Hutchison Gets It Done for Glendale

Wes Hutchison went the distance and Glendale College moved closer to its first playoff berth in 17 years with a 6-5 victory over Canyons in a Western State Conference Southern Division game Tuesday at Stengel Field in Glendale.

Hutchison (7-5), a freshman right-hander from Burroughs High, scattered eight hits and struck out nine while holding Canyons scoreless after the fourth inning. Freddy Sanchez’s two-run home run in the sixth inning provided the margin of victory and assured the Vaqueros of at least a second-place finish.

Glendale (25-13, 16-8 in conference) can clinch its first conference title since 1981 with a victory Thursday against Pierce at Stengel Field. The division’s second-place team likely will be awarded a playoff berth. Glendale has two games remaining.

Hutchison fell behind, 4-0, in the second inning, with Canyons (25-13, 16-8) scoring two unearned runs. Glendale pulled even with three runs in the bottom half and a home run by Eli Albertson in the third.

Canyons moved ahead, 5-4, in the fourth on an unearned run.

“I thought I’d go seven or eight innings,” said Hutchison, who got his fifth complete game. “I threw a lot of pitches in the second when they got those four runs. It was all adrenaline down the stretch. I always do that.”