By Brad Hallier
After dropping their last two games in pool play, the Hutchinson Monarchs took out their frustrations on the Liberal BeeJays on Wednesday in the first round of the NBC World Series bracket play.
Scoreless and down three runs after four innings, the Monarchs had an epic 11-run fifth inning and continued to pile on the runs in beating Liberal 15-4.
Liberal led 3-0 after four innings, but then the Monarchs went wild in a long fifth inning. Cooper Wesslund, Camden Johnson and Jaden Gustafson provided early hits as the Monarchs took a 4-3 lead.
Gustafson finished with three hits, two doubles, two runs and three RBIs. He added a two-run double in the Monarchs’ four-run seventh inning.
Every Monarch had at least one hit and scored at least once, and eight Monarchs had at least one RBI. Johnson also had three hits.
Garrett Folmar was the winning pitcher, pitching 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief. He allowed no hits, walked zero and struck out three.
The Monarchs advance to the quarterfinals where they’ll take on the Santa Barbara Foresters in a rematch of last year’s championship game. The game will be Thursday at a time to be determined.
