Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The Jayhawk West champion Hutchinson Community College baseball team set a team record for home runs in a season to close out the regular season on Saturday at Hobart-Detter Field.
The Blue Dragons launched seven home runs in a 23-3 seven-inning run-rule victory over Dodge City. Hutch was held to a season-low three hits in the first game as Dodge City won 9-3. The Conquistadors clinched a spot in the Region VI Tournament with the win and a Pratt loss to Butler on Saturday.
The Blue Dragons close out the regular season with a 35-15 record. Hutchinson won the Jayhawk West by three games over Seward County, Butler and Barton with a record of 23-9.
The Blue Dragons will open the Region VI Hutchinson sub-regional on Friday against Highland. Colby and Allen will be the other two teams in the sub-regional field. Times for the sub-regional will be set early next week.
The 2021 Blue Dragons now have 94 season home runs, which breaks the 2017 team's record of 92. Pinch-hitter Braedyn Sommer hit the record-breaker with a three-run home run in the fifth.
The seven home runs in Game 4 of the series were the second time in the series that the Dragons hit seven home runs in a game and it's the third time this season the Dragons have hit seven or more home runs in a game. The seven homers tie for second most in Blue Dragon single-game history.
Hutchinson hit 17 home runs in the four-game series against Dodge City.
With three home runs in the doubleheader, Blue Dragon third baseman Austin Callahan became just the third Blue Dragon in program history to hit 20 or more home runs in a season joining Caden Doga (31 in 2017) and Zane Schmidt (22 in 2019). Callahan hit a school single-season record third grand slam of the season in Game 2, which also extended the team record of grand slams in a season to eight. Now with 24 career home runs, Callahan is tied with Brad Flanders (2001-02) for fifth on the Blue Dragon career list.
Now with 70 RBIs for the season, Callahan moved past Chris Finnegan into fifth place on the single-season RBI list.
One other career record was broken on Saturday. With two hit-by-pitches in the second game, sophomore Will Reetz broke Matt Jones' career mark of 40 HBPs. Reetz has now been hit by pitches 42 times in his Blue Dragon career.
GAME 2 RECAP
Hutchinson's home run onslaught started with a 10-run second inning. Reetz and Sterling Sutcliffe each hit two-run homers and Callahan had his grand slam in the second inning.
Callahan homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs. Adding Sommer's home run, the No. 3 spot in the batting order accounted for three home runs and 10 RBIs.
Ben McLaughlin and Cade Baker also homered as Hutchinson had 13 total hits in the game. Mason Lowe and Cade Argo had triples and Jenner Steele had a pair of doubles.
Callahan's seven RBIs for the second most in single-game Blue Dragon history.
Callahan, McLaughlin and Steele had two hits each to pace the Blue Dragons. Sutcliffe and Sommer drove in three RBIs each, while Steele, Reetz and Argo had two RBIS each.
Tyler Delong earned his sixth victory of the season in moving to 6-0. He pitched five innings, allowing six hits and one earned run while striking out five. Ryan Schlotzhauer and Josh Mitchell worked the sixth and seven innings, respectively.
Dodge City had 10 hits in Game 2.
GAME 1 RECAP
Dodge City had plenty to play for in Game 1 with a postseason bid hanging in the balance.
The Conquistadors jumped on starter Cade Fenton for six runs over the first two innings and reliever Caden Pogue for three runs in the third to take a 9-2 lead after three innings.
Zane Covey worked the final 4 2-3 innings with a season-high eight strikeouts. Covey struck out six consecutive batters in the fifth and sixth innings.
Dodge City starter Tristan Wolf stymied the Dragons, allowing only the hits. McLaughlin had two of the three hits and Callahan hit a two-run first-inning home run.
Wolf struck out eight, but gave Hutchinson plenty of chances with five walks, three hit batsmen and six wild pitches.