In his first career start as a Blue Dragon, Andy Dirks delivered 7 -2 strong innings for HCC in an 8-6 win over Garden City to force a decisive Region VI championship game.

Region Tournament Loser's Bracket Semifinal
Hutchinson 7, Cowley, 6

Region Tournament Championship Game No. 1
Hutchinson 8, Garden City 6
May 16, 2005 - Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, Wichita

DIRKS PUSHES
BLUE DRAGONS TO DECISIVE
REGION VI TITLE GAME

CLICK FOR BOXSCORE - Cowley
CLICK FOR BOXSCORE - Garden City

WICHITA – Trailing 6-4 with no base runners and two outs in the top of the eighth against the No. 9 team in the nation, the Hutchinson Community College baseball team’s hopes of advancing to the 2005 Region VI Tournament championship against Garden City were grim to say the least.

Following an error and three base hits, the Blue Dragons emerged with an unlikely 7-6 win come-from-behind win over Cowley College in the loser’s bracket final and then followed that with an 8-6 victory over Garden City on Monday, May 16, 2005 Lawrence Dumont Stadium.

The win forces a decisive championship game between the Blue Dragons and Broncbusters for a bid to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.

Hutchinson’s Andy Dirks was the offensive hero in the Cowley game and the pitching savior in the first championship game against Garden City on this day of baseball.

Against Cowley, Dirks pushed across the first run in the Cowley game and tallied three RBIs while going 5 for 7 in the two games. Dirks, who has served as Hutchinson's closer this season, made his first collegiate start and held Garden City to six runs in 7 2-3 innings while picking up the win in Game 2. Dirks was tapped as the starter against Garden City by the Blue Dragon coaching staff just minutes before the game began.

Dirks struck out three and walked only one before issuing three free passes in the top of the eighth.

Pat Hilboldt worked out of the jam and pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save in his first appearance of the tournament.

Garden City Recap
Hutchinson started the game with two early runs and then added three in both the sixth and seventh innings. Brandon Doherty was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first and Lindy Wray followed with a home run to left field.

In the sixth, Thad Weber tripled to right center to lead off and was driven in by Ryan Whiteley. Whiteley scored the second run of the inning on a sacrifice bunt by Clint Elkins. Dirks singled later to score Andrew Prignitz.

In the seventh, Wray led off with a drive to left that rattled around in the corner for a triple. After Noah Krol was hit by a pitch, Weber singled to score the first run of the inning. Two batters later, Prignitz hit a sacrifice fly to score Krol and Weber scored on a wild pitch.

Hilboldt entered the game in the eighth after Dirks retired two batters, allowed one base hit and walked three batters. After giving up a walk and allowing a run to score, Hilboldt got a ground ball to end the inning.

Cowley Recap
Weber gave the Dragons seven strong innings, striking out five batters and walking three while holding the Tigers to seven hits. Cowley however was able to score six runs, three of which were unearned, and built a two run lead late in the game.

In the eighth inning, Balin Bergman popped up to short and Luke Naccarato grounded out to short to put the Dragons in a tough situation. Prignitz pinch hit for Hutchinson and reached on an error by the short-stop, eventually ending up on second base. Dirks delivered a single to right to score Prignitz and advanced to third after a single by Brandon Doherty.

Wray singled to center to score two runs and give the Dragons the lead.

Hutchinson's Adam Cornejo worked the bottom of the eighth and the ninth innings to earn a save. Cornejo retired all six batters he faced in order.