(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College's baseball team closed out the regular season by pounding Kennedy-King College out of Chicago in both games of their non-conference doubleheader. The Chiefs (12-40) blanked the Statesmen (2-31), who restarted their program just last year after a long hiatus, 10-0 in five innings in the first game. The Chiefs then won again in five innings 16-6 to sweep the Sunday afternoon twin bill, handing Kennedy-King their 23^rd defeat by the 10-run slaughter rule and 27^th loss in which they surrendered double digits in runs. Waubonsee registered 22 hits on the day, including eight for extra bases, sending the Statesmen to their 14^th consecutive loss.  

Waubonsee jumped on Kennedy-King in the top of the first when Jacob Cronshaw was hit by a pitch and Louis Leon drilled a line shot two-run home run to right field, his third long ball of the season. Max Smith, who walked and stole second, came around to score two batters later as the Chiefs took an early 3-0 lead and batted around in the first frame. Waubonsee then broke the game open in the bottom of the second as Smith ripped a two-run double to left center to make it 5-0. One out later Smith scored on a Kennedy-King error and then Ben Hernandez smashed a double over the head of the center fielder to drive in Ethan Cusack to quickly extend the lead to 7-0 with just one out. That knocked out Kennedy-King starter Angel Rea-Delgado with Marquis Waterford coming on in relief. Cameron Hull welcomed him to the game by launching a run-scoring double to the base of the left field fence as Waubonsee again batted around in the second inning. 

The Chiefs added on in the third with Smith belting a sky high two-run homer that just cleared the left center field fence approximately 380 feet away to push the lead to 10-0. Meanwhile. Waubonsee starter Noah Dowler continued to get soft contact in mowing down the Statesmen in order, carrying a perfect game into the fifth. However, Kennedy-King's Devon Allen led off the top of the fifth with a single past third base to break up the perfect game and no-hitter. Dowler finished off the visitors stranding a pair of runners to complete the five-inning, one-hit shutout. The sophomore right hander struck out six and walked one in picking up his second win of the season. Offensively, Smith led the way going 2 for 2 with a double, a home run, a walk, a stolen base, three runs scored and four knocked in. Leon also finished 2 for 2 with a home run, a walk, three runs scored and two driven in.

In game two the Statesmen took an early lead when Roberto Ontivero Jr. singled to center off Chiefs' starter Tyler Pazos to start the top of the second. He eventually scored on a two-out, two-strike single to right center by opposing pitcher Aasiah Stewart. Waubonsee quickly got that run back and more in the bottom of the frame. Hernandez blooped a single to right center field, Cusack ripped a single past third and Jacob Decker dropped down a perfectly placed bunt for an infield single to load the bases. Hernandez then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. J.P. Merlak followed with a single to center, Hull squeeze bunted in a run and Dylan Conklin smashed a double over the center fielder's head as Waubonsee scored six times to take a 6-1 lead with no outs. Andrew Hernandez then blooped a two-run double down the left field line to make it 8-1. He scored a few pitches later when Ben Hernandez, who had led off the inning with a hit, reached base on a dropped third strike. The nine-run inning came to an ending on a pair of fielder's choice ground outs as the Chiefs sent 15 batters to the plate and left the bases loaded.

The Statesmen got a pair of runs in the top of the third courtesy of two walks, an error, a wild pitch and a passed ball to cut the deficit to 9-3. Waubonsee built its lead back up to 11-3 in the bottom of the fourth highlighted by a two-out run scoring single to center by Cronshaw. Andrew Hernandez then slapped a two-run single to right center to push the lead to 13-3. Kennedy-King got a pair of runs in the top of the fifth on a single by Ronald Fuentes, a Chiefs' error, a walk, a ground out and passed ball. Wildness by Waubonsee relievers resulted in another run as four straight Statesmen drew walks to cut the score to 13-6 heading to the bottom of the fifth. The Chiefs came right back and scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning to win by the slaughter rule on a walk-off single to center by Cronshaw.

Andrew Hernandez paced Waubonsee's offense going 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and two runs batted in. The Chiefs' designated hitter on the day, Cronshaw finished the game 2 for 4 with two runs scored and two runs driven in. Cusack ended the game 2 for 4 with three runs scored, while Merlak and Hull each crossed the plate three times. Tyler Pazos got the win on the mound allowing four runs on five hits over four innings of work, striking out seven and walking three. Waubonsee is set to begin play in the NJCAA Region 4 Division III Tournament on Thursday, May 8 when they travel to top-seeded Joliet Junior College (30-25) for a 3:00 p.m. match-up.