The Hutchinson Monarchs may not have the history that some NBC teams do, such as the Santa Barbara Foresters, Liberal BeeJays, Hays Larks, Alaska teams and Seattle Cheney Studs.
But the Monarchs are building a strong case to be mentioned alongside those bluebloods.
The Monarchs, who were born in 2009, will play in their third straight NBC World Series championship game on Saturday night at Equity Bank Ballpark in downtown Wichita. They clinched their third straight trip to the finals Friday with a 3-2 win at Wichita State’s Eck Stadium over the Studs, the Monarchs’ first win ever against the Studs in six meetings.
The Monarchs will look for their second championship. They won the 2023 title over Santa Barbara, and lost last year’s championship game to Hays. They’ll play the winner of the other semifinal, between the Lonestar Kracken and Hays Larks.
The Monarchs got another stellar outing from their starting pitcher, this time Bradyn McClure. McClure, who threw a six-inning shutout during pool play against the Dodge City A’s, pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out nine. Brady Pacha pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief, giving up a run on one hit, and Mitchell Johnson pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save.
The Monarchs scored all of their runs in the top of the third inning. Down 1-0 with one out, the Monarchs executed a double steal to tie the game. Jake Gutierrez, who continued his torrid hitting by going 2 for 4, stole second base. As the throw came to second base, JJ Spafford stole home. An error on the throw allowed Gutierrez to take third base, and he scored on Drew Bugner’s single.
Jaden Gustafson then doubled into the right-field corner, scoring Bugner.
The Monarchs outhit the Studs 8-6.
The championship game will start at 7 p.m., and gates at Equity Bank Ballpark will open at 6 p.m. There will be a postgame fireworks show.
