Rantoul, Ill. - The site change didn't seem to phase the bats for either the ICC baseball team (3-5) or its rival Parkland (9-6-1) on Sunday afternoon. Parkland took the opening game, which went into extras, with the teams combining for 25 hits. The finale for the day saw the Cougars prevail, and the teams combine for 25 runs.

Game 1 - Parkland 8, ICC 7 (10 innings):
Game one was a pitchers duel to start, with ICC's Travis Lutz only allowing one base-runner (hit by pitch) in three innings. Neither the Cougars nor the Cobras could manage to find the run column through those first three innings.

It would be ICC that got the bats rolling first, out-scoring Parkland 6-3 over the next two innings. Highlighting that six-run burst was a home run from Josh Heyder to create that 6-3 score. 

Meanwhile, the Cobras would storm back and tie the game on an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. That was shortly followed by a stolen base to put the hosts in front after eight, 7-6. 

Alas, that lead didn't last long, as it took Max Jones all of three pitches into the inning to send one over the fence and re-tie the game, now at 7-7. 

The bats would go cold again, with neither team able to plate any players for a few innings. Then the Cobras would close the game on a walk-off RBI single to set the 8-7 final score.

Game 2 - ICC 16, Parkland 9:
15 runs, 25 hits, and 10 innings may already seem like a lot. That was, until the ICC bats would unload in the finale for the day. 

After a brief scoreless frame, the Cougars racked up six runs on four hits, all in the second inning. Half of those came on another Cougar long ball, this one off the bat of Ben Nofsinger, scoring three and putting ICC in front 6-0. 

Parkland would make a dent in the lead by putting four across the plate on two hits in the fourth. 

The Cougars would never trail in this game, and that got more likely when a triple from Nofsinger expanded the lead to 11-4. 

ICC's hitting was far from done yet, adding another four on in the sixth, with Coltin Quagliano (sac fly) and Jones (single) collecting the hits. 

Offense finally wrapped up for the day when Jackson Powell got an RBI groundout to score Heyder, the 16th run of the game for the Cougars.

By game's end, it certainly competed with the final stat line of game 1: 25 runs, 27 hits. 

Next Up:
ICC COUGARS (3-5, 1-1)
vs. Parkland Cobras (9-6-1, 1-1)
Monday, March 21st, 2022
@ Thome Fields - East Peoria, IL
4:00 PM First Pitch (Doubleheader)
Live Stats