By: Grant Barrett, Ad Astra Radio
GREAT BEND, Kan. – It was a back and forth contest that ended in walkoff fashion on Thursday, as the Great Bend BatCats would defeat the Hutchinson Monarchs 8-7 at Al Burns Memorial Field.
After a scoreless opening frame, Hutch’s Max Buttenback would begin the scoring for the Monarchs with a solo homerun to take a 1-0 lead. After both teams went down in order in the third, the bats would wake up for both teams in the fourth, as Hutch would take a 4-0 lead, highlighted by a homerun from Jarrett Flaggert, and back-to-back doubles to begin the inning.
Great Bend would answer for 4-runs of their own, scoring on a pair of passed balls before Robby Bolin’s single tied the game.
In the sixth, Cooper Harris’ solo home run would break the tie, then in the seventh, Flaggert’s would collect his third RBI of the game with a single, and a balk in the eighth would give the Monarchs an 7-4 lead with six outs to record.
The BatCats would chip away in the bottom of the 8th, claiming two unearned runs, as Nolan Bushko’s double and Connor Chavez’s single came back-to-back.
Robby Bolin would reach on an error to begin the bottom of the ninth, and Matthew Mendez’s double would put two in scoring position for Armani Raygoza, who took the first pitch to left-center field, as Bolin and Mendez would score on the walk-off double.
Paco Hernandez was credited for the win on the mound for the BatCats, closing the door in the final two innings of the 8-7 win.
The two won’t have to wait long for a rematch, as they will be back at Al Burns Memorial Field on Friday, with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m.
