MAZZA SPARKS DRAGON RALLY TO DEFEAT ALLEN IN GAME 1
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Anthony Mazza hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning on Thursday to spark the Hutchinson Community College baseball team after falling behind the Allen Red Devils by four runs.
Mazza's seventh-inning homer completed the comeback and put an exclamation point on 14 unanswered runs scored as the No. 4-seed Blue Dragons opened the Plains District opening-round series with 13th-seed Allen with a 15-5 victory in seven innings.
The Blue Dragons (44-13) take a 1-0 lead over the Red Devils (18-38) in the best-of-3 series. Game 2 will be at 1 p.m. on Friday at Hobart-Detter Field.
BLUE DRAGON BASEBALL
No. 4 Hutchinson (44-13) vs. No. 13 Allen (18-38)
Plains District Tournament Opening-Round Series Game 2
Series: Hutchinson leads 1-0
When: Friday, May 8, 2026
Time: 1 p.m.
Site: Hobart-Detter Field
Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 12:40 p.m. airtime
Admission: None
X: @bluedragonsport
Hutchinson trailed Allen 5-1 after 4 1/2 innings after Allen touched Blue Dragon starter Wes Lyerly for five runs and 10 hits over the first five innings.
Mazza got the Blue Dragon offense going when he hit a three-run home run to right-center field to pull Hutchinson within 5-4. Two batters later, Jackson Schanuel launched a game-tying solo home to left field, knotting the score at 5-5.
The Blue Dragons then erupted for nine runs in the sixth inning and scored a run in the seventh on Mazza's second homer of the game to invoke the run-rule to complete a run of 14-unanswered runs after the Dragons trailed by four.
Mazza went 3 for 5 with his first career two-home run game and a triple. He scored two runs and had four RBIs. The 11 total bases by Mazza tied six others for the sixth-most total bases in Blue Dragon single-game history. Now with 22 career homers, Mazza is tied for 12th and his 160 runs scored are second in Blue Dragon career history. He is also tied with Logan Sartori for eighth on the career RBI list with 119.
Schanuel was 3 for 4 with a double, triple and home run. He scored three runs and had two RBIs.
Aidan Marien was 2 for 5 with a two-run double and a pair of runs scored. Diesel Purnell was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
The Blue Dragons had four home runs in Game 1, the 15th time this season Hutchinson has hit for or more homers in a game. The other Game 1 home run was a Finn Hochstein sixth-inning grand slam, the eighth grand slam hit by the Blue Dragons this season.
Lyerly (8-2) earned his eighth win of the season. He struck out four and walked none. Noah McCombs tossed a scoreless seventh inning with no hits or runs, but two walks.
Hutchinson trailed 1-0 in the second and tied the game when Schanuel tripled off the left-center field wall and scored on Cru Huenfeld's RBI groundout.
After the Dragons tied the game at 5-5 after five, they posted a nine-run sixth inning with 12 batters coming to the plate. The inning started with a Marien two-run double to give the Dragons a 7-5 lead. The Dragons made it 9-5 on a run-scoring single by Kuhnau and a Schanuel RBI double. Schanuel later stole home to make it 10-5 and Hochstein's grand slam completed the nine-run inning for a 14-5 lead.
The Blue Dragons out-hit Allen 13-10.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 63-44 in the Plains District Tournament since the current format was implemented in 2024. … The Dragons are 10-0 all-time against Allen in the current regional format. … The Dragons have won 23 games in a row against the Red Devils. … The Dragons are 29-4 this season at Hobart-Detter Field. … Hutchinson is 13-6 this season when the opponent scores first. … Kuhnau is now tied for second on the single-season Blue Dragon RBI list with Caden Doga and Bobby Morgenson. … The Dragons' 44 wins ties the 2006 and 2019 teams for fifth most in Blue Dragon history.