HCC Sports Information
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Three members of the 2017 Hutchinson Community College baseball players took advantage of the 
November signing period to select where they will play after the upcoming season.
Right-handed pitcher Nolan Hoffman and utility player Michael Helman both signed with Texas A&M, while slugging outfielder Caden Doga signed with Tulane University.
The three Blue Dragons who signed on Wednesday at a news conference brings the total of Division I players in head coach Ryan Schmidt’s Blue Dragon tenure to 30.
Hoffman and Helman, both from Lincoln, Neb., are the first Blue Dragons to sign with Texas A&M since Kyle Simonds in 2014. Doga will be the first player from Hutchinson to move onto Tulane.
NOLAN HOFFMAN
Hoffman, a 6-2, 200-pound right-handed pitcher from Lincoln Southeast quickly asserted himself as the Blue Dragons’ top weekend starter in 2016.
For the season, Hoffman posted an 8-3 record with a 3.06 earned-run average. He worked a season-high 82 1-3 innings and had a team-high 87 strikeouts to only 24 walks. He also had five complete games and one shutout.
Through his first eight starts, Hoffman was 5-1 with a 1.68 ERA.
Hoffman’s second career start was six innings of one-hit baseball against Northeast Texas on Feb. 27. He then threw a seven-inning, three-hit shutout with five strikeouts in a 10-0 win over Rose State on Feb. 27. Hoffman tossed three-straight complete games against Cloud County, Butler and Barton in a three-week stretch, earning the decision in all three games.
Hoffman struck out a season-high 10 against Kansas City on May 13 at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. He had 13-straight starts with five or more strikeouts.
MICHAEL HELMAN
In addition to earning all-conference honors, Helman was named the 2016 ABCA/Rawlings NJCAA Division I Gold Glove winner at second base.
Primarily a second baseman, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound freshman from Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln Pius X), also started games in left field, right field and on the pitcher’s mound this past season.
Helman posted a .979 overall fielding percentage on 191 total defensive chances this season. His 111 assists were 12th most in Blue Dragon single-season history. He committed only four errors all season.
Helman helped turn 29 double plays in 2016.
Also named first-team All-Jayhawk West, first-team All-Region VI and a Region VI Gold Glove selection at second base, Helman was equally impressive at the plate.
Helman became the 21st Blue Dragon in program history to post a season batting average of .400 or higher with a team-high .416 batting average.
His 89 total hits are second most in program season history. Helman had 20 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 58 RBIs and 64 runs scored. He tied for fourth in season history in total bases (140) and tied for fourth in doubles. He tied for the eighth-most runs scored. Helman also led the 2016 Blue Dragons in stolen bases going 24 for 25.
He tied an HCC single-game record with three home runs against Independence on May 7. He put together HCC’s third-longest hitting streak in program history at 18 games.
Helman had a team-high 30 multi-hit games, including three four-hit games. He had 14 multi-RBI games as well.
CADEN DOGA
Doga, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound freshman left fielder from Rustin, La., had the best season in terms of power in Blue Dragons history in 2016.
A second-team NJCAA All-American, Doga hit .340 for the season with 71 total hits and 67 runs scored (third most in program history). He also had eight doubles and a team-high-tying four triples. He walked 32 times and had an on-base percentage of .444. Doga also was 12 for 15 in stolen bases.
Not only did Doga break HCC’s single-season home run record (19) in 39 games, but he smashed the career mark of 27 in 56 fewer games than Tim Olson (1998-99) set it in.
Doga led the NJCAA with 31 total home runs this season posting seven two-home runs games. He tied Seward County Corey Patton’s Jayhawk Conference home run record.
HCC’s freshman outfielder also set single-season Blue Dragon records for RBIs (87), total bases (180) and extra base hits (43). His .861 slugging percentage was third in the nation and fourth in single-season program history. His 180 total bases were sixth most in the nation.
Doga posted 20 multi-hit games with a season high of four hits on Feb. 26 at Rose State. He had 26 multi-RBI games, which included a season high of six against Garden City on April 24 at Hobart-Detter Field.
Defensively, Doga led the Blue Dragons with five outfield assists.