NTCC – Sports

Eagles Baseball Opens Season on the Road

Northeast Texas Community College Baseball kicked off the season with a road series at Arkansas Rich Mountain on Thursday, winning game one of the series 9-6 before dropping the game to Rich Mountain.

Rich Mountain would get on the scoreboard first, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning. NTCC would get right back in the second inning game, scoring three runs to take the lead 3-2.

Caleb Munton (Abilene Wylie HS) started things off with a walk in the second inning and move on to the second base with a single by Sawyre Thornhill (Huntington HS). Both would score on passed balls to even the score at 2-2, with Jake Chapman (Boerne HS) scoring off a single to center by Jett Forrest (Lorena HS) to bring the score to 3-2 Eagles.

Both teams would go back and forth, scoring runs, Arkansas Rich Mountain adding one run in the bottom of the second and NTCC adding another run in the top of the fourth. Chapman would score a second time in the game after he doubled in his second at-bat and moved around thanks to the Centerfielder’s error when Drew Baggerly (Deer Park HS) put the ball in play.

The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth and put the game away in the sixth when Khalon Clayton (Kilgore HS) hit a two-run home run to put NTCC up 9-5. Rich Mountain would add another run in the seventh but fell short in the comeback attempt.

NTCC sent Mikel Howell (Huntsville HS) to the mound to start the game, and he would go three innings striking out 2. Howell gave way to Kade Wood (Atlanta HS), who would go two and two-thirds inning, striking out three batters. Justin Lambright (Trenton HS) would get the ball for the final one and one-third innings of work. He added two more strikeouts to bring the pitching staff total to seven K’s on the day.

Game two of the set was not as kind to NTCC. Rich Mountain took advantage of 3 errors and pounded out 24 hits off 5 Eagle pitchers to take game two 25-7. 

The Eagles did have some bright spots offensively, with Clayton going three for three with three runs scored to help lead the NTCC offensive effort in game two. The Eagles had two home runs in the game, Munton and Thornhill would go back to back in the first inning to give NTCC a brief 4-0 lead.

NTCC will have the home opener against Arkansas Rich Mountain Saturday at 1:00 pm at NTCC.

Eagle Softball Splits with Hill College

Northeast Texas Community College traveled to Hillsboro to take on Hill College on Wednesday, earning a win in game one 5-4, while Hill College took game two of the series by a score of 4-2.

Emily Cole (Pewitt High School) picked up her first win of the season, striking out nine on her way to the 5-4 victory. Averie Ayers (Mount Pleasant HS) would get the save in the game one win.

Kadi Downs (Foreman HS) would get the Eagles on the board in the third inning after a leadoff walk to put NTCC up 1-0. Hill College would tie it at 1-1 in the bottom of the third, and the score remained tied until the sixth inning when Pearl Perry (Hughes Spring HS) hit a double followed up by a Homerun by Averie Ayers two batters later. With the game tied at 4-4, Abby Russ (Hooks HS) would drive in the game’s final run when she singled to right field, scoring Perry.

Game 2 of the series, Hill College would win a tight 4-2. Hill took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and added another run in the second to go up 2-0. Hill added the final two runs to go up 4-0 in the fourth inning and kept the Eagles off the scoreboard until the fifth inning. NTCC would try to get back in the fifth when Hanna Allen (Hudson HS) and Trinity Needham (Melissa HS) both reached back-to-back walks, and Kadi Downs doubled to left field to bring the score to 4-2.

Averie Ayers was in the circle in game two of the series, striking out four in the losing effort.

NTCC will have their home opener this Saturday, February 6, at 1:00 pm against Cisco College.