Dragon baseball sweeps Cougars

Although the Dragons ultimately came home with a pair of wins Tuesday, April 26, the Sedgwick County Cougars put up a fight in the first game.

From coach Jimmy French’s perspective, Holyoke got a little sloppy in the first game and didn’t take full advantage of the opportunities there. Nevertheless, the team won 22-16.

French added, “I think we really learned from that moving into the second game and put together a really complete effort.” In the end, Holyoke shut out Sedgwick County 17-0 in five innings.

Holyoke 22, SedgCo 16

Tuesday’s first game lasted well over three hours, and Holyoke’s 22-16 victory was hard fought every step of the way.

Reid Sprague and Alexis Dominguez scored runs for Holyoke in the first inning, and SedgCo scored one.

The Dragons had a big second inning with runs scored by Cody Maloney, Sprague, Alexis Dominguez, Tyson Mosenteen and Caiden Krueger. The bottom of the inning was just as big for the Cougars, though, and the score was 7-6 going into the third.

Alexis Dominguez scored the only run of the third inning, and Sedgwick County trailed 8-6 going into the fourth, where Holyoke extended the lead with a two-out rally. Maloney, Sprague, and Alexis Dominguez posted runs that put the score at 11-6.

After keeping the Cougars from scoring in the bottom of the fourth, Holyoke racked up five in the fifth. The runs by Michel Perez, Ty Sandquist Dirks, Mason Vernon, Irving Dominguez and Alexis Dominguez put the Dragons ahead 16-6.

At that point, all it would have taken was another scoreless frame for the game to end early. The Cougars, however, were not finished yet. They scored a whopping eight runs and narrowed their deficit to just two runs.

Fortunately, Holyoke took the challenge in stride, and Krueger, Perez, Sandquist Dirks, Irving Dominguez and Sprague scored runs that put the Dragons ahead 21-14. Back in the field, they again kept the Cougars from scoring.

In the seventh inning, Mosenteen scored one more for Holyoke, and Sedgwick County scored two of their own for a final score of 22-16.

On the mound, Alexis Dominguez pitched the first two innings and faced 14 batters. He struck out two, walked five, and gave up three hits and six earned runs. Next up, Sprague pitched 2.1 innings and faced 15 batters. In his first two innings, he struck out five of the six batters. Overall, he struck out six, walked four, and gave up one hit and eight earned runs. Perez pitched 1.2 innings and faced 11 batters. He struck out four, walked six, and gave up one hit and two earned runs. Sandquist Dirks pitched the last inning, facing four batters. He struck out two and walked one.

At bat, Sprague hit two doubles and two singles. Alexis Dominguez hit a single and a ground-rule double that hopped over the fence. Perez and Mosenteen each hit three singles, Sandquist Dirks hit two, and Vernon and Maloney hit one apiece. Mosenteen and Sprague each had three RBIs; Perez, Krueger and Vernon each had two; and Alexis Dominguez, Maloney and Sandquist Dirks had one apiece.

As far as baserunning went, Mosenteen stole four bases; Sprague and Sandquist Dirks stole three each; Perez, Alexis Dominguez, Vernon and Irving Dominguez stole two apiece; and Jerren Hunter stole one.

Statistics    AB    R    H    RBI

Perez    3    2    3    2    

Mosenteen    5    2    3    3    

Sprague    5    4    4    3    

A. Dominguez    3    5    2    1    

Krueger    4    2    0    2    

Vernon    4    1    1    2    

Hunter    0    2    0    0    

Maloney    4    0    1    1    

Sandquist Dirks    4    2    2    1    

I. Dominguez    3    2    0    0    

Totals    35    22    16    15

Holyoke    2    5    1    3    5    5    1    —22

SedgCo    1    5    0    0    8    0    2    —16

Holyoke 17, SedgCo 0

After the first game, Holyoke made its second win of 17-0 look relatively effortless.

Neither team scored in the first inning, but then the Dragons got busy at bat. In the second inning, four runs were scored by Krueger, Perez, Sandquist Dirks and Vernon.

Sandquist Dirks scored the only run of the third inning.

In the fourth, Holyoke added six more runs to the board, putting the score at 11-0. The runs were scored by Maloney, Alexis Dominguez, Mosenteen, Krueger, Perez and Sandquist Dirks.

Six more runs were added to Holyoke’s score in the fifth inning. They were scored by Alexis Dominguez, Mosenteen, Krueger, Sandquist Dirks, Kai Siep and Maloney. With a 17-0 Dragon lead, the game was over after five innings.

After finishing the first game on the mound, Sandquist Dirks started the second game pitching for the Dragons as well. He pitched three innings and faced 12 batters. He struck out four and allowed just two hits. Siep pitched two innings and faced seven batters. He struck out four and walked one.

At bat, Sprague hit one triple, Sandquist Dirks hit a double and three singles, Siep and Mosenteen each hit a double and single, Vernon hit two singles, and Alexis Dominguez and Krueger hit one single apiece. Sandquist Dirks had five RBIs, Siep and Mosenteen each had three, Sprague and Vernon had two, and Perez and Alexis Dominguez had one.

