BLUE DRAGONS ROUT TIGERS TWICE TO LOWER MAGIC NUMBER

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College softball team took two more steps toward repeating as Jayhawk Conference champions on Saturday during Sophomore Recognition Day at Fun Valley.

The Blue Dragons lowered their magic number for the 2026 Jayhawk Conference softball championship with wins of 15-0 and 24-0 over Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Saturday.

Hutchinson improved to 36-12 overall and 25-5 in the KJCCC with two games remaining. The Dragons hold a three-game lead over Butler, which has six games remaining. The Dragons have a key one-game lead in the loss column over the Grizzlies. The Blue Dragons close the conference season out on Wednesday at Pratt with games at 1 and 3 p.m. at Lemon Park in Pratt.

The Blue Dragons completed a four-game sweep of the Tigers with four shutouts and outscoring FHTNW 74-0 this season. Dating back to 2024, Blue Dragon pitchers have a consecutive shutout streak of 44-straight innings over the Tigers.

GAME 1 – Hutchinson 15, Fort Hays Tech Northwest 0 (5 innings)
A first-inning grand slam by Leyla O'Connor was the key shot in a nine-run first inning that started the Blue Dragons on their way. It also started O'Connor on her way to a career-high six RBI game, the second-most by a Blue Dragon this season. Addi Lutz had seven RBIs against Barton on March 11.

O'Connor was 2 for 3 with a double, grand slam, and two runs scored to lead the Dragons' 11-hit attack. Hadley Topping, Emery Benson-Hladik – she had two doubles – and Katelyn Pegram all had two-hit games. Pegram also had a double and two RBIs. Riley Dreher was 1 for 3 with two RBIs.

The Blue Dragons scored nine runs in the first, three runs in the third and two more in the fourth inning.

Mia Williams and Alyssa Rogers combined for a three-hit shutout, the team's 12th of the season.

Williams (3-0) scattered three hits over three innings with three strikeouts. Rogers retired all six batters she faced, three by strikeouts.

GAME 2 – Hutchinson 24, Fort Hays Tech Northwest 0 (5 innings)
The Blue Dragons opened Game 2 with a second-straight nine-run inning and followed that with a seven-run second inning and four runs each in the third and fourth innings.

The 24 runs scored are a season high and it's the second time this season the Dragons have scored 20 or more runs. That output tied for the seventh most runs scored in Blue Dragon single-game history.

Benson-Hladik tied a season-best for hits, going 4 for 4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored.

Lia Martinez had season highs for hits, runs and RBIs going 3 for 5 with three runs and three driven in.

Tailor Golly was 2 for 4 with a two-run double and four RBIs. Now with 107 career RBIs, Golly ranks No. 6 on the Blue Dragon career list. Reese Goetz was 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and two runs scored. Macey Stephenson was 2 for 3 with an RBI double, three runs scored and two RBIs

Riley Dreher was 2 for 3 and now has 82 hits for the season, which ties Madison Grimes for sixth on the Hutchinson single-season hits list.

Starting pitcher Jessica Schmidt struck out a career-high eight and combined with Haley Ediger for a two-hit shutout, the team's 13th of the season.

Schmidt retired all nine batters she faced, eight by strikeout. Ediger allowed two hits and struck out three.