Baseball, softball deal with weather, games moved around

The WNCC baseball and softball team are off and running and it isn’t without having to deal with the weather and playing their games on the road.

The Cougars have had to shift their schedules because of the weather and the unplayable fields in Scottsbluff.

The baseball team is 1-7 on the season and had to cancel their home games with Miles Community College the end of February because of snow.

With the weekend off, the Cougars had to make changes to their Empire Conference opener this weekend with Otero College in La Junta, Colorado. Instead of playing Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5, the team will open conference play on Sunday and Monday because of weather down in Colorado.

The Cougars lone win on the season came against New Mexico Military when they won 11-8, handing NMMI their first loss of the season.

The Cougars also played well the next weekend despite falling in four games to Barton Community College.

The second day of the four-game series, the Cougars had Barton on the ropes before falling 4-3.

After this weekend, March 5-6 at Otero, the Cougars will hit the road for a Spring

All in the Numbers

Break trip to Arizona. WNCC will finally have their home openers March 18-19 when Luna Community College comes to Cleveland Field for a conference fourgame series.

The softball team opened their season in Texas Feb. 17-19 and through the six games, the team showed improvement. The softball team is 0-6 on the season, but the teams final game of the trip against Odessa, who was ranked in the top five, saw WNCC fall 3-0 as Cougar pitchers Avery Fox and Caley Leslie combined on a one hitter.

WNCC was slated to play in the Region IX Pod this week, but because of weather concerns that Pod play was canceled. With the cancellation, that meant that the fourgame series scheduled would now become five-game series. Check the WNCC website -- www.wnccathletics.com -- for updates.

Because of the cancellation of Pod play, the Cougars picked up a four-game series with Highland Community College in Kansas March 4-5.

WNCC is slated for a home date with Friday through Saturday, March 10-12 against Lamar Community College. That is depending on field conditions at Volunteer Field, which is still unplayable because of the moisture Scottsbluff has received this winter

The number of teams in women’s Region IX basketball that have never won a regional title. Those teams include Lamar, Southeast, North Platte, Trinidad, LCCC, and McCook.

6

The number of times that Casper College has won the Region IX women’s basketball championship. The Thunderbirds also finished runner-up 10 times

12

The number if times the WNCC women’s basketball team has won regionals. The first one was in 1993 and the last one in 2019. The Cougars have also finished runner-up 10 times.

14

The number of total points that was scored in last year’s Region IX championship game between Casper and Eastern Wyoming. Casper defeated the Lancers 77-57 to earn the title.

134

The year that the first women’s Region IX basketball tournament was held with NJC topping Lamar. This marks the 49th year of the Region IX tournament.

1975

On the Cover:

Faith Walker looks for an outlet after grabbing a rebound during a recent game at Cougar Palace. WNCC will host the Region IX tournament March 9-11.