NORTHEAST OPENS HOME PORTION OF THEIR SCHEDULE AGAINST MCCOOK OVER THE WEEKEND

NORFOLK, Neb. and McCOOK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College baseball team hosted McCook Community College in their home opener Friday at Norfolk Veterans Memorial Baseball Field before battling the Indians on the road Saturday in McCook, Nebraska. The Hawks dropped the first three contests of the series by final scores of 6-2, 4-2 and 10-6 before taking Game 4 by a final score of 5-4.

Northeast (9-7) began the home portion of their 2026 schedule in front of a large crowd Friday and freshmen Benjamin Northrup (Monroe, Utah) and Emmett Minderman (Papillion, Neb.) continued their strong starts to the year with homers in Game 1. Thomas Marshall (Mississauga, Ontario) was strong in relief, tossing five innings and allowing just two hits while striking out four.

In Game 2, pitching carried the Hawks as starter Max Denson (Broken Bow, Neb.) allowed just two hits over five innings of work while striking out five batters. Beau Pasteur (Pittsburgh, Kan.) and Ethan Cole (Omaha, Neb.) combined to allow just three hits out of the bullpen, but the bats for Northeast were only able to push two runs across the plate in the showdown.

On Saturday, Brady Fitzpatrick, Northrup, Brice Wallar (Papillion, Neb.) and Minderman all doubled in Game 3 of the series. In Game 4, everything clicked for the Hawks as Giuseppe Salvatore (Johnstown, Colo.) recorded three RBIs and Eli Johnston (Wahoo, Neb.) picked up a three-inning save, allowing just two hits while striking out five in relief.

STAT SHEET GAME 1 AGAINST MCCOOK:

Benjamin Northrup (Monroe, Utah): 1-3, HR, RBI, R

Emmett Minderman (Papillion, Neb.): 1-3, HR, RBI, R

Thomas Marshall (Mississauga, Ontario): 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 K

STAT SHEET GAME 2 AGAINST MCCOOK:

Hayden Parrish (Omaha, Neb.): 1-2, RBI, BB

Giuseppe Salvatore (Johnstown, Colo.): 1-4, RBI

Max Denson (Broken Bow, Neb.): 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 5 K

STAT SHEET GAME 3 AGAINST MCCOOK:

Emmett Minderman (Papillion, Neb.): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R

Benjamin Northrup (Monroe, Utah): 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, R

Benjamin Northrup (Monroe, Utah) (P): 2 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 K

STAT SHEET GAME 4 AGAINST MCCOOK:

Giuseppe Salvatore (Johnstown, Colo.): 1-2, 3 RBI

Brice Wallar (Papillion, Neb.): 1-2, 2B, RBI, R

Eli Johnston (Wahoo, Neb.) (S): 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Baseball Coach Marcus Clapp on the series against McCook as a whole:

"Good to win the last game, but a really disappointing weekend overall," Clapp said. "We continue to have issues defensively and have given up too many free bases. Offensively, I thought we completely got away from being aggressive and attacking. We have to get things cleaned up moving forward."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will begin a four-game series against Cowley County Community College beginning with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Friday in Arkansas City, Kansas.

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