Landon Hutcheson helps Frenship baseball topple Midland Legacy in district opener

WOLFFORTH — Landon Hutcheson isn't afraid to put his body on the line for the Frenship baseball team.

He wasted little time proving as much Thursday.

Drew Martin, Midland Legacy's second batter in the District 2-6A opener, sent a high-flying ball Hutcheson's way in center field in the top of the first. Hutcheson had the speed to track down the ball for the out, but had a hard collision with the wall for his efforts.

Not all body sacrifices are planned, though.

In the bottom of the sixth, on a perfectly-executed hit-and-run with Brady Boles, Hutcheson was sliding into third base when the relay throw hit off his helmet then made solid contact with his right cheek.

For the second time in the game, Hutcheson had to take a moment to collect himself, then scored the final run of Frenship's 7-1 victory at Tiger Baseball Field.

Anything for a win, right?

"It's gonna happen," Hutcheson said. "You're gonna have some balls hit you and sometimes run into a wall to make a play and do whatever you can to help the team."

Between the shots to his shoulder and face, Hutcheson collected a pair of hits, including an RBI double in Frenship's four-run fifth inning to break open the game.

"He's just a hard-nosed player that's gonna go make plays," Frenship head coach Chad Reynolds said. "That's why we have him out there in center field. Let him roam and go get 'em. He's a good player."

A tight contest midway through, Frenship (13-6 overall, 1-0 district) starting pitcher Nick Blevins settled in for the long haul. After giving up a solo home run to Legacy pitcher Jace Martinez, Blevins allowed just one hit the rest of the way, scattering five walks and striking out four in the complete-game effort.

Blevins, Reynolds said, followed the team's script of minimizing the damage whenever possible.

"In West Texas ... you're gonna give up some home runs," Reynolds said, alluding to the region's famous wind gusts. "Our philosophy is don't walk guys and make them two- or three-run homers. We'll give up solo homers all day. He did a good job of not letting that affect him and came back and did a great job all night long."

Unlike most districts, 2-6A is playing three-game series in three consecutive days. Thursday was the opener against Legacy, while the series shifts to Midland for a 6 p.m. game Friday. The finale will be back in Wolfforth on Saturday afternoon.

Hutcheson and Reynolds both said the district's setup allows the Tigers to get into a postseason mindset rather early. Frenship has four such series the rest of the regular season, each emulating a three-game playoff setup.

"Just the mindset (of) having three starters and just showing up back-to-back-to-back days and playing the game and having to play the game the right way because they all mean something," Reynolds said. "I think there's a lot to that when it comes playoff time. Those teams that can get in the playoffs where you've played three-game series for several weeks, it's not new to you. It's just another weekend."

Ryland Morin is slated to pitch Friday's second game, while Brooks Roberson is expected to pitch Saturday's finale.

While the rest of the regular season is designed to help come playoff time, Hutcheson said the Tigers still have some kinks to work out before getting there.

"I feel like we're pretty well," the junior lefty said, "but I know we have a lot of room for improvement and it only gets better from here."

District 2-6A baseball

Frenship 7, Midland Legacy 1

Legacy 010 000 0 — 1 2 1

Frenship 020 041 x — 7 10 2

Jace Martinez, Gilbert Hernandez (5) and Sid Salindo (6). Nick Blevins. W — Blevins. L — Martinez. 2B -- Frenship, Brady Boles, Landon Hutcheson, Blaine Chancy. 3B — Frenship, Brooks Roberson. HR — Legacy, Martinez.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Landon Hutcheson helps Frenship baseball topple Midland Legacy in district opener