Despite what the weather might tell you, it's time for spring sports! At MCC, we have softball and baseball as spring sports and both teams have been able to get a few games in while fighting the snow and temperatures.
The softball team started the action off with a trip up to Rochester, MN to take part in a tournament at their dome on February, 17. On that date, the Tigers were able to play three games. Those contests were against College of Lake County, Ellsworth Community College, and Clarke University JV.
The day and season got off to a great start for the Tigers as they knocked off College of Lake County by a score of 15-2. The game saw eight Tigers registered hits and McKaylee Dawson pick up the win in four innings.
The rest of the day didn't fare so well for the Tigers. Their next matchup pitted them against Ellsworth Community College. Sophomore Saydee Terrell took the 4-12 loss as she gave up twelve runs on nine hits, eight walked batters, and two Tiger errors.
Terrell and the Tigers suffered another loss later in the day, 0-15, at the hands of Clarke University JV. Terrell gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in one inning before being relieved by Dawson. Dawson pitched the remaining four innings of the game while allowing eleven runs on fifteen hits and no walks. In the game, the Tigers were out hit 17-2.
The next scheduled contests for Tiger Softball are March, 11 when they travel to Osceola, FL over spring break.
The baseball program hasn't had much more luck being able to play games. However, they have been able to pick up five contests.
On February, 24, the Tigers travelled to Cowley County Community College in Kansas for a double header. The first game showed a lot of hope for the Tigers' season as they battled to a 5-6 loss against perennial power, Cowley. In the end, too many strikeouts left the Tigers just short of the opening win as they were mowed down 22 times in the game.
After the close game one, game two proved to be a blowout as the Tigers of Cowley County put up ten runs in the first inning against MCC pitcher Jacob Everaert. Everaert was able to stay in the game and throw three innings for the Tigers while giving up eleven runs, five of which were earned, on six hits and two free passes. Again the visiting team struggled at the plate, striking out fourteen times and recording just three hits.
The next day, February, 25, MCC picked up a game against Garden City Community College. The Tigers looked to be in control early as they scored a pair of runs in both the second and third innings while blanking GCCC behind the arm of Medcalf. However, Garden City put up five runs in the fourth inning, attributed to Medcalf, to take a 5-4 lead. The lead was extended to 7-4 in the top of the fifth before the Tigers scored one on the bottom half of the inning to make it 7-5. Garden City tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth to record the final two runs of the game and leave the Tigers winless on the trip.
The Tigers were able to get two more games in on March, 1, as they traveled to Kansas City, Kansas to take on KCKCC.
Up 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers were feeling good about their chances until the home team hung four runs up on the board to make in 3-5. With just two hits in the game, the Tigers were unable to muster a comeback and were blanked in the 6th and 7th innings to give KCKCC the 5-3 win.
Looking to avenge the loss, the Tigers quickly fell behind 0-3 after one inning. Down 0-4, the Tigers were able to plate a single run in the 4th, but KCKCC answered with two runs of their own. The Tigers scraped for two more runs in the top of the fifth to pull back to within three, but KCKCC would go on to score the final eleven runs of the game and cruise to a 17-3 victory as the Tigers left nine runners on base.
The baseball team will travel to St. Louis, Missouri this Saturday, March, 8.
Both softball and baseball are under the direction of new head coaches as Dominic Ellis took over the softball program and Anthony Everman took the reins of Tiger Baseball. Hopefully the weather will get warmer and the snow will melt so the home fans can catch some action soon.
