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T-Birds gain split, earn home series

MCPHERSON — One win was all the Cloud County Community College baseball team needed to earn the right to host a home series in the first round of the Region VI playoffs, and one win they got.
After suffering a 3-1 loss to Hutchinson Community College in the opening game of a Jayhawk Conference West Division doubleheader on Saturday, the Thunderbirds got a solid pitching performance from sophomore Jackson Dietel and some timely hitting to defeat Hutchinson 6-2 in the second game.
Dietel pitched the first eight innings and allowed just two runs on six hits, struck out 10 and walked two.
Corben Peterson worked a perfect ninth inning. He struck out two.
“It was pretty fitting for it to be him (Dietel),” Cloud County coach Eric Gilliland said, “He threw a few more pitches than we wanted him to going into the postseason, but it's hard to take him out with the stuff he had. That's probably as good as he's been this year. His fastball velocity is up a little bit lately, and it just helps with all of his off-speed stuff.”
With the win, Cloud County finished up the regular season 31-22 overall, and 18-14 and in fourth place in the Jayhawk West.
The top four teams host first-round series in the playoffs.
The T-Birds will host Allen County Community College (31-19) in a best of three series beginning Thursday. The winner advances to the NJCAA Region VI/Central District Playoffs at Eck Stadium in Wichita, March 15-19.
 “We didn't tell the guys anything about what was going on with the standings going into the day. They knew, but we decided a few weeks ago not to worry about any of the outside influences and control what they could control,” Gilliland said, “We've been climbing every year, and to be hosting a first-round playoff series was another step in the right direction.”
Butler Community College and Hutchinson each finished 22-10 in the Jayhawk West. Colby (19-13) was third.
Cloud County finished just ahead of Barton Community College (17-15).
The T-Birds broke a scoreless tie in game two of the twinbill with Hutchinson with two runs in the top of the third inning.
Davis Pratt led off the inning with a single and Alex Rice followed with a double.
A sacrifice fly by Clayton Loranger got Pratt home with the first run.
Rice scored on a single by Connor Laux.
Hutchinson made it a 2-1 game with a run in the bottom of the third.
Dietel would shut the Blue Dragons out over the next four innings.
Cloud County put up four runs in the fourth inning to grab a 6-1 advantage.
Ramon Vingochea got things started with a base hit.
With one out, Griffin Larsen reached base on an error.
Pratt then laced a two-run double.
A single by Rice plated Davis.
Rice stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a wild pitch.
“It was huge for us to score there to keep the momentum on our side. And not only that, Jackson went out and worked to put up a quick zero,” Gilliland said, “We had a ton of quality at-bats up and down the lineup in game two. Baseball is a game of momentum, and with Dietel doing what he was doing, it was easy to keep it on our side after that.”
Hutchinson picked up one run in the eighth inning to make it 6-2.
Pratt was 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs batted in and two runs scored.
Rice had two hits and scored two runs and Laux knocked in two runs.
Cloud County starter Josh Laukkanen was solid in the first game of the doubleheader, but the T-Birds were unable to generate much offense against Hutchinson's Dylan Nedved.
Laukkanen gave up just three runs, two earned, on six hits, struck out three and walked one.
Nedved limited the T-Birds to one run on five hits. He struck out 10 and walked one.
“Josh was phenomenal. It was just a case where Hutchinson's guy, Dylan Nedved, was spectacular. Both pitchers made it hard to score runs in game one,” Gilliland said.
Hutchinson scored single runs in the first and second innings.
Laux reached base on a fielder's choice and scored on a double by Dietel in the top of the third inning to make it 2-1.
The T-Birds would not score again.
Hutchinson tacked on one run in the fifth inning to go up 3-1.
Laux had two of Cloud County's five hits.

 

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