WICHITA, Kan. — The Hutchinson Monarchs will face the Liberal Bee Jays on Wednesday evening as bracket play begins at the 92nd National Baseball Congress World Series.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. The winner will advance to play the Alaska Goldpanners at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Hutchinson finished pool play with a 2-1 record, rebounding from a 6-5 loss to the Lonestar Baseball Club in its tournament opener. The Monarchs defeated TPA Texas 10-5 before closing pool play Monday night with a 15-5 victory over the Seattle Blackfins.
Liberal also went 2-1 during pool play. The Bee Jays lost their opener to the BTL Hornets, then defeated the Great Bend Bat Cats 7-0 before falling to the Santa Barbara Foresters 7-2 on Tuesday.
Three other Kansas teams will compete in Wednesday’s opening round.
The Hays Larks will face the Seattle Cheney Studs at 8:30 p.m. Hays went 2-1 in pool play, earning victories over the San Diego Stars and Tess’s Army before losing 8-3 to Alaska. The winner will meet the Lonestar Baseball Club at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Junction City Brigade and Santa Barbara Foresters received spots in Thursday’s quarterfinals after each went unbeaten in pool play. Junction City will face the winner between the BTL Hornets and Seattle Blackfins at 6 p.m., while Santa Barbara will play the winner between Tess’s Army and the Austin Gold Sox at noon.
Great Bend was eliminated after going 0-3 in pool play.
Wednesday’s bracket schedule begins with Tess’s Army against Austin at noon, followed by BTL and Seattle at 3 p.m. Hutchinson and Liberal meet at 6 p.m., with Hays and the Cheney Studs closing the night at 8:30.
The semifinals are scheduled for Friday at 6 and 8:30 p.m. The championship game will be played at 7 p.m. Saturday.