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Hutchinson Community College

DRAGONS EARN OPENING-DAY SWEEP OF LARKS

Blue Dragon shortstop Taber Stokes tags out a Hesston runner caught in a rundown between third and home in Game 1 of a season-opening doubleheader sweep of Hesston on Friday at Hobart-Detter Field (Sammi Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)
Blue Dragon shortstop Taber Stokes tags out a Hesston runner caught in a rundown between third and home in Game 1 of a season-opening doubleheader sweep of Hesston on Friday at Hobart-Detter Field (Sammi Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)
February 7, 2025
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Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Nine different Blue Dragon pitchers combined for 26 strikeouts as the No. 23-ranked Hutchinson Community College baseball team opened the 2025 season with a doubleheader sweep of the Hesston College Larks on Friday at Hobart-Detter Field.

Four pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout and the Blue Dragons exploded for eight runs in the sixth inning as Hutchinson defeated Hesston 9-0 in Game 1. Then trailing by two runs after three innings in Game 2, the Blue Dragons scored multiple runs in 4 of their final 5 at-bats as Hutchinson pulled away for a 14-4 run-rule win in the night came.

Now 2-0, the Blue Dragons will be on the road for four games next week starting with a pair of neutral-site games on Wednesday against Eastern Oklahoma State (2 p.m.) and NEO (7 p.m.) in Edmond, Oklahoma.

GAME 1 RECAP – Hutchinson 9, Hesston 0
Four Blue Dragon pitchers combined to strike out 10 Hesston batters and allowed only three hits, the fewest hits allowed by Hutchinson since 2014 when the Dragons allowed just two hits against Rose State in an 8-0 season-opening victory.

Starting pitcher Trenton Roehler struck out five batters in two innings. Winning pitcher Gabe Perry had one strikeout in two innings. Sean Combs fanned three in two innings and Collin Flores had one strikeout in his one inning of work.

The Blue Dragon pitchers stranded seven runners on base and held the Larks to a combined 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Hutchinson out-hit Hesston 8-3 in the opener. Shortstop Taber Stokes and catcher Anthony Mazza both went 2 for 3. Quinn Maher had two RBIs. Mazza and Stokes scored two runs each.

The Blue Dragons took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Maher singled in Cael Hamrick with one out.

The Dragons broke the game open with an eight-run sixth inning where Hutchinson sent 12 batters to the plate. Eli Duncan had an RBI double to score Mazza. C.J Reid added an RBI single to score A.J. Mustow to make it 3-0 Dragons. The Dragons added to the inning by taking advantage of three walks and two Lark errors, closing the eight-run uprising with a Stokes' RBI single that gave the Dragons a 9-0 lead.

GAME 2 RECAP – Hutchinson 14, Hesston 4 (8 innings)
The five Hutchinson pitcher to work in the second game combined for 16 strikeouts, which tied for the fifth-most in Blue Dragon single-game history. The last time the Blue Dragons had last 16 strikeouts in a game was 16 against Coffeyville on March 4, 2022.

Starting pitcher Jake Wolcott and relief pitcher Reece Usselman each struck out five batters in two innings of work. Relief pitcher Noah McCombs had three strikeouts in two innings. Seth Ainsworth fanned two and Lachlan Rosser had one punchout. Ainsworth and Rosser worked one inning each.

The Blue Dragons were held to one hit over the first three innings, but the Dragons unleashed 13 hits and 14 runs over the next five innings to pull away.

After a Mustow RBI double got the Blue Dragons on the boards in the bottom of the fourth, the Dragons tied the game on a Reid RBI triple to center and took a 3-2 lead on a Jarrett Herrmann RBI single.

Maher, Mazza and Duncan had RBI hits in a three-run fifth to take 6-2 lead.

After Hesston cut the lead to 6-4 on a Chris Cammllarie two-run home run, the Blue Dragons answered with a six-run sixth inning. Reid and Leo Griffin had RBI singles, the Dragons converted two double steals and had four stolen bases in the inning the they took advantage of two Lark errors to lead 12-4 after six innings.

The Dragons reached run-rule status in the eighth. After Nick Glantz and Duncan were walked, the Dragons loaded the bases with a walk to Hamrick. The Dragons scored their 13th run on a bases-loaded walk to Finn Hochstein and Griffin singled up the middle to play Duncan with the 14th and final run.

Griffin went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Reid went 3 for 4 with a double, triple two RBIs and a run scored.

Mazza had his second two-hit game of the day, going 2 for 2 with three runs scored. Herrmann finished 2 for 5 with a run and RBI. Duncan and Mustow both scored two runs.