Sports roundup: Blue Dragon baseball team opens season with series win over Southeast Nebraska

By Laci Sutton / Staff writer

The Hutchinson Community College baseball team is 3-1 following its opening weekend against Southeast Community College, bringing home their first series win of the season. 

Freshman Max Childers brought in three runs alongside sophomore Will Edmunson’s pair of twos, defeating Southeast 8-4 in the first game of the doubleheader in Nebraska. 

Freshman pitcher Gus McKay worked four-plus innings for his first career start, throwing three shutout innings in the first three innings. He allowed four hits, one unearned run, three strikeouts and two walks. 

Sophomore pitchers Brady Beverman and Jackson Blue came together to finish out the rest of the game. 

Ryan Henderson and Cody Gunderson shared two hits each, bringing the Blue Dragons to outhit the Storm 14-7. 

The Storm rained on the Dragon’s parade in game two, handing the Blue Dragons a 5-4 loss in the series finale. 

Bradford, Childress and Edmunson had two hits each, starting a 10-hit attack and leaving a 3-all-tied game through four innings. A Henderson at bat brought Bradford home, taking the lead 4-3 in the sixth inning.

The Storm was quick to respond in the bottom of the seventh, using a pair of leadoff walks to bring them to 5-4, and ultimately the win. 

Pitchers Kaden Wickersham, Cole Toureau and Sam Ojeda struck out a combined 13 Storm batters, nine of which came from Toureau.

The Blue Dragons will travel to Texas this weekend to take on Temple College, Hill College and McLennan Community College. 

Softball – The 17th-ranked Blue Dragons had two wins to close out the THF Winter Blast in Denison, Texas. 

Saturday morning started off with a 9-1, six-inning victory over Paris Junior College. 

Hutchinson scored two unearned runs in each of the first two innings and took a 7-1 lead following a three-run frame in the fourth inning. 

Freshman center Alexis Mastin scored her second two-run home run of the season. Sophomore Aspen Goetz also contributed two runs and a double.

Sophomore pitcher Morgan Pennycuff settled in following a first-inning run and ended up striking out six and walking four. Riley Wertz stepped in to finish out the game with one 1-3 scoreless innings and three strikeouts. 

That momentum continued into the second game of the day, leading to a 1-0 victory over Weatherford College.

With starting pitcher Emily Munson out for injury, freshman Korri Lies took the mound becoming the first Blue Dragon pitcher since Jordan Galliher to throw a complete game shutout. 

Lies had four strikeouts and closed out the game in only 67 pitches. 

The only run of the game came from sophomore Ella Dougherty with the help of a groundout from Olivia Sandoval and a single from Madison Grimes.

The Blue Dragons will take on Divison II No. 2 Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma on Friday. 

Men’s Basketball– The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team advances to 16-11 overall and 10-11 in the Jayhawk Conference, ending a three-game losing streak with an 89-67 victory over Colby Community College at the Colby Event Center on Tuesday, February 14. 

The Blue Dragons held the Trojans to just 27 points in the first half, building leads as high as 14 points. 

Hutchinson shot a season-high of 54% for the game, scoring on 34 out of 63 attempts.

Freshman guard Aaron Franklin scored a game-high of 27 points, 15 of which were scored in the first half. Aaron Potter contributed 14 points followed by Kernan Bundy with 13, Kieran Carr with 11, Dre Weathers with eight and Jayden Garrison with seven. 

The Blue Dragons now have 298 three-pointers for the season.

Hutchinson will host Northwest Tech on Saturday, February 18 at the Sports Arena at 4:00 pm for the Blue Dragon Hall of Fame Day. 

Women’s Basketball – The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team picked up their 20th win of the season, defeating Colby Community College 80-41 on Tuesday, February 14 at the Colby Event Center. 

This is the 31st time in team history and the 14th time under head coach John Ontjes for the team to reach the 20-win mark. 

Freshman Monae Duffy came out strong with 19 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two assists and one blocked shot.

Not far behind were sophomores Kali Howard with 15 points and Mya Williams with 12 points. 

Williams became the second Blue Dragon to surpass 1100 career points. 

The Blue Dragons shot 40.7% and are now 20-7 overall and 14-7 in the Jayhawk Conference. 

They will host Northwest Tech on Saturday, February 18 at 2:00 pm in the Sports Arena.

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