SALINA — Concluding the most successful season in program history, with the most wins ever in a single season, the Cloud County Community College baseball team fell in the championship match to Johnson County to end the Plains District tournament.
In the second round of the playoffs at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina, the T-Birds fell to KCKCC.
Both teams scored in the second and fifth innings to make it a 2-2 game. A Blue Devil run in the sixth would give them the lead, alongside a three-run eighth inning, to which Cloud could only get one run in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 6-3 game. Two runs each in the ninth gave KCK the win.
Facing elimination, the T-Birds defeated Fort Scott 7-3 to advance.
Fort Scott jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second with the bases loaded before Myles Chamberlain got the T-Birds out of the jam. The T-Birds then scored three runs of their own to tie the game. In the third inning, the T-Birds jumped out to a 6-3 lead, and an insurance run in the seventh gave Cloud the win.
In the following round, the T-Birds defeated Coffeyville 13-0.
Cloud wasted no time on the field, taking a 5-0 lead after one inning. The T-birds then scored three runs in the second and third innings, before closing the game with two runs in the fourth to run-rule the Red Ravens.
In the quarter finals, the T-Birds defeated KCKCC 7-4 in a rematch.
Cloud struck first with three runs scored in the third, taking advantage of KCK errors. Both teams scored two runs in the fourth, with the T-Birds scoring a run in both the seventh and eighth innings, with the Blue Devils matching with two runs in the eighth.
In the semifinals, the T-Birds defeated Cowley, the number eight-ranked team in the nation, 12-9.
Cowley scored a run in the first, and two runs in the top of the second and third to take a 5-0 lead. The T-Birds then tied it up with five runs in the bottom of the third. The Tiger offense kept the pressure on Cloud, scoring two more runs in the fourth, with Cloud scoring one. The T-Birds took an 8-7 lead thanks to two runs, and then scored four more runs in the sixth to take a 12-7 lead. Cowley scored another run to cut the lead to 12-8, and then scored another run in the eighth to make the score 12-9, and Cloud closed out the game to secure the win.
In the championship game, Cloud’s remarkable run came to an end with a 6-4 loss to Johnson County, the number four-ranked team in the country.
The Cavaliers got on the board first with a two-run home run in the second. Matthew Evans had a solo homer in the third to make it a 2-1 game. Cloud took the lead in the fourth with three runs scored, with Joey Marino, Kaden Budke, and Eric Bradicich scoring to make it a 4-2 game. But two JC runs in the bottom of the inning tied the game at 4-4. The Cavs retook the lead in the sixth with a solo home run, before putting the nail in the coffin with another solo home run in the eighth to win the game 6-4, advancing to the junior college World Series for the third straight year.
The NJCAA World Series will be held in Grand Junction, Colorado, this year.
Cloud players Noah Konings, Eric Bradicich, and Myles Chamberlain each made the all-tournament team.
Konings averaged .583 from the plate, with a home run, four extra base hits (XBH), and nine runs and RBIs. Bradicich averaged .467, with seven hits, three XBH, five runs scored, and 11 RBIs. Chamberlain pitched 7.1 innings in relief against Fort Scott, and only gave up five hits, one walk, with five strikeouts.
