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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Hutchinson Community College baseball
team got two more solid pitching performances on Tuesday and swept a key
Jayhawk Conference Western Division doubleheader from Barton County at
Hobart-Detter Field.
The Blue Dragons won the opener 2-1 in nine
innings, and the nightcap 5-1 to take 3 of 4 games in the series from the
first-place Cougars.
Sophomore Ben Graham threw a nine-inning
complete game in the opener, allowing five hits and one earned run while
walking nine and striking out two.
Sophomore Ryan Scoles (1-2) had his first
start of the season and earned his first victory of 2008, tossing five
innings of shutout baseball. He allowed two hits and walked three, but
struck out five. Freshman Tim Statz struck out five and allowed one run and
four walks in two innings of relief.
Over the four-game series with Barton County,
Hutchinson pitchers allowed just three runs on 11 hits
“It was a really well-played series,” said
Blue Dragon head coach Kyle Crookes, whose team improved to 13-8 overall and
7-5 in the Jayhawk West. “I’m proud of them because we found a way to win.”
The games were made up on Tuesday after rain
poor weather conditions washed them out on Sunday and Monday.
Game 1 Recap
Graham dueled with Barton County starter
Austin Anderson and both were on their games early with either pitching
yielding a single run through the first four innings.
Andrew Melanson scored the first run of the
game for the Cougars in the fifth, though, after getting hit with a pitch.
After moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Melanson scored
when leadoff hitter Bryce Scott drove him in with a two-out single through
the left side of the infield for a 1-0 Barton County advantage.
Anderson pitched into the seventh for the
Cougars, but departed after giving up a leadoff single to sophomore Matt
LaGree, who was pinch-ran for by sophomore Mitch Stubenhofer. He was moved
to third after an Adam Roy sacrifice bunt and Stuart Hoover groundout later.
Facing the almost-exact scenario that he did
on Saturday in the second game of the series, freshman Trever Adams came up
with a chance to tie the game. On Saturday, Adams hit a slow grounder to the
left side and was called out on a controversial play that ended the game. On
Tuesday, Adams hit a slow roller to the right side. Adams beat the throw out
in another bang-bang play that went HCC’s way this time. Stubenhofer scored
the tying run and forced the game into extra innings.
“We got some crucial two out hits,” Crookes
said. “We’ve been on the short end of that, but I’m glad we were on the
right end tonight.”
Clayton Karst led off the ninth for the
Cougars with a single up the middle, and reached second on a throwing
error. He reached third on a sacrifice, but was thrown out on an attempted
suicide squeeze for the second out of the ninth inning. Graham then got
David Allbritton to fly out to center to end the inning.
“Everybody was making plays,” Graham said.
“I’m really happy with my defense.”
Freshman Corey Miller led off the HCC ninth
with a single to right field, and took second base when he appeared to be
picked off, but in the middle of the rundown was hit in the back by a throw.
Roy successfully sacrificed him to second. Freshman Dustin Minchew was then
inserted as a pinch-runner for Miller. Barton County then intentionally
walked Hoover and Adams to pitch to sophomore Matthew Yerby.
The game ended on another crazy play, with
Minchew being thrown out at the plate after Yerby grounded to third and the
play went home. As the Cougars tried to finish the double play at first, the
throw wasn’t handled properly and Hoover came all the way around from second
to score the winning run.
The Dragons had just five hits in the opener.
HCC also committed three errors.
<GAME 1 BOXSCORE>
Game 2 Recap
HCC got its offense going much earlier in the
second game. Sophomore leadoff hitter Clint Bieberle led off the first
inning with a bunt single, and later scored on an error. HCC then scored two
runs in the bottom of the second, courtesy of two hits and two walks. The
Dragons scored in four of their six at-bats and had a series-high eight hits
in the game off three Barton County pitchers.
Brett Delcambre had the only multi-hit game
for HCC, going 2 for 2. Five different Dragons scored runs and four
difference HCC players drove in one run each.
Scoles, who came into the contest with an
8.44 ERA, was solid through his longest outing of the season. He walked
three but struck out five, and allowed just two hits, lowering his ERA to
4.35.
“He (Scoles) did what he needed to do,”
Crookes said. “I think being able to take momentum from the first game and
the early runs made a difference.”
Hutchinson added an insurance run in the
fourth thanks to a Hoover triple, and again in the sixth, after an Adams
walk and Roy double.
The Blue Dragons have major schedule changes
for the coming week. Originally scheduled to play Maple Woods on Thursday,
HCC will now play Maple Woods in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Wednesday and a
single nine-inning game against Maple Woods on Thursday. The Dragons play at
Dodge City on Friday and Saturday.
<GAME 2 BOXSCORE>
GAME NOTES
– The Dragons are now 7-1 at home this season. … HCC won its first game in
extra innings this season and are now 1-2 in extra-inning games. … Miller’s
strange steal of second was his second of the year in just two attempts for
the backup catcher. ... Hutchinson committed three errors in the first
contest, but bounced back to play a spotless game in the field. ... Statz
has struggled with control at times, walking nine, but has a team-high 20
strikeouts. ... Scoles was called for his second balk of the
season.
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach Kyle Crookes
On the pitching ...
“The series was well pitched, and the weather
had something to do with it.”
On the role of Ryan Scoles ...
“Scoles’ role is to be a closer, and in both
closing situations he’s been great. We thought he’d be a better matchup
starting today, and he got better as the game went on.”
Pitcher Ben Graham
On the weather ...
“I don’t think the weather was much of a
factor. The wind blowing in helped a little bit.”
On the series in general ...
“It’s huge for our confidence, we’re playing
really good baseball right now. We feel like we can make a good run.” |
