DRAGONS’ SEASON ENDS WITH 3RD-PLACE REGION VI FINISH

Blue Dragon second baseman Ella Dougherty tries to get the ball out of her glove and flip the ball to first to double off a runner after making a diving catch in the first inning of Hutchinson's 5-2 loss to Seward County in the Region VI Tournament Losers' Bracket final on Sunday in Dodge City. (Steve Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

Posted: May 08, 2022

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

DODGE CITY – One of the best seasons in Hutchinson Community College softball history came to a close on Sunday as sixth-seeded Seward County upset the No. 15 Blue Dragons for a second-straight day in the Region VI Softball Tournament on Sunday at Legends Park.

Seward County's Ashley Low hit a sixth-inning grand slam to break a 1-all tie and defeat the Blue Dragons 5-2 Sunday morning.

The Blue Dragons close the 2022 season with a 41-8 record. The 41 wins are the second-most in Blue Dragon team history. The eight losses tie the 2016 Blue Dragons for the fewest losses in program history. The Blue Dragons end their season for the second-straight year in the Region VI Tournament Losers' Bracket final.

Trailing 1-0 in the first inning the Blue Dragons immediately answered when Haley Miller hit an opposite-field home run to left to tie the game.

The game remained tied at 1-1 into the sixth inning. Seward County loaded the bases with three-straight hits before Low lined a rise ball over the center-field fence for a grand slam and a 5-1 lead.

Hutchinson cut the Saints' lead to 5-2 when Easton Swanson led off the bottom of the seventh of a solo home run to left field. The Blue Dragons brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but Seward County rolled a game-ending 1-6-3 double play to close out the Blue Dragons.

Each team had nine hits.

Ella Dougherty, Miller and Allie Stipsits had two hits each to lead the Blue Dragons, who left seven runners on base.

Emily Munson started in the pitching circle for the Blue Dragons and allowed a run in two innings. Kiersten Weitze (9-2) went 3 1-3 innings. She retired eight in a row, but gave up two runs on three hits and was tagged with the loss. Riley Wertz worked 0.2 innings and Sadie Loney pitched a scoreless seventh for the Blue Dragons.