BLUE DRAGONS ROLL TO SWEEP OF PRATT AT FUN VALLEY
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
A trio of hot-hitting freshmen made sure the nine Hutchinson Community College sophomores playing their final games at Fun Valley had a great time on Saturday.
Easton Head tied single-game season highs for home runs and RBIs and Madison Grimes went a combined 6 for 6 and Carley Sterneker extended one of Hutch Softball's longest hitting streaks in modern day history as the Blue Dragons claimed a pair of five-inning Jayhawk Conference run-rule wins of 13-0 and 9-0.
Hutchinson heads into next week's Region VI Tournament in Dodge City with a 27-15 overall record. The Dragons finished second in the Jayhawk East at 17-9. Hutchinson was picked third in the preseason league coaches poll. Hutchinson also completes a four-game season sweep of Pratt, winning three of the four games in run-rule fashion.
Head paced the Blue Dragons in Game 1 by going 3 for 3 with two home runs and five RBIs. This was Head's second two-home run and third five-RBI games of the season. Head had an RBI single and two-run home run in Hutchinson's nine-run second inning. She added another two-run homer in the third to give Hutch a 13-0 lead. For the doubleheader, Head was 4 of 5 with seven RBIs.
Grimes improved her Jayhawk Conference-leading and NJCAA No. 2 batting average to .588 with back-to-back 3 for 3 games on Saturday. Grimes added three RBIs to extend her Blue Dragon single-season record to 75. Grimes also becomes only the second Blue Dragon in team history to reach 80 hits in a season. Jessica Glenn is the record holder with 96 set in 2008.
Sterneker went 2 for 3 in Game 1 and after two sacrifice flies in Game 2, she ripped a double to left-center to extend her hitting streak to 17 games, the third-longest hitting streak in Blue Dragon modern day history. The only two longer hitting streaks in program history are Lexi Williams' 31-game hitting streak that ended earlier this season and Kelce Thompson's 20-game streak in 2016.
There was one other milestone set on Saturday. With a combined three stolen bases, sophomore Lexi Williams became the first Blue Dragon in program history to reach 50 stolen bases in a season.
Between games, Williams, Natalie Bevan, Kylee Dunn, Alexis Way, Bailey Pennycuff, Jordan Galliher, Sadie Loney, Samarah Bailey and Jaedyn Miller were honored in Sophomore Day ceremonies.
GAME 1 RECAP
The Blue Dragons broke the game open with a nine-run second inning. Fourteen batters came to the plate. Head started the inning with an RBI single. Pennycuff added a two-run double and Hayley Miller ripped a three-run triple to make it 6-0. Grimes added an RBI double and Head hit a two-run homer for a nine-run inning.
Sterneker had a two-run double and Head hit her two-run homer in Hutch's four-run third for a 13-0 lead.
Galliher (12-4) pitched the first three innings for the victory. She allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three. Loney worked two hitless innings to finish the game off.
Hutchinson out-hit Pratt 12-1. Grimes and Head had three hits each. Sterneker and Way had two hits apiece.
GAME 2 RECAP
Bailey (9-5) earned her ninth win in the pitching circle in Game 2. Bailey worked out of a major jam in the second inning. After Pratt loaded the bases in the second after two hits and a walk, Bailey for a pop up for a foul out and a strikeout to close out the inning unscathed.
Bailey worked four innings with five strikeouts and three hits allowed. Galliher worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning to close the game out.
Grimes again went 3 for 3 to lead a 12-hit attack. Her first-inning single gave the Blue Dragons a 1-0 lead. She scored three runs and drove in two RBIs. Haley Miller had a pair of bunt singles. Bevan went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs.
Sterneker drove in three runs with two sacrifice flies and an RBI double.
Pairings for the Region VI Tournament will be announced later this week.