WICHITA, Kan. — The Hutchinson Monarchs continue their magical postseason run with a semifinal appearance in the 89th NBC World Series on Friday evening at 6 p.m. against the Five Tool Kraken (Tex.). The game will be played at Eck Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University.
The NBC World Series began last Thursday with 16 teams, six of which were from the Sunflower State, and the Monarchs are the final Kansas team remaining.
The other semifinal will feature the Santa Barbara Foresters (Calif.) and the Seattle Studs (Wash.), which is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Santa Barbara is the only other team remaining that is unbeaten.
The Monarchs had a rough start to the season, going 7-11 in the month of June. Since the all-star break in the first week of July, the Monarchs have been scorching hot. The Monarchs are 4-0 in the NBC World Series, and have won five straight games and 10 of its last 12 games. The Monarchs enter the semifinal game with a 25-16 record.
Hutchinson currently leads the NBC World Series in team batting average (.349), RBI (34), hits (53), doubles (15) and total bases (79). Max Buettenback and Cooper Harris are tied for second in the tournament with six RBI apiece.
The Five Tool Kraken are 3-2 in the NBC World Series. They finished third-place in pool B, going 1-2 in the pool. The Kraken fell 10-0 to the Santa Barbara Foresters in its first game of the tournament, then bounced back for an 11-9 win over Sandlot (Okla.), and then wrapped up pool play with a 17-8 loss to the Great Bend Bat Cats. The Kraken have won back-to-back games in bracket play over the Hays Larks, 9-2, and then a 6-3 win over the Kansas Cannons last night.
The Kraken offense is led by University of Central Arkansas signee, Preston Curtis who is 10-for-15 at the plate with four doubles, one home run and five RBI. Josh Livingston is 5-for-13 with two doubles, two home runs and a team-high nine walks in 23 plate appearances. Livingston is a Wichita State signee.
Find more information regarding the NBC World Series here. You can also find all of the box scores and stats from the tournament here. Tickets start at $10 for general admission, or $15 for reserved seating, and tickets are good for the full day’s slate of games. They can be purchased online at nbcbaseball.com or at the Eck Stadium Box Office on game days.
The NBC World Series will pay out $69,000 in total cash compensation for the top eight teams. The breakdown of compensation is:
- 1st – $18,000
- 2nd – $15,000
- 3rd – $9,000 – two teams
- 5th – $4,500 – four teams
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
6 p.m. - Hutchinson Monarchs vs. Five Tool Kraken
8:30 p.m. - Santa Barbara Foresters vs. Seattle Studs
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
7 p.m. - Championship Game