HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Monarchs are getting ready for another summer of baseball, but before the first pitch, the organization has a key need to fill.
Monarchs owner and general manager Marc Blackim said the team still needs seven host families for the upcoming season. Players report Monday, May 25, and the season begins Friday, May 29, against the Performance Factory Phenoms at Rose Hill High School. Hutchinson’s home opener is Saturday, May 30, against the Phenoms at Hobart-Detter Field.
Host families provide players with a place to stay, a bed and food during the summer season. Blackim said the role is vital to the Monarchs’ operation.
“They’re the most important part of our organization, because if we don’t have them, we’re not able to do what we do,” Blackim said.
Blackim said players understand they are expected to follow each family’s house rules. While the commitment lasts about nine weeks, he said the relationships often extend far beyond one summer.
“The kids that we’ve hosted over the years, they’ve become family to us,” Blackim said. “We still celebrate holidays together. We’ve gone on vacations with some of them. We follow them through their career after the Monarchs.”
The Monarchs enter the summer as one of the top summer collegiate programs in the country. Hutchinson has won two of the last three NBC World Series championships, including last year’s title over the Lonestar Kraken and the 2023 championship over the Santa Barbara Foresters.
Blackim said the roster will have its usual turnover, but he is optimistic about this year’s group.
“Every year we usually have five, six, maybe seven guys from the previous season come back, and this one’s going to be no different,” Blackim said. “I think we’re looking pretty solid, to be honest with you. I think it’s going to be another good summer.”
This year’s roster includes players from across the country, as well as one player from Venezuela. Hutchinson Community College will again be well represented, with Blackim expecting seven or eight Blue Dragons to play for the Monarchs this summer.
Blackim said the organization’s ability to recruit players comes down to relationships built over time.
“It’s all about relationships that we’ve built over the past 17 years,” Blackim said. “We’ve worked well with a core group of coaches that always send us three or four players.”
Blackim said former players have helped expand the Monarchs’ recruiting reach by moving on to four-year programs and recommending Hutchinson as a summer destination.
“We’ve had a little success, and with success brings other schools going, ‘Hey, we’d like to send our guys there,’” Blackim said.
The Monarchs also added local talent in Trinity Catholic pitcher Drew Dechant. Blackim said it is uncommon for the team to carry many high school seniors, but Dechant made sense for this year’s roster.
“Being local and having the talent that Drew has, we thought it was a great fit,” Blackim said.
Blackim said pitching continues to be one of the biggest challenges in summer collegiate baseball. Some college programs prefer to shut pitchers down after the spring season, while others are cautious about sending players out for the summer because of injury concerns and the transfer portal.
Still, Blackim said the Monarchs’ league remains in a strong position. The league will again have nine teams this summer.
“I think stable, the word you used, is a very good word to use, because our league is very stable,” Blackim said. “There’s a lot of leagues that are struggling right now, and it all has to do with finding players.”
Hutchinson is scheduled to play 19 home games from late May through mid-August at Hobart-Detter Field.
The NBC World Series is scheduled for the final 10 days of July, with the championship game set for Aug. 1. Blackim said most games will be played at Eck Stadium in Wichita, with the championship game scheduled for Equity Bank Park.
Families interested in hosting a player can call Blackim at 316-648-4882. More information is available at monarchsbaseball.org.