HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The magic of Hobart-Detter Field struck again Wednesday night, as the Hutchinson Monarchs (22-5) walked off the Great Bend Bat Cats 3-2 in a dramatic finish to a tightly contested Jayhawk Collegiate League matchup.
Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, Hutchinson rallied behind a clutch at-bat from catcher Jake Knox, who delivered a two-run walk-off double to right field to score Drew Bugner and Dylan Bell, sending the Monarchs and the home crowd into celebration.
Bugner drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After an out and a strikeout, Bell worked a walk to set the stage for Knox’s heroics. Facing a 2-2 count, Knox fouled off a pair of pitches before driving a liner to right that plated both runners and sealed the Monarchs' comeback.
The Bat Cats struck first with a solo homer by Tony Moore in the second and added another run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Walker to take a 2-0 lead. Hutchinson scratched across a run in the sixth when Tyler Mitchell tripled and later scored on a single by Jacob Gutierrez.
Pitching was sharp on both sides throughout the night. Monarchs starter Brayden McClure went six strong innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out three and walking none. Kyle Chamberlain and Riley Dickey combined for three scoreless innings of relief, with Dickey earning the win.
Great Bend’s J Field went 6.2 innings and giving up one run, before C Kunz allowed the final two runs in the ninth taking the tough-luck loss after going just 1.2 innings giving up the two runs on one hit, walking 2 and sticking out two.
The win extends Hutchinson’s dominance at Hobart-Detter and keeps them atop the league standings as they near the final stretch of the regular season.
The same two teams go at it tonight in Great Bend. First pitch at 7pm. Video is available on the Bat Cat's YouTube Channel.
The Monarchs will continue their season traveling to Kingman on Friday the back home later this week before looking to build on their 22-5 record and lock in a high seed for the upcoming NBC World Series in Wichita.