By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The No. 15-ranked Hutchinson Community College Baseball team racked up a season-high 23 runs to complete a sweep of the Labette Cardinals on Friday in the opening round of the Region VI Baseball Tournament at Hobart-Detter Field.
Colin Cymbalista went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs and four Blue Dragon pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout to defeat the Cardinals 23-0 in Game 2, winning the best-of-3 series 2-0.
The Jayhawk West champion and tournament No. 2-seeded Blue Dragons (46-11) advance to the eight-team double-elimination Plains District Tournament, which begins Wednesday at Eck Stadium in Wichita. The Blue Dragons will meet the Barton Cougars at 1 p.m.
This was the fourth time in 2024 the Blue Dragons have scored 20 or more runs in a game. The 23-run eruption tied for the eighth most in Hutchinson single-game history, matching a Region 6 game against Independence in 2016 and a regular-season battle against Dodge City in 2021.
The Blue Dragons had 18 hits, including two doubles, a triple and home run. Labette also added seven walks, seven errors, two balks, three hit batters and three wild pitches to the mix.
The Dragons also broke a single-game record with five sacrifice flies – Kael Babin, Cymbalista, Jackson Summers, Blake Bradford and Tyson Vassart also had sacrifice flies in the game.
Hutchinson broke the game open early with a six-run first inning where 11 batters came to the plate. The Dragons scored three in the second and batted around in both the third and fourth innings, where they scored five and eight runs, respectively.
Cymbalista was 4 for 4 with four runs scored and three RBIs to lead the Blue Dragon offense. Cymbalista extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Bradford went 2 for 3 with three RBIs – Bradford had a series-high seven RBIs. The Dragon third baseman had a run-scoring single, an RBI on a safety squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly.
Jon Davis was 2 for 2, including his first career home run, a three-run blast to left field in the fourth inning.
Quinn Maher was 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs. Luis Pimentel-Guerrero was 2 for 5 with three runs scored. Pimentel-Guerrero extended his career-best consecutive game hitting streak to 19 games, which tied Trever Adams (2009) for the third-longest hitting streak in Blue Dragon history.
Jarrett Herrman drove in two runs with a single in the fourth inning.
Starting pitcher Bradley Neill and three relief pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout, Hutchinson’s 10th shutout of the season.
Neill (9-0) allowed four hits and two walks over four innings with a pair of strikeouts. Neill worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation to start the second inning, getting an infield fly, strikeout and flyout to left to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
Jacob Hadden, Trenton Roehler and Caden Wanless each worked a scoreless inning. Wanless struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning to end the game.
Blue Dragon pitchers have now thrown 16 consecutive innings over the past three games.
POSTGAME NOTES …
+ The 2024 Blue Dragons are now alone in third place in wins for a season in program history with 46.
+ The Blue Dragons completed their seventh opening-round sweep and are now 11-5 all-time in best-of-3 regional opening-round series. The Dragons are 22-14 in opening-round best-of-3 series.
+ Colin Cymbalista had his fourth four-plus hit game of the season.
+ For the series, the Blue Dragons outscored Labette 33-0 and out-hit the Cardinals 32-8.
