It was a long night for the Hutchinson Monarchs in their NBC World Series opener on Friday at Eck Stadium, but the Monarchs overcame two weather delays and pounded the San Diego Stars 13-5.
The game ended with the Monarchs batting in the bottom of the eighth inning due to the mercy rule.
Jake Gutierrez paced a 14-hit attack with four singles. He also scored twice and drove in four runs.
The Monarchs scored four runs in the second inning, an inning that seemed to be destined for nothing. With nobody on base and two outs, Keegan Deemer reached on an error, and the Monarchs punished the Stars for it. Joey Senstock followed with a walk, and Dylan Bell was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Gutierrez then singled home two runs, and Drew Bugner followed with another two-run single.
Senstock and Gutierrez added RBI singles in the third inning, and Demmer’s two-run double in the fourth inning gave the Monarchs a commanding 8-1 lead.
The game was delayed in the top of the fifth inning and again after the top of the sixth. The Stars used the delays to regroup and closed to 8-5 going to the bottom of the seventh. But the Monarchs answered with four runs, with AJ Mustow’s three-run triple being the highlight.
Ethan Giesbrecht was the winning pitcher, throwing just 66 pitches in five innings. He gave up a run on two hits while striking out four.
The Monarchs will try to clinch a spot in the tournament’s single-elimination bracket at noon Sunday when they take on the Dodge City A’s. Dodge City, which plays in the Rocky Mountain Baseball League, beat the Seattle Cheney Studs 8-0 on Thursday.
