Third baseman Mace Krol charges to make a play on a bunt in HCC's national semifinal game with No. 1 San Jacinto. The Gator took advantage of four Hutch errors and defeated the Blue Dragons 12-8.
	Jamell Cervantez hits a three-run home run in the fifth inning to give the Blue Dragons a 4-3 lead.
	Hutchinson's four games in Grand Junction in 2010 were seen by a total of 22,510 fans at Suplizio Field.

National Semifinals
San Jacinto 12, Hutchinson 8
June 3, 2010 - Sam Suplizio Field, Grand Junction, CO

BLUE DRAGONS
FINISH THIRD
AT NJCAA WORLD SERIES

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Hutchinson Community College baseball team’s scintillating run through the 2010 postseason came to an end on Thursday, June 3, 2010 at Sam Suplizio Field.

Top-ranked San Jacinto-North took advantage of four throwing errors and two Gator pitchers combined to strike out 15 HCC batters as Hutchinson fell in the NJCAA World Series national semifinals 12-8 before 8,272 to complete its trip to Grand Junction with a 2-2 record.

The 19th-ranked Blue Dragons (39-24) earned their best national finish in two trips to Grand Junction, finishing third. Hutchinson becomes only the fourth Jayhawk Conference school in conference baseball history to finish in the top four at the NJCAA World Series joining Cowley College, Allen County and Butler.

The third-place finish is the best finish for a Region VI champion since Cowley in 2001. The third-place finish is also the best finish in a tournament format since the 1994 national champion Blue Dragon men’s basketball team (the 2001 HCC Women’s cross country team were national champions, but it wasn’t a tournament format).

“This trip was about not just being here, but seeing how far we could go here and feel like we belong,” said HCC head coach Kyle Crookes, who completed his sixth season at HCC. “The expectations of how we played and how we finished were a little higher than the last time.”

“It’s really tough right now,” sophomore Dan Klein said in the midst of an emotional dugout after the game. “It’s a great group of guys. We had a great run. This has been the best team I’ve ever been a part of.”

A victory over San Jacinto (52-10) would have given HCC with a chance at playing in the national championship game by forcing a coin flip to break the three-way tie with HCC, San Jac and Iowa Western.

And when sophomore Jamell Cervantez launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Dragons a 4-3 lead, HCC had all the momentum. But the lead was short-lived.

San Jac, which handed HCC both of its World Series losses, came back with four runs on just one hit and two throwing errors to take a 7-4 lead in the top of the sixth. The Gators scored at least one run in each of their final four offensive innings, scoring in every inning after the Blue Dragons pushed runs across.

“I felt great giving (Shawn) Lewick a lead,” Crookes said. “We’ve been in that situation before, but we’ve made a great play that we’ve been able to keep the lead. San Jac’s a team that knows how to finish off the job and that’s what they did.”

Cervantez led a nine-hit attack against two San Jac pitchers by going 3 for 4 with a double, his second home run of the World Series and three RBIs. Cervantez had to leave the game in the eighth after re-injuring his leg on his double. Cervantez made a bid for the 2010 World Series All-Tournament team finishing with a .636 average (7 for 11) with a double, two homers, four runs scored, five RBIs, a slugging percentage of 1.273 and an on-base percentage of .714.

“It was like the highlight of my life,” Cervantez said of his home run. “We were down 3-1 and had two runners on. He started me off with a slider the last time, so I was looking for one then. It was one of the best balls I have ever hit. I can’t explain the emotions going through me at that moment.”

Sophomore Mace Krol went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

In the ninth, a pair of freshmen made World Series memories.

Freshman Joey Goodwin laced a single to right field, which was only his second hit of the season. Then freshman and Colorado native

Daron Schulthies hit a pinch-hit two-run home run to left for his first homer of the season, which cut the lead to 12-8.

“I was trying to go out there and at least get a hit,” Schulthies said. “I went up there and swung at the first pitch and swung too hard and tried to do too much. The second one, coach always tells me to get my foot down. I kept my weight back and swung as hard as I could. It felt pretty good coming off the bat.”

Staff ace Shawn Lewick (8-2) suffered just his third loss in his HCC career, going 7-plus innings. Lewick struck out the side in the first and became the Blue Dragons’ single-season record-holder with 96 strikeouts.

Lewick was out-done by San Jac starter Sean Nolin (13-0, 2-0 in World Series) who struck out 13 Blue Dragons.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons tied the team record for games played in a season at 63, matching the 1993 Blue Dragons. ... San Jac pitchers struck out 30 Blue Dragon batters in two games. … The Blue Dragons complete the 2010 postseason 9-3, going 4-1 in elimination games.