BILLY WATSON
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
After an 11-5 start and being ranked in the top 25 last week, the Hutchinson Community College softball team turns its attention to conference play as the Blue Dragons host its KJCCC opener with the Butler Grizzlies at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 5 at the Fun Valley Sports Complex.
Butler is 2-6 this season having played games against previous-No. 7 Paris, previous-No. 9 Trinity Valley, and previous-No. 18 Seminole State.
The Blue Dragons are coming off the weekend from playing in the Lander Jamboree hosted by McLennan in Waco, Texas. Hutchinson lost last Friday to No. 9 McLennan 8-6 after leading through five innings. Hutchinson went on to lose 10-0 to Alvin College later last Friday afternoon. The following morning – Saturday, Feb. 28 – Hutchinson topped Snow College 8-3 and again fell to McLennan 5-3.
To head coach Jaime Rose, a 1-3 weekend may look bad on paper but didn't feel like it.
"Both those games against McLennan we were in," Rose said, "and we had a chance to win both games.
"Overall, I think it was good competition for us. I think (our team) saw that we can play at that level, and we just need to learn how to finish some games."
The non-conference schedule tested the Blue Dragons for sure having to play the NJCAA's then and current No. 1-ranked team Murray State College (ranked No. 1 in home runs, hits and RBIs at the time). Hutchinson lost game one 12-0 in five innings but had a chance to steal game two, falling 4-2 with the tying run on first and the Aggies turning a double play to win.
Hutchinson started off the season winning eight games in a row before falling to the top team in NJCAA Div. II Murray State in both games of the doubleheader 12-0 and 4-2. The Blue Dragons had the go-ahead run at the plate but the Aggies turned a double play to pull out the win, a game of which freshman pitcher Hailey Ediger threw three hitless innings to start. Outfielder and sophomore Kaibryn Kruger robbed a home run in the bottom of the sixth to give more life to Hutchinson heading into the final frame.
The Blue Dragons, ranked No. 25 in the NJCAA Div. I softball rankings in the week of Feb. 23, led No. 9 McLennan in both games they ended up falling in during the weekend of the Lander Jamboree.
"I thought our non-conference schedule in February was terrific," Rose said. "We were able to put some teams away early, and we were able to come from behind and win. We were able to push ourselves against some really good teams.
"We purposely went to Oklahoma and Texas on back-to-back weekends to play tough competition, to help get us prepared to run through the conference as best we can. I wanted them to be challenged before we started conference play. All in all, I feel like we navigated through that very well."
After playing the second half of February on the road, the Blue Dragons turn their focus to conference play when they host predicted conference winner Butler Grizzlies (2-6) for the KJCCC opener this Thursday at Fun Valley. The Grizzlies are coming off splitting their road doubleheader with Labette Community College.
Live coverage will be provided by the Blue Dragon Sports Network. Pregame will start at 1:45 p.m.