OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Earlier this season, he Johnson County Community College baseball team was unstoppable, winning a school record 23 straight games while catapulting up the national rankings all the way to number six. However, since the start of April, the Cavaliers have split back-to-back conference series with Fort Scott and most recently Kansas City Kansas, to fall to 16-5 in the conference and two games back of Cowley.
The series with the Blue Devils opened at Kansas City, Kan., on Thursday afternoon, April 11. It was all Johnson Count in the opener as they pounded out 15 hits and scored 14 runs for a 14-3 victory.
Freshman catcher Anthony Slaughter had a two hits, including a home run, and drove in a season-high five runs. Sophomore outfielder Anthony Amicangelo had a single and a double, scored three times and drove in two, and sophomore first baseman Malik Williams had a single and home run and two RBIs.
Sophomore right-hander Zachary Ebert rebounded from his first loss of the season posting a complete game victory. He allowed five hits and three runs with three strikeouts over five innings and now stands 8-1 on the season.
The Cavaliers appeared to have the second game in hand. Leading 12-10 in the bottom of the ninth, Kansas City Kansas managed to plate three runs to register the walk-off victory. Johnson County had trailed 10-7 but they scored three in the eighth and two in the ninth to go up by two with just three outs remaining.
Sophomore outfielder Jacob Owens and sophomore third baseman Blake Shannon each drove in three runs for the Cavaliers. They were one of five JCCC players to hit a home run. Freshman outfielder Landen Wood and Slaughter each drove in two runs.
The venue switched to JCCC on Saturday, April 13, the Blue Devils took the first game 3-2 behind a solid pitching performance from southpaw Osvaldo Mendez. The Cavaliers reached base in every inning but Mendez left seven stranded including the tying run on third and the winning run on first in the seventh. He also struck out nine batters.
Freshman right-hander Trey Ziegenbein took the loss. He allowed three runs, two earned, off seven hits. He also struck out six batters. The loss dropped his season record to 7-2.
Amicangelo hit a solo home run in the first and drove in a run with a two-out single in the seventh before Mendez closed out the game with a strikeout.
Johnson County managed to avoid its first series loss in conference play with an 8-1 win in the final game.
The first six innings was an outstanding pitching duel between Cavaliers right-hander Sloan Thomsen and the Blue Devils Victor Gotay. Thomsen allowed just four hits, no runs and struck out nine batters in seven innings. Gotay had allowed just one run through six before Johnson County blew the game open with five runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Williams was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Amicangelo, Slaughter, Owens and freshman second baseman Garrett Wood each drove in one run.
Johnson County will host Rockhurst JV on Wednesday, April 17 at 4 p.m., before a four-game conference series with Neosho County Community College. The first two games are at JCCC on Thursday, April 18. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.