ROSE WINS 400TH IN HUTCH SWEEP OF KCK

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Hutchinson Community College head softball coach Jaime Rose reached milestone win No. 400 on Wednesday as the 17th-ranked Blue Dragons swept the Kansas City Blue Devils in a Jayhawk East doubleheader at Fun Valley.

Rose earned her milestone victory after Hutchinson's 3-2 victory in Game 1. Win No. 401 came a little easier as the Blue Dragons scored seven first-inning runs in a 12-2 five-inning victory in Game 2.

Starting a six-game-in-three-day stretch with Wednesday's wins, the Blue Dragons improve to 26-6 overall, 11-5 in the Jayhawk East and 13-5 in the Region VI-Division II standings. Hutchinson plays at Neosho County on Thursday and Allen on Friday.

Already the program's coaching leader in victories, Rose's record in her 14th season at Hutchinson is 401-282.

GAME 1 RECAP
Carrying a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning, the Blue Dragons survived a controversial call in the seventh to finish off the victory.

With a runner at first base and one out, Kansas City's Kali Jacobson hit a sharp groundball to the right side that appeared to hit baserunner Jadyn Lindgren. After conversations with Rose and KCK coach Kaci Tillery, the call was overturned and the Blue Devils had the tying run at third with one out. Blue Dragon starting pitcher Shannon Brown took a called third strike and Kaylee Arnzen, one of the league's top home run hitters, flew out to deep left-center field when Ashton Reynolds made the catch for the game's final out.

Cannon (14-2) worked her 14th complete game of the season. She struck out nine and walked a season-high six batters, but allowed only four hits and two earned runs. Cannon had a no-hit bid end with two outs in the fifth inning when Lindgren dropped an RBI double into left-center field to score KCK's first run.

Scoreless into Hutch's half of the fourth inning; the Blue Dragons loaded the bases with no outs and broke the scoreless tie when Cannon was hit with a pitch to force in Kiara DeCrane with the first run. Reynolds' sacrifice fly two batters later scored Brynne Stockman and Hutch led 2-0.

The Blue Dragons took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning when Stockman laced an RBI double to right field to score Bekah Roberts. KCK added a run in the top of the sixth to pull within 3-2.

Hutchinson out-hit Kansas City 9-4. Four Blue Dragons – Izzy Godinez, Roberts, Stockman and Kameron Pope – had two hits. Stockman had a double and Godinez had a triple.

GAME 2 RECAP
Hutchinson did much of its damage with two out in the second game. The Blue Dragons went 11 for 15 with nine RBIs in two-out situations, including seven two-out runs scored in a seven-run first inning.

With runners at first and third with two out in the bottom of the first, Stockman hit an RBI single to right field to score Godinez. After a Pope single, Natalie Semmel dropped a two-run single to left to make it 3-0. Bre Johnson followed with a two-run double to left-center for a 5-0 lead. Then Reynolds snapped a 25-game streak without a home run with a two-run shot down the left-field line to give Hutch a 7-0 lead.

The Dragons had eight-straight runners reach base after two were out. Hutch sent 12 batters to the plate scoring seven runs on eight hits in the first inning against three Blue Devil pitchers.

Hutchinson hammered out 17 hits led by Godinez, who went 4 for 4 with a double, three runs, two RBIs and three stolen bases. Now with 117 career hits, Godinez is now 12th on the Blue Dragon career hits list.

Roberts went 3 for 4 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Raven Bass broke an 0-for-8 skid with a pair of RBI single in a 2-for-4 performance. Pope went 2 for 3 with a run scored. Johnson went 2 for 3 with three runs, two RBIS and two stolen bases.

Destiny Schulze (9-4) threw her ninth complete game of the season. She allowed three runs and two earned runs. Schulze struck out five and walked none.

Schulze retired 9 of the first 10 batters she faced. After giving up a pair of runs in the fourth, Schulze worked a 1-2-3 fifth to close out the game by run rule.