Statistics    AB    R    H    RBI

Perez    2    2    0    1    

Siep    4    1    2    3    

Mosenteen    4    2    2    3    

Sprague    4    0    1    2    

A. Dominguez    3    2    1    1    

Krueger    2    3    1    0    

Vernon    4    1    2    2    

Maloney    1    2    0    0    

Sandquist Dirks    4    4    4    5    

Totals    28    17    13    17

Holyoke            0    4    1    6    6    —17

SedgCo            0    0    0    0    0    —0

Holyoke, Haxtun split doubleheader

Beautiful weather and an enthusiastic crowd set the stage for the Thursday, April 28, doubleheader between county rivals Holyoke and Haxtun. Apparently quite evenly matched, the visiting Dragons won game one 13-11, and the Bulldogs won game two 14-4 in five innings.

Coach French said, “I was really proud of how we played both games. Everyone on the field made some big plays and contributed.”

Perhaps most notable was Holyoke’s resilience. “When we made mistakes,” French added, “we bounced back.”

Holyoke 13, Haxtun 11

Holyoke had much to be proud of in Thursday’s first contest, which French views as the Dragons’ best game all season.

Leadoff batter Sprague got things started with a base on balls, which he then leveraged into a run. Haxtun put up two runs, taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.

Holyoke didn’t manage to score in the following inning, and the Bulldogs extended their lead with three more runs.

In the third and fourth innings, things really started to heat up for the Dragons. Holyoke kept scoring run after run, and Haxtun cycled through three different pitchers trying to slow the Dragons down.

In the third inning, Maloney, Sprague and Mosenteen each scored a run. Haxtun’s three runs kept the Bulldog lead consistent. In the top of the fourth, those three each scored again, and Krueger, Perez and Vernon added runs of their own, putting Holyoke ahead 10-8.

After keeping Haxtun scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, Holyoke extended its lead to 12-8 with runs by Sprague and Mosenteen in the top of the fifth. The Bulldogs went another inning without making any progress.

Irving Dominiguez scored one for the Dragons in the sixth, taking the score to 13-8. The Bulldogs kept things interesting, though, and put up three runs. Going into the final inning, it was still anybody’s game with a narrow two-run Dragon lead.

Haxtun managed to get three quick outs in the top of the seventh, and Holyoke did not have the luxury of a comfortable lead. Haxtun’s first batter hit to deep right-center. Right fielder Vernon quickly got the ball in to second baseman Alexis Dominguez, who made a perfect relay throw to Perez at third. The combined effort caught the runner trying to stretch a double into a triple for the first out.

Haxtun’s second batter got on base with a double, bringing the home-run hitter from the previous inning back to the plate. With nerves of steel, Sandquist Dirks struck him out. Striking out the subsequent batter, he secured the 13-11 Dragon win.

Overall on the mound, Mosenteen pitched four innings and faced 28 batters. He struck out six, walked six, and allowed 10 hits and eight earned runs. Sandquist Dirks pitched three innings and faced 16 batters. He struck out three, walked three, and allowed four hits and three earned runs.

At bat, Mosenteen hit a double and two singles, Sprague hit a double and a single, Perez and Maloney each hit two singles, and Krueger, Vernon and Irving Dominguez each hit a single. Mosenteen had three RBIs, Perez and Maloney each had two, and Krueger and Vernon had one apiece. Mosenteen also stole two bases.

Statistics    AB    R    H    RBI

Perez    3    1    2    2    

Mosenteen    3    3    3    3    

Sprague    2    4    2    0    

A. Dominguez    5    0    0    0    

Krueger    5    1    1    1    

Vernon    4    1    1    1    

Maloney    2    2    2    2    

Dirks    3    0    0    0    

I. Dominguez    3    1    1    0    

Totals    30    13    12    9

Holyoke    1    0    3    6    2    1    0    —13

Haxtun    2    3    3    0    0    3    0    —11

Holyoke 4, Haxtun 14

Although the Bulldogs won the second game 14-4, French was once again proud of the Dragons’ performance. “We ended with a bad inning, but otherwise, we were right there in it until the very end,” he said.

Haxtun took the early lead, scoring three runs after holding Holyoke scoreless in the first inning. In the top of the second, Vernon, Bryson Dirks and Irving Dominguez each scored a run, tying up the game. Despite getting runners on base, Haxtun did not score.

Back at bat, Perez scored a run in the third, putting the Dragons ahead 4-3. In the bottom of the inning, the game swung in the other direction, and Haxtun ended up ahead 5-4.

Despite their best efforts, the Dragons could not score another run. In the fourth, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 7-4, and in the fifth, they added another seven runs, ending the game at 14-4 due to the mercy rule.

On the mound for Holyoke, Sprague pitched four innings and faced 27 batters. He struck out two, walked five, and allowed 10 hits and 12 earned runs. Siep pitched 0.1 innings and faced five batters. He walked two and allowed one hit and two earned runs. Sandquist Dirks faced one batter and got one out, but the inherited runner scored to end the game before the third out.

At bat, Perez, Sprague, Alexis Dominguez and Vernon each hit a single. Sprague had two RBIs, and Alexis Dominguez had one.

Statistics    AB    R    H    RBI

Perez    1    1    1    0    

Mosenteen    3    0    0    0    

Sprague    3    0    1    2    

A. Dominguez    3    0    1    1    

Krueger    2    0    0    0    

Vernon    2    1    1    0    

Maloney    3    0    0    0    

Dirks    2    1    0    0    

I. Dominguez    0    1    0    0    

Totals    19    4    4    3

Holyoke            0    3    1    0    0    — 4

Haxtun            3    0    2    2    7    —14

Upcoming action

Holyoke will host Yuma for a doubleheader Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m. On Tuesday, May 10, Holyoke will host Wiggins for a doubleheader at 3 p.m.