning.
Cloud County responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning, and led 13-5.
Ian Riley doubled home two runs and scored on a single by Wollin.
Wollin got home on a throwing error, following a double by Howerton.
Redden knocked in Howerton with a single.
One run in the fourth inning and four in the fifth would pull Neosho within three runs, 13-10.
The Panthers would then tack on single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and trailed by just a run, 13-12.
Howerton led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk and Poole doubled.
Williams Camacho-Soto drove in two runs with a single to extend Cloud County's lead to 15-12.
Rans Sanders retired Neosho in order in the eighth inning. He worked around a walk in a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the save for the T-Birds.
Joel Benes pitched the first three innings for Cloud County. He gave up five runs, three earned, on six hits, struck out two and walked one.
Aaron Hayes pitched one inning and Brady Stuewe worked two innings.
Sanders allowed one run on two hits, struck out three and walked one in three innings.
Cloud County pounded out 18 hits in the game.
Riley and Poole had three hits and drove in two runs each. They each scored two runs.
Wollin, Wevers and Camacho-Soto each had two hits and knocked in two runs each.
Howerton had two hits and scored three runs.
Infante drove in two runs and scored two.