The Neosho County Community College baseball team breezed through a weekend series with the Highland (Ill.) Community College Cougars Saturday and Sunday. Each game in the four-game series ended in five innings as the 12th-ranked Panthers improved to 10-0 on the young season. "(Saturday) was a replay of today. The kids hit the ball well all day  long, and we took advantage of some fielding mistakes they made," coach Steve Murry said. "It was the same story today as all four games were exactly the same – a big inning here and a big inning there. "Neosho County blistered Highland 13-3, 19-6, 11-0 and 11-1. Sophomore catcher Cooper Minnick highlighted the weekend, hitting through the cycle in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. Minnick went 5-for-5 at the plate with seven RBIs and five runs scored in the 19-6 victory. He becomes only the second Panther to hit for the cycle. The first was current Chanute High School baseball coach Zack Murry. Minnick came to the plate with four hits on the day, just needing the home run. "He got the 3-1 and swung on a bad pitch just to stay up there," Murry said. "Then he got a nice full-count fast ball and just hammered it."
The hitting was contagious over the four games. The Panthers pounded out 54 runs on 46 hits, while Neosho County pitching limited Highland to 10 runs on 22 hits. "We had some big weekends. Minnick and Josh Norlin were just brilliant this weekend," Murry said. "Then you had guys like Marcus McDaniel and Will Clark who had good weekends." For the weekend, Minnick went 7-of-13 at the plate with 10 RBIs, while Norlin was 8-of-11 with six RBIs and 11 runs scored.


"I thought our four pitchers did a decent job," Murry said. "I was happy
with how it ended." The pitchers went the distance in each of the four games, with Allen,
DuBord, Knopp and Covington picking up their second wins of the season.
"I wish a couple of these would have gone the distance, but they didn't.
We'll have to see," Murry said. "We won't be able to get away with some
of the mistakes over the first couple weeks when it comes down to this
weeks games."


The Panthers begin a tough stretch with a non-conference opponent in
Crowder College today. The Roughriders are ranked ninth by Collegiate
Baseball, and the first pitch is scheduled for 1 pm.
"Now, we get into the real stuff," Murry concluded. "Two nationally
ranked teams for six games. It'll be our first run through of how a game
is played that isn't run-ruled."