WICHITA, Kan. - The Cheney, KS Diamond Dawgs will make the team's second straight appearance in the NBC World Series championship game as they defeated the Hutchinson, KS Monarchs 10-3 in the 2020 NBC World Series powered by Evergy on Sunday night at Eck Stadium.
Cheney’s championship game appearance marks the 25th time a team has made the championship game two years in a row at the NBC World Series. Hutchinson collected its best finish in franchise history in the NBC World Series, finishing in third place and came up with its fourth 30-win season in the 12-year history of the team. Their 32 wins are the third most in franchise history.
Trevin Reynolds led the Diamond Dawgs with seven strikeouts in six innings pitched while Luke Sartori and Clayton Chadwick led the Hutchinson offense with two hits each.
The Monarchs grabbed the game’s first lead off a balk and a wild pitch in the bottom of the third inning, but the Diamond Dawgs used a five-run outing in the top of the fourth inning to take a three-run lead. A 6-3 putout in the bottom of the seventh inning allowed the Monarchs to cut the deficit to two runs. Cheney, however, extended its lead 7-3 off a two-run home run from Wichita State’s Corrigan Bartlett.
Caleb Farmer’s double to center field in the top of the ninth inning allowed the Diamond Dawgs to score two more insurance runs. Southeast Missouri’s Lincoln Andrews drove in the final insurance run for the Diamond Dawgs later in the inning, coming up with an RBI single.
The Diamond Dawgs face the seven-time NBC World Series champions, the Santa Barbara, CA Foresters, in the 2020 championship game on Monday night at 6 p.m. at Eck Stadium.