NEWTON, Kan. - The Hutchinson Monarchs spotted the Newton Rebels an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning then the Newton pitchers lost sight of the plate and walked in 4 runs in the top of the 3rd inning.
Seven straight walks with one out in the top of the third inning led to four Hutchinson runs. Drew Reetz added an RBI single in the fourth inning. “When you walk seven in a row and walk four runs in like that, you can’t expect to win games like that,” Newton manager Bret Clark said.
That was all the Monarchs strong pitching staff needed as the Monarchs won their season opener over the Rebels 7-2. Zach Bravo took the loss for Newton, allowing three runs on a hit with four walks and five strikeouts. Hunter Waugh was the winning pitcher for the Monarchs.
The Monarchs are now 7-5 in home openers.
The two teams meet again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Eck Stadium in Wichita, then return to Newton at 7 p.m. Thursday. They finish the series at 7 p.m. Friday at Hobart-Detter Field.
The Tuesday game at Eck Stadium will be streamed on the Sunflower League web site. Hutchpost.com will provide the link to that site later on Tuesday.