MCC baseball squad blasts York JV

Here we go again.

That might have been the main thought in the McCook Community College dugout after the York College junior varsity's first at-bat Tuesday.

Those bad vibes didn't last long, as the Indians cranked up the bats to claim a pair of lopsided wins over the York JV in college baseball action at the Jaycees Sports Complex.

McCook rallied from the early five-run deficit to claim a 15-5 win in Tuesday's opening game. The first contest was shortened to six innings via the mercy rule. MCC continued the offensive onslaught in the second game with a 13-0 win in five innings.

"They came out swinging, I give them credit," said MCC head coach Jon Olsen about Tuesday's opponent. "I though we were going to have our hands full."

Matt Rohrig, a redshirt freshman pitcher from Westminster, Colo., was making his second start on the mound this spring for the Indians. In his first start, Rohrig was knocked off the mound in the second inning, Olsen said.

After the shaky start Tuesday, Rohrig shut down the York junior varsity.

"I'm really proud of our starter the first game," Olsen said of Rohrig. "He settled down after he gave up a five-spot in the first inning. We had a couple guys warming up, we were ready to go with someone else. He settled down, put up five zeros (five scoreless innings). He did a really nice job."

In his six innings of work, Rohrig allowed the five first-inning runs (four earned) and nine hits with four strikeouts and just one walk.

Coach Olsen got another strong performance on the mound in Tuesday's second game. Tommy Barnes (freshman, Las Vegas) saw his first starting pitching duty of the season. He responded with a three-hit shutout with five strikeouts and just one walk.

"It was good for those guys to get in and get a couple starts under their belt," Olsen said of Rohrig and Barnes. "Both are kids that have chances to do all right. They both pitched really well. I was happy for them."

McCook is about halfway through a 50-plus game schedule. Olsen said Rohrig and Barnes had pitched about three innings between them this season before Tuesday's action. With a busy April slate ahead, the Indians will need more strong pitching efforts if MCC plans to be successful.

"So we got good performances out of them," Olsen said. "We played good defense behind them, so that's always good to see.

"We needed some of our guys that haven't thrown a lot to step up. We didn't have to go into the bullpen in either game, so it was wasn't very taxing on our pitching staff."

In Tuesday's opening game, Barnes was the MCC hitting star with a double and home run included in his four hits, plus three runs knocked in. Eric Montes (freshman, Colorado Springs, Colo.) had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and one RBI.

Tyler Vessey (sophomore, Littleton, Colo.) also knocked in three runs with a pair of hits in Tuesday's first game, and Brandon Pacheco (freshman, Kearney) hit a three-run homer.

Vessey had another strong game in Tuesday's nightcap with three hits (a pair of doubles) and three RBI.

Andrew Behan (sophomore, Fountain, Colo.,) and Montes each had two hits, including a double each, and three RBI apiece. Blake Vaughn (redshirt freshman, Wheatland, Wyo.) hit a two-run homer for the Indians, and Kyle Gamble (freshman, Las Vegas) also homered for an RBI.

Panhandle road trip

McCook traveled to Scottsbluff Sunday and Monday for a four-game series with Western Nebraska C.C. MCC lost three straight games before a 6-0 win in Monday's nightcap.

The Indians lost Sunday by scores of 4-0 and 11-4. Western Nebraska claimed a 10-5 win in Monday's opener before McCook broke the losing skid with the shutout decision in the nightcap.

"We didn't play very good the first three games," Coach Olsen said.

MCC trailed 2-0 in the sixth inning of the opener Sunday when an MCC error helped Western Nebraska add a pair of runs, according to Coach Olsen.

"We just couldn't get anything going," Olsen said. "Their pitcher did a very good job, give him credit."

McCook "fell apart" late in the second game Sunday, Olsen said. The Indians led 4-3 in the bottom of fifth, then gave up eight runs on just two singles.

"We had four or five walks and two errors, we really fell apart," Olsen said. "We really felt like Sunday was the worst day we've played all year."

McCook got off to a bad start in Monday's opener.

"Not taking anything away from Western Nebraska, but we just did not get a good start on the mound, and we just did not play good," Olsen said.

Pitching boost

The Indians got a great pitching effort from Joe "J.J." Jaramillo (freshman, Littleton, Colo.) in Monday's shutout win.

"I think he's thrown like 14 straight scoreless innings now," Olsen said. "He's really pitching well. Western Nebraska always has a good hitting team, and he did a great job holding them down. We're really happy with his performance.

"It was one of those deals where we didn't play very good, and one guy changed the whole complexion -- just one good start changed the whole complexion of what we did. It was good to see."

Jaramillo went the distance, allowing just two hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

David DeCarlo (freshman, Las Vegas) had a double and RBI in Monday's win, and Zach Johnstone (sophomore, Ft. Collins, Colo.) knocked in three runs with a double and single.

Andrew Behan had a strong weekend for the Indians. In the four-game set, Behan went 7-for-15 with four runs scored and and RBI

Rebound from slow start

After a double-digit losing streak to open the season, McCook has now won eight of its last 11 games.

"After our bad start, it was good to get back on it," Olsen said. "I know we'v got some good players and we have a good team. It was just one of those things early where we ran up against some good teams and lost some close games, and it was kind of wearing on our psyche. It's good to get back to win some games. Hopefully we'll stay on that a little bit.

"After this week about half our season will be complete, so that means we'll have half our season in April. We really want to stay on it."

Home game Wednesday

The McCook C.C. squad continues a busy week with Wednesday, March 31 action against Colby (Kan.) Community College. The single nine-inning contest is set to start at 4 p.m. at Jaycees Sports Complex.

The Indians also have a road trip to La Junta, Colo. Thursday and Friday for a four-game series against Otero Junior College. The opening games each day will start at 2 p.m. CDT.