By: Justin Hargrove, Assistant Athletic Director
Northeast Texas Community College made a trip to Lufkin, Texas to meet up with Wharton County Junior College in a double header contest Thursday, April 1st and came away with a win in game one 10-7 before falling to Wharton in game two.
NTCC would get on the board first in game one when the Eagles plated a run in the fourth inning to lead Wharton 1-0. Nico Baumbach (Euless Trinity HS) got things going with one out when he doubled to left field and scored when the next hitter, Jake Chapman (Boerne HS) followed it up with a double to left as well.
Wharton briefly took the lead 2-1 in the top of the fifth inning when they scored their first two runs. NTCC would bounce right back in the bottom of the fifth with a big five run inning to take the lead to 6-2 Eagles. NTCC took advantage of a few walks and an error by Wharton with some timely hitting to plate five runs.
Wharton cut into the lead in the top of the sixth scoring three runs to make the game a one run game with NTCC still up 6-5, however NTCC responded and scored four runs to put the game away. Despite a last inning comeback attempt scoring two more runs, the Eagles held tight to win the game 10-7.
Offensively the Eagles were led by Cole Modgling (Medina Valley HS) who went three for four with one RBI and two runs scored.
Chance Bolter (Plano HS) got the start on the mound and gave the Eagles five solid innings of work giving up just two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Bolter gave way to the Eagle bullpen and Camden Sargent (Brazosport Christian HS), Kolby Parker (Shelbyville HS), and Landon Herrmann (Bridgeland HS) all help NTCC to a win in game one.
In game two action, the first two innings were again quiet for both teams offensively until Wharton got on the board first with one run in the third inning and added a second run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth to lead 4-0.
NTCC found their way on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth when Chapman made his way on with a single to left field and then worked his way around the bases and scoring when Kade Wood (Atlanta HS) hit a sacrifice fly to center to score the first Eagle run.
The sixth inning would prove to be big for both teams with Wharton scoring four runs in the top of the sixth and the Eagles would score six runs to cut into the lead and make the score 8-7 Wharton.
Wharton added a final run in the eighth to bring the score to 9-7 but NTCC would not go away easy. Sawyre Thornhill (Huntington HS) hit a solo homerun with one out to bring the score to 9-8, but the come back would fall short for the Eagles. Thornhill would go four for five with two singles, a double and a homerun to lead NTCC offensively in game two.
After a break for Easter weekend, NTCC will be back in action on Tuesday, April 6th when they travel to Carl Albert State College in Oklahoma. NTCC will be at home on Thursday, April 8th against Navarro College as they resume conference play with a 1:00pm start.
