Saints fall short at Hutch to open the series

Game 1 Recap

It came down to the last play, but Seward County Saints were on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat to Hutch CC on Friday. Mason Martinez pitched 6 scoreless innings without giving up a hit to give the Saints a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th.  After a leadoff hit to break up the no-hitter, the Bluedragons loaded the bases. Ben McLaughlin was able to sneak a ball up the middle to bring home the winning run.

The Saints were able to get the first run right out of the gate after an RBI single by Tristan Curless to score Ranse Radtke.  From there the pitching was strong for both sides with 5 straight scoreless innings.  Radtke led the Saints with 2 hits on the day.

Mason Martinez led the Saints on the mound with 6.2 innings pitched, striking out 9.  Jason Whitlock led the Bluedragons with 7 innings pitched, 7 Ks, and the win.  

Game 2 Recap

In a back and forth game, the Saints come up just short in the 9th inning, losing 10-8 in game 2.  Tritan Curless took the mound for the first time after his 16 strikeout gem last week against Garden City.  Although he was unable to match his performance, Curless battled for the Saints, pitching 6 innings while giving up 5 earned runs.  He left the game with the score tied 5-5. 

Early on both teams were able to create action on the basepaths to score runs. After Hutch took a 1-0 lead, Javier Gomez was able to drive Jacob Masters in the top of the 2nd. In the bottom of the 2nd, Hutch scored two more runs.  Seward was quick to respond again with 3 runs in the top of the 3rd, led by Gannon Hardin's 2 RBI double.

After the Saints gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the eighth to go down 10-5, the Saints were not ready to give up.  Radtke led off the Saints with an infield single. Jaxson Gregg followed that up with a single to left.  This gave Luke Williams the opportunity to smash a double to left field to start the scoring for the Saints.  After a walk to load the bases, Jacob Masters hit a line drive right back up the middle to score Gregg.  After a fielder's choice scored a run, the Saints had 2 on with only 1 out, down 10-8.  Unfortunately, that was were the rally ended, and the Saints fell short, 10-8