[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

GARDEN CITY, Kan. — Sophomore Wil Arnold put together his best round of the week to lead the No. 10 Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team at the 2017 NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf Tournament at Buffalo Dunes Country Club.

Arnold shot a 2-over 74 to lead the Dragons in Thursday’s third round. That helped the Blue Dragons shoot 307 on Thursday. Doug Rios-Ceballos shot a 76, Jack Lanham posted a 77, Cole Gritton had an 80 and Matt Percy had an 81.

The Blue Dragons have a 54-hole score of 926, which is 14 strokes out of 10th place. Hutchinson is bidding to finish in the Top 10 of the national tournament for the third-straight season.

Indian Hills made a huge move on Thursday to claim first place in the team race heading into Friday’s final round. Indian Hills shot a 288 to take a one-stroke lead over Odessa 872-873.

Individually, Arnold, Rios-Ceballos and Gritton are all tied for 51st with 54-hole scores of 232. Lanham is tied for 57th at 233 and Percy is tied for 83rd at 243.

The Blue Dragons will be paired with John A. Logan and Eastern Arizona in Friday’s final round. Tee times will be from 8:40 to 9:20 a.m.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Thursday’s severe weather that rolled through Kansas forced the postponement of Thursday’s evening program of the 2017 NJCAA Division I Track and Field Championships

Thursday’s morning session that included the Heptathlon and Decathlon and the men’s and women’s hammer were completed on Thursday.

The severe thunderstorm that rolled in about 6 p.m. forced the championship committee to move Thursday’s evening program.

The altered schedule will now be:

+ Women’s 10,000 meters will be at 7 a.m. on Friday.

+ Men’s 10,000 meters will be at 7:50 a.m. on Friday.

+ Women’s pole vault will be contested on Saturday after the completion of the men’s pole vault.

As of Thursday night, the original Friday schedule will be contested beginning at 9 a.m. with the resumption of the Decathlon and Heptathlon.

 

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Freshman Michael Bryan posted a personal-best throw on Thursday to lead three Hutchinson Community College men’s athletes at the 2017 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Blue Dragons had athletes in only one event on a rain-shortened opening day of the national championships at Gowans Stadium and Kansas State Fairgrounds.

Bryan finished 10th in the men’s hammer throw on Thursday at the Fairgrounds. Bryan’s top throw was 161-1.

Right behind Bryan was freshman Nick French, who was 11th at 156-4.

The Blue Dragons will have a much busier Friday, including Trey Teeter in the javelin. Teeter is fourth in the NJCAA coming into the championships with a throw of 183-7.

 

WOMEN”S TRACK & FIELD

Freshman Hannah Smith had a career day and scored the first points of the NJCAA Division I Track and Field Championships for the Hutchinson Community College women on Thursday at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.

Smith finished fifth in the women’s hammer throw with a distance of 160 feet, 5 inches, a Blue Dragon school record. That mark topped the 2010 record of Leeza Henry.

Her fifth-place finish on Thursday gave the Blue Dragons four points, which puts Hutchinson in fifth place after Day 1.

Smith topped her previous best throw by 9 1/2 feet. She entered the championships ranked 16th in the NJCAA

Freshman Ocean Paul was also to compete on Thursday night in the women’s pole vault. But the evening program was postponed because of severe thunderstorms that rolled through the area on Thursday evening. The women’ pole vault will be contested on Saturday after the completion of the men’s pole vault.

Freshman Alex Rodriguez finished 11th in the women’s hammer. Her top throw was 150 feet, 5 inches. Rodriguez entered the championships ranked 15th in the NJCAA

Friday will have full day of action for the Blue Dragon women’s in the NJCAA Track and Field Championships, including freshman Adriana Janic, who will run her preliminary race in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Janic, the indoor national 60-meter hurdle champion, has the second-fastest time in the nation this season at 13.57 seconds.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 5-1 on Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

Duffy (3-3) struck out a season-best 10 while walking two and earning his first win since April 14th, against the Angels. Duffy had been 0-3 with two no-decisions in his last five starts.

Mike Minor handled the eighth before Kelvin Herrera surrendered a run in the ninth.

The Royals scored twice in the second off Jordan Montgomery (2-3) before Moustakas deposited his pitch into the bullpen in right in the fifth inning to break the game open.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

GARDEN CITY, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team struggled in tough scoring conditions on Wednesday during Day 2 of the 2017 NJCAA Division I Golf Championships.

The Blue Dragons shot 15 strokes higher than the opening round with a 317 on Wednesday. With a 619 in the second round, The Dragons are 43 strokes behind 36-hole leader Odessa College.

Freshman Jack Lanham shot the low Blue Dragon round in the second round of 78. He is tied for 57th after two rounds at 156.

Freshman Cole Gritton continues to be the low Blue Dragon after the second round. Gritton shot 79 on Wednesday and is tied for 41st at 152.

Doug Rios-Ceballos is also tied for 57th at 156 after a second-round 80.

Wil Arnold is tied for 83rd at 158 after shooting 83 in the second round.

Matt Percy shot 80 on Wednesday and is tied for 85th at 162.

For Thursday’s third round, the Blue Dragons will be paired with John A. Logan and Wallace State. Hutch’s tee times will be from 8:50 to 9:30 a.m.

DODGE CITY

CLASS 6A REGIONAL #2

Regional Semis

Hutch High 8 Junction City 1 – FINAL

Dodge City 12 Wichita South 2 – FINAL

 

Regional Final

Hutch High 9 Dodge City 5 – FINAL/9 INNINGS

 

Despite being under .500 at (9-13), the Salthawks are state bound in baseball for the first time since 2005. Hutch High will head for Lawrence to play at the University of Kansas in Hoglund Stadium on May 25 against an opponent TBD. Regional #1 and #2 in 6A are scheduled for Thursday.

