Seward Swept In Jayhawk Series For First Time in School History

Seward County Head Coach Galen McSpadden has been at the helm of the Saints for a long time, 33 years to be exact, and yet following Sunday's double header with Hutchinson he uttered something that is hard to say after being in one place that long; "I have never seen that before".  The reasoning behind McSpadden's disappointment was the fact that for the first time in school history, Seward County was swept in a four game season series, compounding the pain was the fact that it came at the hands of the Blue Dragons in a series that began with first place in the Jayhawk West on the line. 

After scoring 18 runs in a midweek contest with Frank Phillips, the Saints bats came out eerily cold in game one of the series.  Seward managed just a single hit through three innings while Saints starter Austin King managed to keep the game scoreless through the first 2 ½ against the Blue Dragons. 

With one out in the Hutchinson half of the 3^rd the Saints committed back to back errors to start a Dragon rally and after five Straight Hutch singles, Seward County found themselves behind 4-0.  After finally slowing the Dragon train down, another Seward error allowed the fifth Hutch run of the inning to cross and just like that it was a 5-0 game in favor of Hutchinson. 

Hutchinson starter Kyle Simonds continued to stymie the Seward bats, keeping the Dragons in front 5-0 after 5 innings of play. 

Another 1-2-3 inning for Seward in the 6^th took the game to the 7^th still with the score 5-0 and following a pair of strikeouts to start the inning Simonds got a fly out to finish the game and wrap up the 5-0 shutout win for the Dragons. 

The Saints managed just 2 hits in the loss, doubles early in the contest from Brent Williams and Jordan Leinweber.  Seward committed 5 errors in the game leading to 5 unearned Hutchinson runs.  King suffered the loss on the hill, going the distance and allowing 10 hits and 5 runs, all unearned, while striking out 5 without walking a batter.  King has now struck out 41 opposing hitters without a single walk this season.    

SEWARD COUNTY/#17 HUTCHINSON GAME ONE BOX SCORE

In game two, the Saints offense came alive early on as they got three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out in the 2^nd inning, but a strikeout followed by a double play to end the inning left them empty handed at innings end. 

Saints starter JB Olson held Hutch in check through 3 and Seward had another chance to take the lead in the 4^th as they got a pair of two out singles from Reed Thompson and Brandon Rix, but again, they couldn't come through with the big two out hit to push anything across and it remained a scoreless game as Hutch came to hit in the bottom half of the frame. 

Seward's defensive troubles continued in the bottom of the 4^th as a two out error allowed the Dragons to break through to take a 1-0 lead after 4. 

It remained a 1-0 game into the 6^th when the Saints scored their first run in 13 innings on the day as Kevin Connolly doubled to start the inning and later came around to score on an RBI groundout from Thompson to tie the game at 1. 

The game wasn't tied for long however as Seward was once again bitten by the error bug as Hutch came to hit in the 6^th.  With two outs in the inning the Saints seventh error of the day allowed the go ahead run to score and extended the Hutch inning where they later scored two more runs to go on top 4-1. 

Seward reliever Keenan Hall kept Hutch from doing any more damage as he came out of the Saints bullpen to finish the 6^th and also blanked the Dragons in the 7^th to keep it a 4-1 game.   

Jake Fuller led off the Saints half of the 8^th with a single and moved to third on a double from Williams to set Seward up with another prime scoring chance.  A sac fly from Connolly scored Fuller and another sac fly from Mason Marshall brought Williams home to cut the Hutch advantage to 4-3. 

Hall worked a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the 8^th for the Saints and the offense drew even in the top half of the 9^th as Seward used a Hutch error to extend the inning where they picked up a run on an RBI groundout from Brandon Urquizo to tie things at 4. 

A one out double by the Dragons in the bottom of the 9^th gave them two shots at the walk off win and after a balk on the mound for the Saints the winning run moved 90 feet closer to paydirt.  On an 0-2 pitch, Hutch was able to cash in, getting a sac fly to centerfield to bring the run home to take the day one sweep against the Saints with a  5-4 win. 

Seward outhit Hutch in the loss 11-10, but once again their defensive blunders cost them big as the Dragons turned 4 Saint errors into 4 unearned runs in the one run defeat.  Fuller, Thompson, Rix, and Alex White each had 2 hits for the Saints in the loss while Hall took the loss on the mound, allowing 1 hit and 1 run in 2 2/3 innings of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#17 HUTCHINSON GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The Saints hoped to put day one of the series behind them as they went to work on day two of the series Sunday.  Those hopes didn't get off to the best start however as Seward went down 1-2-3 in their half of the 1^st inning and Hutch took advantage of a one out walk to score in the bottom half of the 1^st to take an early 1-0 lead. 

The Dragons manufactured a run with a leadoff single, a sac bunt, and a two out hit to take a 2-0 lead in the 2^nd. 

Seward's offense remained ice cold through the 4^th inning and Hutch used another free pass from the Saints on the mound to score a run in the bottom half of the inning to go on top 3-0. 

