All-State baseball: Dover's Hutchins expands his game

When Jordan Hutchins started to get comfortable with getting out of his comfort zone, it made opponents uncomfortable.

It also led to an 18-3 season and berth in the state semifinals for the Dover Senators. And it led to Hutchins being voted the state’s Baseball Player of the Year by the Delaware Baseball Coaches Association.

Hutchins embraced pitching for the first time, and went 7-0 with a 0.78 ERA. He embraced hitting the ball to the opposite field, and produced an eye-popping .524 average with seven doubles, 18 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and 26 runs scored.

Most importantly, he had fun.

“Once the season got going, we just loved each other,” Hutchins said. “It was really fun to go to practice. Every single kid, some of them were football players, some were basketball players as their main sport, but even they loved coming to practice. We had so much fun.”

Of course, winning is fun. Even when the Senators lost, it was close. Dover’s only setbacks were 3-2 to Smyrna, 5-3 to Sussex Tech and 5-3 to St. Mark’s in the semifinals of the DIAA Baseball Tournament.

The Senators were stocked with talent, including senior Garrett Lawson, who made first-team All-State both as a pitcher (5-2, 1.26 ERA) and designated hitter (.479, 17 RBIs). But Hutchins, a four-year starter at shortstop, was the catalyst.

“He was just more mature on the baseball field,” Dover coach Dave Gordon said. “We had a couple of kids like that. They grew up a lot more, didn’t let the little things bother them. If they had a bad at-bat, they took it on the chin, got back in the dugout and learned from their mistakes.”

Hutchins pitched only once as a freshman, once as a sophomore and four times as a junior. But this year, the Senators needed a second starter to complement Lawson. Hutchins had the arm strength, but he was reluctant.

“At first, I didn’t really want to pitch,” Hutchins said. “But I knew if we wanted to be successful, we needed a second pitcher to step up. Whatever coach asked me, I just told him I’d do it for him.”

His coach was a little reluctant, too.

“I always felt like he’s been the best shortstop in the state the last four years, even when he was a freshman,” Gordon said. “Why would I take the best shortstop off of shortstop?

“But this year, we needed more guys on the mound. We gave him the ball, and he did well with it.”

Hutchins didn’t lose a decision and wound up striking out 53 batters in 44 2/3 innings, even though that was never the goal.

“I just lit up the strike zone,” he said. “I just threw as many strikes as I could. I tried to limit the walks, and I didn’t really worry about striking out a lot of people.”

Meanwhile, his offensive game expanded, with help from assistant coach Daniel Bunnion.

“A lot of times after practice, coach Bunnion would stay and throw to me whenever I asked him to,” Hutchins said. “I give him a big thank you for that.”

They worked on driving the ball to right field, which had always been a struggle for the right-handed Hutchins.

“I started taking inside pitches, which is what I like,” he said. “I ended up being more comfortable with the away pitches. I had a lot of success with that, took a lot of pitches the other way.”

Gordon noticed.

“One of the biggest things he improved on was using the whole field,” the head coach said. “Last year, he was very pullish up there. This year, I think he had five triples, and probably four of them were in the right-center gap. That was good to see.”

University of Delaware coach Jim Sherman also noticed. Now Hutchins is thrilled to be headed for the Blue Hens, although that wasn’t his original plan.

“My sophomore and junior year, I kind of wanted to get away from home,” he said. “I wanted to see if I could go as far away as possible. Then once I started talking to UD and I visited the campus, I just loved it. I was just praying that I could have a chance to play there, and as soon as they offered me I knew where I wanted to go.”

UD went 33-22 overall this season, but just 10-14 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Gordon believes Hutchins could be a key piece in a turnaround.

“I think he’s going to fit really well with what they’re trying to do with their roster,” Gordon said. “I think they’re trying to get a little more athletic, a little more speed guys. Jordan is definitely one of those guys.”

He is keeping his skills sharp while playing American Legion ball for Fox Post 2 this summer. Hutchins projects as a middle infielder in college, but he’s willing to play anywhere.

“If a spot in the outfield, third base, wherever it’s open, if they want to give me the shot I don’t really care where I play,” he said. “As long as it gets me in the lineup.”

His comfort zone has expanded.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Dover High School baseball player Jordan Hutchins.