 

SOFTBALL

GARDEN CITY

CLASS 6A REGIONAL #2

Regional Semis

Hutch High 9 Dodge City 7 – FINAL

Garden City 15 Wichita East 0 – FINAL

 

Regional Final

Garden City 15 Hutch High 0 – FINAL

 

 

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Aaron Hicks hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run fourth inning, the Yankees piled up 16 hits and New York rolled to an 11-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Michael Pineda (4-2) allowed three runs and six hits with two walks over six-plus innings. The big right-hander was shaky throughout but good enough to win for only the second time in 16 road starts.

The Yankees teed off on Jason Vargas (5-2), who came into the game with a major league-leading 1.01 ERA. The left-hander allowed as many earned runs in the fourth as he had in his first seven starts combined, and was lifted after allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings.

Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer and Whit Merrifield also went deep for Kansas City, which scored three times in the ninth to make the final score more respectable.

CLASS 4A DIV 1 – BUHLER

Regional Semi

Buhler 21 Ulysses 0 – FINAL/3 innings

Dawson Dreher threw a no-hitter and Jack Goertzen added 3 hits with 6 runs batted in as Buhler finished Ulysses in 3 innings. The Crusaders finished the game with 12 hits.

Regional Final

Hays 9 Buhler 7 – FINAL

Lawson Schultz powered a grand slam in the bottom of the 7th to make things interesting, but the Crusaders couldn’t finish the rally and fell in the Regional Final.

 

CLASS 4A DIV 2 – PRATT

Regional Semis

Nickerson 11 Kingman/Norwich 1 – FINAL/6 innings

Pratt 12 Haven 11 – FINAL

Regional Final

Nickerson 8 Pratt 0 – FINAL

 

CLASS 6A REGIONAL #2 DODGE CITY

The Hutch High Salthawks (7-13) travel to Dodge City Wednesday for a 2 p.m. opening pitch against Junction City (11-9).

 

 

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

GARDEN CITY, Kan. — Freshman Cole Gritton fired an opening-round 73 to lead the Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team on Day 1 of the NJCAA Men’s Division I National Golf Tournament at Buffalo Dunes Country Club.

The Blue Dragons shot an opening-round 302 on Tuesday to finish tied for 12th with Wallace State. Hutchinson is 18 shots off the pace of team leader Odessa College, which shot a 284 in the first round.

Gritton is the top Blue Dragon Individual after Day 1. He had four birdies and five bogeys in a 1-over-par round of 73. Gritton is tied for 18th after 18 holes.

Sophomore Wil Arnold is tied for 42nd after a 3-over 75. Arnold carded two birdies and five bogeys on Tuesday.

Freshman Doug Rios-Ceballos is tied for 58th after a 4-over 76. Freshman Jack Lanham is tied for 73rd after a 78. Freshman Matt Percy is tied for 95th after an 82.

Odessa’s Augustin Hole shot 3-under 69 to lead the field by one stroke over five golfers.

The Blue Dragons will once again be paired with Eastern Arizona and McLennan for the second round on Wednesday. The Dragons will tee off  from 9:40 to 10:20 a.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer, Chris Carter added a two-run shot and CC Sabathia got back on track as the New York Yankees rolled to a 7-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Pitching on six days’ rest, Sabathia (3-2) went 6 2/3 shutout innings to win for the first time since April 15. He struck out five and walked two before leaving with the bases loaded, but Tyler Clippard promptly fanned Whit Merrifield to escape the jam.

Clippard also handled the eighth before Jonathan Holder gave up a run in the ninth.

Sanchez drilled an 0-1 pitch from Jason Hammel (1-5) to center field with nobody out in the third, and Carter pounded a 1-1 pitch to almost the same place with two down in the fourth.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — While the season hasn’t reached the always-high expectations placed on the Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team in 2017, a strong finish is definitely a possibility.

The No. 10-ranked Blue Dragons will open play in the 72-hole NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships on Tuesday at Buffalo Dunes in Garden City.

The Blue Dragons finished second in the Jayhawk Conference title chase in 2017 and followed that with a second-place Region VI finish and a fourth-place NJCAA District III finish to qualify for the national championships for the 17th consecutive season and 20th time overall.

The reason for the potential of a strong national tournament came in the final round of the District III  on April 25. The Blue Dragons put together one of the best overall rounds in team history on that day.

Hutchinson carded a 5-under 283 at Firekeeper Golf Club in Mayetta on that day. Individually, freshman Cole Gritton led the way with a 4-under 68. Fellow freshman Matt Percy was right on Gritton’s heels at 3-under 69. Sophomore Wil Arnold shot even-par 72 and freshman Doug Rios-Ceballos shot 2-over 74.

The Blue Dragons will play a Buffalo Dunes course capable of yielding low scores, but can become treacherous when the wind starts to blow hard.

This will be the third time the Blue Dragons have played Buffalo Dunes this season. In the National Preview on Oct. 10 and 11, Hutch shot rounds of 305, 292 and 296 to finish fourth in that event. Earlier this spring at the Southwest Kansas Shootout on April 10 and 11, Hutchinson had back-to-back rounds of 309 in the 36-hole event.

The 2017 Blue Dragons are trying to do something done only once before in program history … that’s finish in the NJCAA Top 10 for three consecutive Top 10 finishes.

The 2015 Blue Dragons were ninth at nationals and the 2016 team finished eighth. The only other time the Blue Dragons finished in the national top 10 for three-straight seasons was 2006, 2007 and 2008.

On Tuesday, the Blue Dragons will be paired with Eastern Arizona College and defending national champion McLennan. The Dragons will tee off between 9:30 and 10:10 a.m. on Tuesday and will play with the same teams but have the late-morning tee times for Wednesday’s second round.