HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Monarchs walked off the Alaska Goldpanners, 2-1, on Thursday evening, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth at Eck Stadium on the Wichita State University campus. The win sends the Monarchs to the NBC World Series semifinal for the third consecutive season.
The Monarchs will play the Seattle Cheney Studs in Friday's semifinal at 6 p.m.
With the game tied at 1, Drew Bugner delivered the decisive hit, driving in the winning run with an single that one hopped the fence in the left field corner.
Both pitching staffs were sharp. Monarchs hurlers combined for 10 strikeouts, while the Goldpanners’ arms fanned seven. Alaska struck first in the fourth inning on a run-scoring single by Christian Olea. Hutchinson evened the score in the sixth when a wild pitch brought home the tying run.
Monarchs starter Ethan Giesbrecht worked five innings, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Relievers Mitchell Johnson, Brady Pacha, Kyle Holzer and Aiden Benson each tossed a scoreless frame. Alaska’s Lukas Sarantos went 5 2/3 innings, yielding one run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Jake Gutierrez paced the Monarchs’ offense with three hits in five at-bats. Bugner drove in the winning run with his lone hit of the night.
Olea, Garrett Davidson, Matthew Pinal and Alex Garcia each had one hit for Alaska. Olea finished 1-for-4 with the Goldpanners’ only RBI.