Jeanie Rose

Baseball April 28, 2016

BASEBALL NOTES: Home regional series on line in DC3 vs. Seward Co.

DC3's Max Laney

DODGE CITY, Kan. -- A home best-of-three playoff series for the Region VI Tournament is on the line when the Dodge City Community College baseball team hosts Seward County for a four-game series beginning 2 p.m. Saturday at Cavalier Field.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

- The top four teams in each division (West and East) of the KJCCC host a best-of-three series for the opening round of the Region VI Tournament against an opponent from the opposite division (No. 1 West hosts No. 8 East, No. 2 West hosts No. 7 East, etc.).

- DC3 sits in fourth place in the KJCCC West at 17-11, a game ahead of fifth-place Seward (16-12) and a game behind third-place Garden City (18-10 - the Broncbusters host seventh-place Pratt this weekend).

- This means DC3 needs to at least split with Seward this weekend (they play two games Saturday and another doubleheader starting 1 p.m. Sunday) to clinch a home series for the first round of the playoffs. However, if Seward wins three of four and ties the Conqs - the Saints would also own the head-to-head tiebreaker and be the No. 4 seed while DC3 drops to fifth and will hit the road to play the No. 5 team out of the KJCCC East.

DODGE CITY CONQUISTADORS (38-14, 17-11)

- The Conqs enter this important series having won five games in a row since snapping a four-game losing streak in the second game against Pratt on April 22. It's the fourth time this season DC3 has put together a win streak of five or more games.

- During that series against Pratt, DC3 left-hander Matthew Perea tied the school record for most wins in a season (9) and in a career (14). The New Mexico State signee is the school's career leader in ERA (2.84) and sixth in career strikeouts with 96. The El Paso native is 9-2 with a 3.57 ERA this season. His nine wins are tied for fourth in the NJCAA.

- Jay Rawlins leads the Conq staff with a 2.56 ERA to go along with his 7-3 record, five complete games and 55 strikeouts.

- With his second nine-inning complete game in his last three starts last week, Cole Brandon improved to 2-2 with a 3.79 ERA. Since March 13 (a span of six starts), Brandon owns a 2.25 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with only six walks in 40 innings of work.

- DC3 closer Carter Hogan is first in the KJCCC and tied for sixth in the NJCAA with 10 saves to go along with his 2.89 ERA.

- Jason Nichols has been hot at plate for the Conqs during their five-game winning streak, going 11-for-21 (.524) with eight RBI, seven runs, two doubles and a triple during that stretch. He's hitting a team-best .369 with four homers, a team-high 44 RBI and 42 runs (second on the team).

- DC3 has eight players with 100 or more at-bats hitting above .300 in Nichols, Richard Fullerton (.348), Ricky Trammell (.346), Colton Onstott (.335), Colbey Madewell (.322), Frankie Valle (.319), Jake Pederson (.315) and Ivan Gonzalez (.311).

SEWARD COUNTY SAINTS (28-22, 16-12)

- Since starting KJCCC play 2-6, Seward has gone 15-5 in conference and has no worse than split its previous five conference four-games series - including splitting with Barton last weekend.

- In its split with Barton, Seward bookend 17-12 and 11-9 losses in game two and three with 11-1 and 10-0 victories as the Saints scored 42 runs in the series.

- Seward has scored three or more runs in a game in 31-straight contests. In those 31 contests, the Saints have scored five or more runs 26 times and reached double figures 14 times.

- Antonio Dorado leads the Saints in average (.401), RBI (44), doubles (17) and is second in home runs (6). The Saints as a team have four players with 100 or more at-bats hitting above .350 in Dorado, Logan Nethercot (.387), Justin Graff-Rowe (.383) and Dylan Paul (.363).

- Seward's pitching staff is led by left-hander Jakob Hernandez. The sophomore leads the KJCCC in ERA (2.15) and leads the conference and NJCAA in strikeouts (136) and strikeouts per nine innings (16.3). He's also second in innings pitched (75.1) to go along with his 8-3 record.

- No other pitcher with more than five starts has an ERA lower than 4.95 for the Saints and only Adam Keller (70.2 innings, 6-1, 5.09 ERA) has thrown more than 40 innings this season.

Players Mentioned

#3 Colbey Madewell: INF; 5' 11"; Sophomore; R/R

#4 Matthew Perea: LHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/L

#6 Jason Nichols: OF/INF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R

#10 Colton Onstott: C; 6' 0"; Freshman; L/R

#15 Carter Hogan: RHP; 6' 4"; Freshman; R/R

#18 Frankie Valle: UTL; 6' 3"; Sophomore; R/R

#19 Ivan Gonzalez: OF; 5' 10"; Freshman; L/L

#20 Jay Rawlins: LHP; 6' 1"; Sophomore; L/L

#22 Cole Brandon: LHP; 6' 2"; Freshman; L/L

#24 Jake Pederson: OF; 6' 0"; Freshman; L/R

#25 Ricky Trammell: INF; 6' 2"; Sophomore; S/R

#27 Richard Fullerton: OF; 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#3 Colbey Madewell
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; R/R
: INF

#4 Matthew Perea
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/L
: LHP

#6 Jason Nichols
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: OF/INF

#10 Colton Onstott
: 6' 0"; Freshman; L/R
: C

#15 Carter Hogan
: 6' 4"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

#18 Frankie Valle
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; R/R
: UTL

#19 Ivan Gonzalez
: 5' 10"; Freshman; L/L
: OF

#20 Jay Rawlins
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; L/L
: LHP

#22 Cole Brandon
: 6' 2"; Freshman; L/L
: LHP

#24 Jake Pederson
: 6' 0"; Freshman; L/R
: OF

#25 Ricky Trammell
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; S/R
: INF

#27 Richard Fullerton
: 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: OF