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By Bret
Mitchell
HCC Sports
Information
Tuesday,
April 15, 2008
A
change of fields and wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour were not
enough to stop the Hutchinson Community College softball team on
Tuesday, as the Lady Dragons rolled past rival Barton County 13-5
and 12-4, both in just five innings, at Fun Valley.
The
switch of fields was necessitated because Field 4 – HCC’s normal
field at the seven-field complex – was unplayable due to the wind
blowing away much of the infield dirt, leaving it as hard as a
cement surface. The change to Field 1 meant that the wind (sustained
30 to 35 mph with gusts over 40 and some to 50) was blowing out
instead of blowing in on the regular field.
“They
did a great job in this wind, because anytime the ball is up in the
air it has the potential to be an error on a day like this,” HCC
head coach Jaime Rose said.
Hutchinson
(26-14) has won three straight games by run rule and swept the
season series with Barton County 3-0. The Lady Dragons also made a
bid to finish in the upper division of the Jayhawk West for the
second time in three seasons and the third time since 2004. The Lady
Dragons are 7-5 in the Jayhawk West with two league series remaining
against Dodge City and Colby. HCC was picked seventh in the Jayhawk
West this season.
Freshman center fielder Jessica Glenn had a huge doubleheader, going
5 for 7 with four runs scored and two RBIs. She extended her current
hitting streak to nine games and posted her 19th multi-hit game of
the season and her 13th three-hit game.
<GAME 1 BOXSCORE>
<GAME 2 BOXSCORE>
Game 1 Recap
Barton
County committed four errors in the first inning behind starting
pitcher Jennifer Jackson that led to four runs. Nicole Bauer’s fifth
home run of the season, a solo shot, was the big highlight of the
inning.
The
Dragons posted a three-run second inning. Kourtney Klein had a
sacrifice fly, and then Megan Hudson and Kelli Dennis delivered
run-scoring, two-out hits to give HCC a seven-run lead and chase
Jackson from the circle.
Klein,
who started in the circle for HCC, pitched two effective innings
before Barton County’s offense responded in the third with four
runs. Klein went 2 2-3 innings before giving way to freshman
left-hander Courtney Johnson with two out in the third.
HCC
responded by putting up two more runs in the fourth, and then scored
four in the fifth to end the game, which was halted with no outs in
the fifth on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Dusty Smith.
Johnson (6-5) earned the win, giving up just one run and two hits in
2 1-3 innings.
The
Lady Dragons pounded out 12 hits in Game 1. Sophomore Jenna
Schroeder, who has made the move to first base from the designated
player, had three hits, as well as sophomore Megan Hudson. Bauer and
Dennis had two RBIs apiece.
Barton
County committed five errors, while HCC played spotless defense in
the opener.
Game 2 Recap
The
second game featured a slower start offensively by the Lady Dragons,
but finished with the same result.
Hutchinson scored the first run of the game on some aggressive
base-running by Glenn, who scored from second on a Smith sacrifice
bunt. Glenn went 3 for 3 with three runs scored in the game.
Barton
County answered with a home run from Whitney Boeh, who had two in
the game, in the top half of the second inning to tie the game. HCC
then scored the next eight runs of the contest, and appeared well on
their way to another run rule through four innings
HCC
starter, sophomore, Nikki Lile, was cruising through four innings.
The Cougars finally figured the HCC sophomore out in the fifth with
three runs, including a two-run homer by Boeh, to cut the HCC lead
to 9-4. Lile (4-0), who struggled in her last two outings, pitched
well, giving up eight hits, four runs, struck out three and walked
two.
As
they had all day, the Lady Dragons responded offensively when they
needed to.
With a
little help from Barton County, which committed two of its three
errors in the inning, HCC scored three runs in its last at-bat to
close out the run-rule victory. Pinch runners Dani Torres and Taryn
Whitmore provided the final two runs, with Whitmore scoring the
game-ending tally when she beat the throw to home on a Jenn Tanno
groundout.
The
Lady Dragons had 13 hits in the nightcap. Klein had her first
three-hit game of the season, going 3 for 3. Tanno went 2 for 3 with
three RBIs. Schroeder extended her hitting streak to six games with
a double in the fifth to drive in a pair.
Hutchinson now carries momentum into another district doubleheader
against Brown Mackie, starting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
GAME NOTES
– HCC has now left 301 runners on base this season, with their
opponents close behind at 283. … Barton County committed eight
errors to one for HCC in the doubleheader. … The better defense
today was not a fluke, with a team percentage of .935 to .926 for
opponents. … Hutch defeated Barton County 5-2 in the Cloud County
Invitational on March 8 in Concordia.
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach Jaime Rose
On
starting an important week …
“Our
goal starting out this week is we feel like we have the ability to
go 6-0, I think we came out and had a good showing. We cut our
walks in half, and we only had one error in both games.”
On
the persistent offensive attack …
“At
times this year, we’ve settled on a lead. Today in both games I
felt we kept trying to push runs across, and I think that was huge
for us in the second game, because they were starting to get on our
pitcher.”
Freshman Outfielder Jessica Glenn
On
the solid defense …
“We’ve
been making a lot of errors, it’s amazing how we came out and
played. I’m proud of us because that’s what we worked on
yesterday.”
On
the clutch hitting …
“We
leave so many runners on base, so hitting with runners in scoring
position is what we’ve been working on. We’re timely hitters.” |
