TOPPING WALK-OFF SETS STAGE FOR BLUE DRAGON SWEEP

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Hadley Topping ripped a walk-off single on Wednesday at Fun Valley to defeat Garden City in Game 1 of a Jayhawk Conference doubleheader. That comeback win put the Blue Dragons in complete control of their path to a 2026 KJCCC title.

The Blue Dragons swept Garden City 2-1 and 7-0 on Wednesday to take a three-game lead over the field with four conference games to play. Now 34-12 overall, the Blue Dragons play host to Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Saturday and travel to Pratt next Wednesday to close out conference play. If the Dragons go 4-0 in those games, they will claim their third conference title in the last four seasons.

GAME 1 RECAP – Hutchinson 2, Garden City 1
Hutchinson's offense sputtered out of the gate in Game 1. The Dragons didn't get their first hit until two outs in the third inning and had only five for the game.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Blue Dragons tied the game when Addi Lutz grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Macey Stephenson. The Dragons in the sixth had runners at the corners with one out, but couldn't push across a run.

Then in the seventh, Lutz singled through the right side of the infield and took second on a wild pitch. After Riley Dreher was hit by a pitch and Kaibryn Kruger walked to load the bases, Topping ripped a 3-2 pitch to left field to score Lutz with the winning run.

Jessica Schmidt (4-2) pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for the win. She entered the game with one out in the sixth with a Garden City runner at third base. Schmidt struck out back-to-back batters to get out of the jam and then retired the Busters in order in the seventh to set up Topping's walk-off. 

Alyssa Rogers pitched 3 1-3 innings of scoreless relief. She allowed only two hits in a no-decision performance.

Dreher went 2 for 3 to lead the Blue Dragons offensively. Lutz was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI. Topping was 1 for 2 with an RBI. Emery Benson-Hladik had the other Blue Dragon it.

Blue Dragon catcher Tailor Golly threw out 2 of 3 Garden City basestealers in the first two innings to slow down the nation's top base-stealing team.

GAME 2 RECAP – Hutchinson 7, Garden City 0
Haley Ediger turned in her third-straight impressive performance in the pitching circle for the Blue Dragons. 

Ediger pitched five-plus innings of scoreless ball. She gave up three hits and two walks while striking out three to improve to 7-4 this season. Schmidt came in to work the final two innings to close out the Blue Dragons' 11 shutout of the season. Schmidt had two strikeouts.

Offensively, Topping went 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Dragons' seven-hit attack. Dreher was 1 for 3 with an RBI double. Katelyn Pegram was 1 for 3 with an RBI single and a bases-loaded walk. Benson-Hladik had an RBI single. 

The Blue Dragons scored single runs in the first, second, third and fifth innings to take a 4-0 lead. They broke the game open in the sixth. The first two runs by pinch runner Lia Martinez and Golly scored on wild pitches. Pegram's RBI single to left scored Leyla O'Connor for a 7-0 Hutchinson lead.