The Saints finally got on the board in the hit column in the 5^th as Hudson Bilodeau singled with one out in the Seward half of the inning, but Bilodeau was caught in no man's land on a fly ball to the outfield and was doubled off at first base to kill the Saints chances at a run in the inning. 

Saints pitching continued to make it tough on themselves in the bottom of the 5^th as they walked and hit a batter with one out to set the table for the Dragons and Seward shot themselves in the foot further later in the inning as they dropped a fly ball in the outfield to allow Hutch's fourth run of the game to score as the Dragons took a 4-0 lead. 

Seward broke out on the offensive end as the 6^th inning got underway as White and Urquizo singled to start the inning and Thompson walked to load the bases with nobody out.  A single by Williams scored White to make it 4-1 and a wild pitch scored Urquizo to make it a 4-2 game.  However, with runners on second and third with nobody out and the meat of the Saints order up, Seward saw three straight hitters strikeout to kill their momentum and their threat as they remained behind 4-2 at the end of the frame. 

The Saints once again threatened in the 7^th, putting the tying runs on base with one out, but like they did in the 6^th, a pair of strikeouts left the runners stranded as the game came to a close and it was Hutch hanging onto a 4-2 win to take game three of the series. 

Seward had just 5 hits in the loss, 2 of those coming from White at the bottom of the order.  Pete Macke was tagged with the loss for the Saints on the mound, going 5 innings and allowing 4 runs while walking 5 Hutch hitters and hitting another 2. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#17 HUTCHINSON GAME THREE BOX SCORE

The Saints found themselves in another hole early on in the series finale as Hutch scored three times in the 1^st and twice again in the 2^nd to take a 5-0 lead. 

After Seward picked up their first run of the game on a wild pitch, Hutchinson struck back in a big way, getting their second bases clearing double of the game and two more hits behind that to go up 10-1 after 3. 

Seward chipped away with three runs in the 4^th, getting an RBI double from Connor Smith, an RBI groundout from Thompson, and an RBI single from Urquizo to get back into things at 10-4. 

The Saints pitching staff however, gave the runs right back in the bottom half of the inning as they walked three straight hitters with two outs, including a bases loaded walk to push a run home, followed by the Dragons third bases loaded double of the game to score three more runs to make it a 14-4 game in the blink of an eye. 

Seward's offense kept plugging away, trying desperately to salvage a game in the series.  Back to back RBI doubles from Connolly and Marshall, followed by an RBI triple from White in the 5^th got it back to a 14-8 game as the shootout continued. 

As they had all day though, the Saints pitching staff couldn't keep Hutchinson off the board.  A walk followed by back to back errors allowed two Dragon runs to cross and a passed ball and a sac fly later the Blue Dragon lead was back to 10 at 18-8. 

For the third straight inning the Saints bats produced a crooked number in the top half of the 6^th as Williams pounded another double to score a run and a groundout by Connolly and a wild pitch later in the inning yielded runs to make it an 18-11 game. 

Seward reliever Thomas Garland tossed the Saints first zero in the bottom of the 6^th and it looked like Seward was ready to inch closer in the top of the 7^th, but they couldn't cash in a two on, no out situation as a double play ended the threat and kept it an 18-11 game at stretch time. 

Garland kept the game right there as he swiftly sat Hutch down in the 7^th and 8^th inning on just 13 total pitches to keep the score 18-11 as Seward came to the plate for their final at bats of the series. 

White reached on an error to start the inning and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 18-12 and an RBI single from Urquizo scored another run to make it 18-13.  With two outs in the inning the Saints loaded the bases, bringing the tying run to the on deck circle, but a groundout quieted the storm and gave the Dragons the sweep with an 18-13 win. 

Once again Seward outhit Hutch in the game 15-13, but once again the Saints defense stalled any hopes of victory as Seward committed 8 errors in the game to finish the weekend with 19 in the four game series.   Urquizo had 4 hits and 2 RBI's at the top of the Saints lineup in the loss while Williams had a 3 for 4 game and walked twice.  Brent Bezio suffered the loss on the mound for Seward, lasting just 1+ inning in his second start of the year, allowing 4 hits and 5 runs without striking out a batter. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#17 HUTCHINSON GAME FOUR BOX SCORE

The sweep marks the first against the Saints in a four game Jayhawk West series in program history.  Seward falls to 18-15 overall on the season and after entering the weekend in 1^st place in the Jayhawk West standings at 8-4, the Saints fall to 8-8 and 5^th place at weekend's end.  The #17 Blue Dragons continue their blazing hot start to the year, improving to 21-5 overall and 10-2 in the Jayhawk West. 

Seward will look to regroup Wednesday when they travel to Clarendon to take on the Bulldogs for the first of four times on the year.  The Saints return to Jayhawk West action Saturday & Sunday as they host the Pratt Beavers at Brent Gould Field with double headers beginning both days at 1:00.