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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports
Information
Friday, Man 2, 2008
WICHITA – The
Hutchinson Community College softball team started out the Region VI
tournament with a bang, smashing the 12th-seeded Independence 25-4
on Friday at the Two Rivers Youth Complex.
Hutchinson
(38-17) will play fourth-seeded Johnson County at 11 a.m. on
Saturday in a second-round contest.
This blowout win
over the Pirates (4-37) came just six days after the Lady Dragons
beat Independence 20-3 in the final game of the Jayhawk Crossover in
Dodge City.
In that contest,
the Pirates jumped out to an early 1-0 lead before HCC opened the
floodgates. Independence started much of the same way on this
occasion, scoring the first four runs over the first two innings and
chasing out Hutchinson starter Kourtney Klein after just 1 2-3
innings pitched. Freshman Kelli Walker (8-2) earned the victory in
relief, throwing 3 1-3 innings of hitless relief. She did walk three
but struck out five.
“The first
inning and a half were not good, our pitching was shaky, and we go
1-2-3 in the batting order,” HCC head coach Jaime Rose said. “They
started to build a little confidence and we were a little deflated.
That’s a scary position to be in when you’re the team that’s
supposed to win.”
But just as they
had done in the first meeting with Indy, the Lady Dragons responded
with big innings, this time a 10-run outburst in the bottom of the
second, followed by 11 more runs in the third, and four in the
fourth.
The 25 total
runs was the largest offensive output this season by Hutchinson,
with the previous high being 22 against Brown Mackie.
“We always have
a rough time hitting slower pitches when we first come out, but when
we make the adjustment we just go from there,” HCC second baseman
Jenn Tanno said.
Hutchinson used
19 hits and four walks to produce the runs, but was helped greatly
by five Independence errors, leaving just eight of the runs earned,
four to starter Amber Jones, and four to reliever Madison Wood.
Three of the errors came in the second to supplement the seven hits,
and two in the third to go with six hits.
Hutchinson
played spotless defense in support of both Klein and Walker.
Tanno led the
way on offense, knocking in five runs, two on her team-high eighth
home run that gave Hutchinson its first lead, which was also her
team high eighth homer of the season. Megan Hudson also had five
RBIs and her sixth home run, and Klein and Jessica Glenn had four
RBIs a piece, with Klein also hitting a home run, her third of the
season.
Klein went 4 for
4 with at the plate with a double and homer. Glenn went 4 for 5 with
three runs scored. The Lady Dragons had seven extra base hits.
Independence had
two home runs in the game, as the batters had the advantage with a
strong wind at their backs all contest, on the only field at the
complex that the wind helped the hitters.
HCC now advances
to play Johnson County at 11 a.m. Saturday, who defeated Brown
Mackie 29-1 in the first round. Johnson defeated Hutchinson 4-3 in
10 innings in the first Jayhawk Crossover in the only meeting
between the teams in the regular season. The Lady Dragons could
play as few as two games on Saturday, or as many as four.
GAME NOTES
–
Dusty Smith’s single-season lead on hit by pitches continues to
grow, as she was hit once and now has 22 on the season…With five
runs batted in, Tanno now has 50 for the season, good for second on
the single season, just three away from first. Tanno is also tied
for the lead in the single-season home run category, with eight. …
Before this contest, Walker had not pitched since April 16, when she
picked up her seventh win of the season over Brown Mackie, throwing
a shutout.
<HCC-INDY BOXSCORE>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach
Jaime Rose
On the
offensive outburst…
“Once we started
hitting the ball, it was pretty much contagious from there.”
On Walker’s
performance…
“I was very
proud of what Kelli did, over the last three weeks she’s been in a
position as a backup for Kourtney, but Kourtney’s been doing a good
job so Kelli hasn’t seen a lot of time on the mound. The conditions
are tough and you have to keep the ball down, and I thought she did
a very good job.
Sophomore
Kourtney Klein
On Falling
Behind 4-0…
“We’re an
offensive team, and we’ve come back from worst in the past, so I
knew we could come back.”
On the
offensive efficiency…
“As soon as one
person gets a hit, we’ll get them in some how. We always find a way
to bring them in.”
On her
pitching performance, struggling in the tough conditions…
“Most of the
time it is mental, I get too much in my head.” |
