April 12, 2007

The Northeastern Junior College baseball team went to McCook on Wednesday looking for some positive momentum heading into the weekend series in Sterling against first-place Lamar. After losing their last two conference games at Western Nebraska, the Plainsmen were handed a perfect opportunity to get back on track against a McCook team they had beaten four times earlier this season.

Instead, NJC left McCook with a four-game, conference losing streak and position among the middle of the pack in the Region IX standings.

The Plainsmen fell to 19-13 on the season overall and 8-6 in Region IX play. Coach Bryan Shepherd's Plainsmen will try to bounce back on Saturday and Sunday at home at 1 p.m. when they take on a Lamar.

At McCook, NJC dropped the first game, 2-1, in ten innings. McCook handed NJC its ninth, one-run loss of the season.

Baton Rouge sophomore Derrick Townsend started the game for NJC on the mound and surrendered just one run in seven innings. Freshman Justin Mattelka threw two and two-thirds innings of solid relief until giving up the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.

The Plainsmen scored their only run of the game in the top of the first inning when Sam Feiner plated Josh Warren with an RBI groundout. NJC sophomore Mike Mendenhall had three hits in the game.

Sophomore Langston Frison's bunt single in Game Two was NJC's only hit of the contest. Frison scored on Rhett Welsh's sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning, but it was too little, too late for NJC.

McCook used seven hits to score five runs and win, 5-1. NJC starter James Quisenberry was tagged with the loss.

It was "one of those games" for Quisenberry as everything McCook put in play seemed to find a soft spot in the NJC defense. Quisenberry gave way to freshman lefty Justin Sortino who finished the game with an inning and a third of scoreless relief.