Jason Banks battles through a tough start to capture the win in Game 1 of the 2005 Region VI Sub-Regional over Neosho County at Hobart-Detter Field on May 7, 2005

Region VI Sub-Regional Game 1
Hutchinson 11, Neosho County 7
May 7, 2005 - Hobart-Detter Field

BANKS GUTS OUT GAME 1;
OFFENSE EXPLODES
IN REGION VI OPENER

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After giving up back-to-back three-run innings, conventional wisdom normally says that Hutchinson Community College sophomore starting pitcher Jason Banks would have been done after five innings in his 2005 Region VI Tournament opening-round game vs. Neosho County on May 7, 2005.

But Blue Dragon head coach Kyle Crookes didn’t see it that way. Instead of going to the bullpen, he sent his right-hander back out to the mound. The sophomore from Highlands Ranch, Colo., reciprocated with three straight scoreless innings.

The Dragon offense took over, tying the game in the sixth and getting a four-run eighth sparked by Noah Krol’s second home run of the game to lead the Blue Dragons to an 11-7 victory over Neosho County and a 1-0 lead in their best-of-3 Region VI Tournament first-round series at Hobart-Detter Field.

The outcome was a far cry from what happened one year ago when Johnson County came to Hutch and swept the Blue Dragons out of the tournament before ever getting to Wichita. The Cavaliers scored in the first inning of the series opener, and even though HCC eventually took the lead in that opening game, Johnson County’s offense was too much for the Dragons on that day.

The 2005 opener against Neosho started in the same fashion with the Panthers scoring in the first inning and taking a 7-6 lead after five innings. But this year, the Dragons weren’t about to let the series opener slip away.

A big reason why was Banks (5-2), who wound up going eight innings after giving up back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth. Banks wound up allowing 12 hits and seven runs, six earned, while striking out four and walking five.

“Not as much as you would think,” said HCC head coach Kyle Crookes when asked about pulling Banks early after his rough start. “Because of the situation, because of the wind, because of the day, because as good of team as Neosho is, once you get past 50 pitches, he was shot for the weekend anyway. We were going to run him out there and keep letting him do as much as he could do and until he told us he had enough.”

Banks’ final inning of work turned out to be the biggest of the game. After two were out and a close call at second base went against the Dragons, Neosho managed to get runners on first and second. Banks coaxed Andy Anderson to ground out to third baseman Luke Naccarato, who stepped on third base to end the threat.

“I was just trying to throw strikes and get outs. I wasn’t my best today, but I was just trying to get it done,” Banks said. “I felt fine. I just wanted to get something going.”

The Dragon offense made sure Banks walked away as the winning pitcher in the bottom of the eighth.

Krol led off the inning with a solo home run to right field that he admitted was helped by a 20-25 mph wind blowing out of the south. Before the inning was over, HCC scored four runs on four hits – the inning was helped out by three Neosho errors – and led 11-7.

The Dragons pounded out 15 hits, including eight for extra bases and four homers. Thad Weber, Ryan Whiteley and Andy Dirks each had three hits, while Andrew Prignitz and Krol had two hits each. Krol and Weber drove in two runs each. Six of the nine HCC offensive starters scored at least once in the game.

The game had an ominous beginning when Neosho County took a 1-0 lead on Steve Winkelmann’s single to left. But Banks got out of the inning with a 4-6-3 double play.

The Dragon first started quietly with two groundouts, but Krol, Weber and Whiteley hit back-to-back-to-back home runs – the first time that’s happened for the Dragons this season – for a 3-1 lead, then Lindy Wray stole home on a double steal later in the inning for a 4-1 HCC lead.

“I was worried,” Crookes said. “When a team that has had so many bad things happen to them over the course of the year and we know they are a better team than their record showed, they did a good job and got runs early. We went 1-2 really quick. Noah’s home run was huge and that was a big momentum change. To be able to set the tone like Noah did was important.”

Neosho County tied the game at 4-all in the fourth, but HCC answered with when Torey Williams scored on Brandon Doherty’s sacrifice fly and Prignitz singled to center to score Dirks for a 6-4 lead.

The Panthers (29-28) rallied right back when Winkelmann’s three-run homer to left field staked the Panthers to a 7-6 lead.

One inning later, Hutch tied the game when Prignitz led off with double and scored on Weber’s opposite-field single.

Banks set Neosho down in order in the sixth and stranded two runners in each of the seventh and eighth innings to set up HCC’s eighth-inning rally.

After Krol led off the eighth with his second solo homer of the game (Krol now has 12 homers for the season), the flood gates opened on the Panthers. Weber immediately followed Krol’s homer with a double down the left-field line. Whiteley bunted, but an overthrow at first allowed Weber to score. A Lindy Wray single and another Neosho error allowed Whiteley to score for a 10-7 lead. The Panthers’ third error allowed Wray to score the fourth run of the inning.

Dirks worked a perfect ninth inning to close out the game and give HCC a 1-0 lead in the series.