MAIZE, Kan. — The Hutchinson Salthawks baseball team dropped two games at Maize South on Tuesday evening in Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League play. The Salthawks dropped the opener 7-6 in eight innings before losing the second game, 16-1 in four innings.
The Salthawks scored first in game one when Bradyn Rodriguez homered to left field to give Hutch a 2-0 lead. Maize South scored a single run in the second to pull within 2-1, before the Salthawks scored in the third to lead 3-1. Maize South took advantage of a Hutch error and plated three runs in the third to lead 4-3 after three.
Hutchinson quickly regained the lead with a three-spot of their own in the top of the fourth. The Mavericks scored two in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at six. Bentley Eckhoff faced a runner at third with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and was able to escape to send the game to extras.
After the Salthawks failed to score in the top of the eighth, Maize South came to bat. The Mavericks loaded the bases with one out and the game-winning run 90-feet away. Payton Akers proved to be the hero for the Mavericks, as he laid down a perfectly placed suicide squeeze bunt down the first base line to give Maize South the 7-6 win.
The Salthawks scored first again in game two with a single run in the top of the first, but the Maize South offense exploded for five runs in each of the first two innings, two in the third and four in the fourth to win the game via the run-rule. The Mavericks outhit the Salthawks 13-2, while Hutchinson committed four more errors defensively.
The Salthawks return to Hobart-Detter Field on Friday when they will host the Campus Colts. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and can be watched and heard on Hutch Post, as well as the NFHS Network.
GAME 1 (8 Innings) - Maize South 7, Hutchinson 6
Newton - 130 100 8 - 13 7 1
Hutchinson - 300 000 0 - 3 5 3
W: Myers. L: Eckhoff. HR: Rodriguez.
GAME 2 (4 Innings) - Maize South 16, Hutchinson 1
Hutchinson - 100 0xx x - 1 2 4
Maize South - 552 4xx x - 16 13 1
W: Gassmann. L: Davis. HR: Higgins, Youngdahl.