BILLY WATSON
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
A season-opening loss to Des Moines Area Community College turned into a 12-game winning streak – tied the fifth-longest win streak in program history – and now the 18th-ranked Hutchinson Community College baseball team prepares to host the Colby Trojans for the Jayhawk West conference opener Thursday, March 5th at Hobart-Detter Field.
The action begins with pregame at 12:45 p.m. on the Blue Dragon Sports Network.
Game one of the doubleheader starts at 1 p.m. The series will shift to Colby on Saturday, March 7th for games three and four.
Through 17 games, the Blue Dragons are ranked No. 18 in the NJCAA Div. II baseball rankings (previously No. 17) and are 14-3 overall.
Hutchinson went 2-0 at the UCO Showcase in Edmond, Oklahoma at the beginning of February, a weekend the team did not get to compete in last year due to weather.
Following a four-game series sweep over Redlands Community College and doubling down on Highland, the Blue Dragons snapped Northeast six-game win streak and rallied in the home-run-derby-like slugfest of a game two to win 9-8. Northeast hit back-to-back home runs to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning, but Jackson Schanuel launched a solo home run to tie it and open the door for the Blue Dragons to come back and win on an RBI single by Eli Duncan (Diesel Purnell hit-by-pitch led to two wild pitches and advancement to third base to set up the winning score).
Falling just one spot in the latest NJCAA Division I baseball rankings to No. 18, the Blue Dragons are sixth in the nation in team hitting with a .381 batting average. Hutchinson is also third in the NJCAA with 58 stolen bases.
There's been a mixture of game-endings for the Blue Dragons: comebacks, run-rules, and three one-run-loss games. Through 17 games, there has been a lot learned about this year's Blue Dragon baseball team.
"We've been in a lot of close games already," head coach Brock Nehls said. "We've won quite a few of them, and we've lost three of them, and I think it kind of tells us what kind of group we have. We're not going to shy away when its gets tough (and) when it gets tight. We've played some decent teams, and we've done some things well that we thought we were going to do at the beginning.
"Obviously, there's a few things we need to make adjustments with and get better at. So, the 17 games have been nice to tell us where we're at hopping into conference because we know the West is going to be tough, and it's going to be good baseball, and we've got to be prepared for all things."
Hutchinson ranks 22nd in hits with 185, 21st in RBIs with 151, and seventh in slugging percentage at .671. The Blue Dragons' 29 home runs is tied for 16th in the country.
"Offensively, I feel like we've been dynamic," Nehls said. "We've got a chance to have some big innings and put some runs on the board and put some pressure on teams in some different ways. In the first 17 games, that's where we've hung our hat on. We've showed some glimpses of being good defensively and being good on the mound, but I think we just haven't been as consistent in that yet as we have on the offensive side. I trust our pitching staff and I trust our guys defensively that I think once we put all three together it's going to be really tough for teams to compete with us."
Picked second in the preseason predicted of finish behind Cloud County, the Blue Dragons begin their quest for their second Jayhawk West conference title in three years Thursday against Colby. The Trojans are 5-7 heading into Thursday's conference opener and are coming off splitting a four-game series with Northeastern Community College.
Last season, Hutchinson and Colby split the conference series. Colby took game one 7-3. Hutchinson run-ruled in game two 22-10. On the back half of the series, Hutchinson took game three 4-1 but fell 7-3 in the series finale.
"There's good teams throughout the whole conference," Nehls said. "I think that's a testament to our conference and what we do year in and year out. You never know what can happen and that any team – if they play well – has a chance to beat any other team too. I just want our guys to compete and continue to play well and we'll see what happens. Hopefully we score one more run than the other team."