Jay Daubenberger
Liberal, Kansas – Jayhawk conference action hit a small bump in the road for the Seward County Lady Saints softball team as they took on another top team in the KJCCC softball standings in the Hutchinson Blue Dragons who entered Liberal and handed SCCC their first pair of losses in conference action in the 2024 season.
Kamryn Martinez started the first game strong on the mound for the Lady Saints with back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the first to hold Hutchinson at bay until they responded in the second inning with a double to drive in the first score of the day. Seward County locked the score back up with a single from Martinez to drive in Raeana Ortiz while a big home run bomb from Jayah Tellez added another pair of runs for the Lady Saints to push ahead 3-1 after the second. Five runs in the fourth for the Blue Dragons allowed them to retake the lead off of four straight hits to round the bases and push themselves back in front of Seward County. Samantha Gomez stepped up and slammed out a single that drove in Noemi Tudon to put SCCC at four runs in game one but could never find home again as Hutchinson would add another five runs to their total before wrapping up game one with the Lady Saints falling 11-4.
A two-run homer from the Blue Dragons kicked off game two on the day between the KJCCC rivals as Hutchinson opened the first inning with four runs to take a commanding 4-0 lead over Seward County. Another score in the second put the green team behind by five and even though Kaylin Jones was able to steal home off a wild pitch to get SCCC on the board in game two, the Lady Saints could not overcome the lead that the Blue Dragons amassed as Hutchinson would end the game early in the sixth with a run rule victory 11-1 over Seward County.
The Lady Saints now fall to 13-11 on the 2024 season with a conference record of 9-3 after battling with another top team in the KJCCC. Seward County will return to action on Wednesday when they drive an hour down the road towards Dodge City to take on the Conqs in a doubleheader with game one beginning at 2:00 PM.