Reed Scott stars for Blue Dragon baseball

By Laci Sutton / Staff writer

From the bottom of the barrel to No. 1 starting pitcher, Buhler native and Hutchinson Community College sophomore Reed Scott has proven himself as a force to be reckoned with on the baseball field.

Scott’s baseball career began as a youngster, sharing the love of the sport with his parents and starting tee ball around age 5 and continuing onto recreational leagues until age 12, when he joined travel leagues as a way to hang out with friends and just have fun.

High school brought on new sporting adventures, splitting his time between basketball and baseball. When college came along, it was an easy choice for Scott to continue his athletic career on the mound.

“Baseball has always been one of my favorite sports so it was baseball the whole way,” Scott said.

Getting started on the Blue Dragons  proved to be a bit more of a challenge.

Coming in as a freshman, Scott chose to be a walk-on for the Blue Dragon baseball team (meaning he was not on scholarship) and has since made a lasting impact on HutchCC coach Ryan Schmidt.

“I knew we were getting a good not only baseball player but a good person as well,” Schmidt said. “I loved the way he competed, I loved the way that he played, I loved the way that coaches and teammates talked about him but also the way people around town talked about him. I think that’s what really put it over the edge for me.”

Being a walk-on essentially placed Scott at the bottom of the roster with little playing time. A concept that he was determined to change for himself.

His motivation – proving the system wrong.

“At first, it was showing up everyday, proving I belong on the team and deserve to have a uniform,” Scott said. “Then it was proving that I’m good enough to help them, good enough to win. Proving the coaches wrong.”

By the end of last season, he had worked himself up to being the closing pitcher. Arguably one of the most important roles as a pitcher with the potential to bring in the last few, and possibly game-winning, outs of the game.

As the season came to a close, Schmidt realized the promise in Scott and decided he just wasn’t pitching as much as he should be.
This realization has led to Scott taking on a new role as the Blue Dragons starting pitcher.

“He has to go toe-to-toe with the other teams’ best pitchers and get his team off to a good start in the series,” Schmidt said. “It just goes to show his hard work and what he’s put into this program. I couldn’t be prouder of what he’s been able to accomplish.”

Coming from a baseball community just minutes away from Hutchinson, the support he earned in high school has remained and grown with him throughout his college career.

Playing with many of the same teammates he’s grown up with, his team has quickly become his family.

“I’m leaving with 50-plus brothers at least. I love every single one of the guys I’ve played with,” Scott said. “I truly feel like my family has expanded over these last two years. That’s probably one of my biggest takeaways from all of this.”

Scott has taken what seemed to be a complete strikeout and turned it into a home run with plans to continue his success at a four-year university.

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