WNC Baseball: Wildcats halt SWAC losing streak
Western Nevada College found the tonics Friday to end a four-game road losing: a prolific first inning and one tough out in Kody Reynolds. The Wildcats scored four times in the first en route to an 11-4 Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball victory over Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely, Colo.
Reynolds, Corey Pool and Austin Andrews provided RBI singles in the Wildcats' first at-bat after the team made a 766-mile road trip from Carson City.
Reynolds finished with one of the most productive days at the plate in program history, going 6 for 6 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Pool, a sophomore first baseman, returned to the lineup after missing the Wildcats' previous nine games - eight of them losses. Pool, who leads WNC with seven home runs, went 1 for 4 with a RBI.
The Spartans rallied for three runs against WNC surprise starter DJ Peters in the third inning, but the Wildcats reeled off seven unanswered runs to take a commanding 11-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning.
After relieving Peters in the third inning, freshman Kyle Johnson, a Douglas High School graduate, frustrated the Spartan hitters. Johnson allowed just one hit through the sixth inning to earn his first victory in a Wildcat uniform.
In his most extended outing of the season, Johnson finished with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits and one earned run, and the Wildcats went error-less behind their three hurlers.
Peters, making his second start, gave up four hits, three earned runs and two walks. Kyle Thompson made his third relief appearance, working a perfect ninth inning.
In WNC's three-run fourth inning, Reynolds and Tim Lichty each drove in a run with a base hit. The final run of the inning came home when an executed double steal sent Peters across the plate.
The Wildcats went ahead 8-3 in the fifth when Jake Bennett's triple to right field brought home Bradley Lewis. It was Bennett's fourth triple of the season, tying him with Peters for the team lead.
Reynolds knocked in his third run of the day in the sixth. His bunt single scored Peters from third base. In the eighth, WNC pushed two more runs across the plate to build an 11-3 lead. Reynolds and Jon Guzman scored the runs.
Carson City's Luke Maher doubled and scored the Spartans' final run in the eighth inning. Lewis and Bennett each totaled two of the Wildcats' 14 hits, while Andrews and Bennett knocked in two runs apiece.
WNC raised its overall record to 25-20, including 12-13 in the SWAC. CNCC is 14-25 overall and 7-18 in the SWAC.
The four-game series continues Saturday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.