By Steve Carpenter
Hutchinson CC Sports Information Director

Just like every other team competing in the spring of 2020, the Hutchinson Community College baseball team had its season immediately halted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Beyond the undeniable disappointment of having the season instantly stopped, something else has continued to nag at Blue Dragon head coach Ryan Schmidt about how last season ended.

After starting the 2020 season 14-2, the Blue Dragons were swept by Barton and split a doubleheader at Seward County, losing a game the Blue Dragons should have won. That turned out to be the final game of the season.

And that's the motivating factor the Blue Dragons are using as the 2021 season opens Tuesday at Northern Oklahoma-Enid.

"You can't take anything for granted in baseball," said Schmidt, who is begins his ninth season with the Blue Dragons. "We ran into a really good Barton team and we lost two one-run games. The wheels fell off when we went on the road. We had some new players welcomed into college baseball.

"It was a wake-up call for us and it's motivating us now."

Hutchinson is the preseason pick to win the 2021 Jayhawk West Championship.

The 2021 Blue Dragons return six pitchers and nine position players from last season's 14-7 team. The 2020 Blue Dragons hit .287 and averaged 7.1 runs per game. The Dragons had 24 home runs in 21 games. Blue Dragon pitchers had a team ERA of 5.66, including 9.36 in those rocky six KJCCC games.

The Blue Dragons have two .300 hitters returning led by Jenner Steele, who hit .367 with a team-high five home runs and 20 RBIs. Tyler Delong hit .340 with three home runs. Also returning are Mason Lowe (.279), Austin Callahan (.273, 3 HR, 14 RBIs), Cade Argo (.273), Crew Reetz (.254), Will Reetz (.244) and Cole Cosman (.083).

Zach Firmature is a returning starting pitcher who went 2-2 with a 6.62 earned run average. Cade Fenton (0-0, 2 saves, 6.14 ERA), Caden Pogue (2-0, 5.40 ERA), Hunter Waugh (1-0 7.36 ERA) and Delong (3-0, 7.36) return on the mound, along with redshirt pitcher Treyton Randall.

"I remember getting back from Seward and we were in the locker room and told them the season was over," Schmidt said. "They thought they were going to be moving on from Hutch. We were fortunate to get those guys back. Many of those guys have been in this program for three years and had opportunities to leave and made a very unselfish decision to come back and play. We are blessed to have them. We need to utilize their experience to learn from what happened last year."

Schmidt is happy with his team's potential overall depth. Because of the pandemic, the Blue Dragon's weren't able to play any fall games so when Hutchinson opens the season on Tuesday at NJCAA Division II power Northern Oklahoma-Enid, Schmidt won't have all the information he normally would about the make-up of his team.

Along with Firmature, Tony Caldwell, Ben McLaughlin will get strong looks in the starting rotation. Fenton will start the season as the closer. To get to Fenton, the Blue Dragons have depth in the bullpen with Pogue, Waugh and Randall.

"We have a lot of question marks about the pitching staff," Schmidt said. "Our pitching staff does have a bunch of guys who can pitch. I don't know if we have the dominating starter who can just beat a team with stuff. But we have a full complement of guys who will help us.

"The roles are still behind defined."

Schmidt see the strength of the 2021 Blue Dragons is offense.

"We will have a veteran lineup that is mature," Schmidt said "You add a couple of new bats in the line-up and we could be pretty dynamic.

"That maturity is going to help us understand college baseball. We aren't going to get 2-0 fastballs all the time. It's going to give us 2-0 sliders, 2-0 change-ups to try and slow us down. We have to do a really good job of being disciplined in the count and hit the pitches we need to hit."

Some of the freshman who will have opportunities to help the offense will be McLaughlin, P.J. Loucks, outfielder Sterling Sutcliffe and outfielder Jack Torosian. Schmidt also has two freshman catchers in Daniel Bebee and Cade Baker.

Tuesday's February 2 season opener is the earliest Blue Dragon baseball has ever opened a season. The Blue Dragons will open at Hobart-Detter Field to take on the Redlands Cougars on Saturday, February 13.