BY JIM MISUNAS jmisunas@gbtribune.com Great Bend Bat Cat Kirby Orth capped the season's most significant victory with a 3-run homer that clinched a 7-5 victory over the Junction City Brigade Sunday. Great Bend outscored the Brigade 7-1 after trailing 4-0. The first-place Bat Cats (23-7, 21-7 Jayhawk) move 21/2 games of the Brigade. The Jayhawk Collegiate champion earns an invite to the 2026 NBC World Series. Great Bend has two games remaining against Hutchinson and two against Haysville. Former Bat Cat Kyle Walker ripped a 2-run double. Hayden Oviatt hit an RBI double and Ian Luce scored on a groundout for a 4-0 lead. Great Bend's Cesar Chavira scored twice and Orth scored on wild pitches for a 4-3 score. Orth's sixth-inning homer came after Andrugh Yee was hit by a pitch and Dylan Sarna singled for a 6-4 lead. Shortstop T.J. Shaw and second baseman George McCarroll turned a critical double play that scored Harpole for a 6-5 score. Shaw's eighth-inning double scored McCarroll for a valuable insurance run. Reliever Ortega earned the victory with four solid innings. Carter Graham recorded the final three outs to preserve the victory. Junction City 022 000 100 — 5 Great Bend 000 123 01x — 7 Chambers, Gagnon (2) Siemens (5), Firgens (6(, Kellogg (7) and Jorgensen. Smth, Ortega (5), Grhahm (9) and Chavira. W—Ortega L—. SV—Graham. 2B—GB—Shaw; JC—Luce, Walker, Oviat. HR—GB—Orth. JAYHAWK COLLEGIATE Great Bend Bat Cats 21-7 23-7 Derby Twins 17-7 17-8 Junction City Brigade 18-9 19-9 Hutchinson Monarchs 17-8 18-8 Haysville Aviators 13-11 18-11 Kansas Cannons 12-13 13-13-1 Newton Rebels 7-17 9-19 Wichita Factory 7-19 7-19 Kingman Islanders 2-23 2-23 7-21—Derby at Haysville 7-20—Derby at Haysville 7-19—Hutchinson at Newton; Cannons at Derby 7-18—Great Bend at Haysville; Kingman at Newton (2); Junction City at Wichita; Cannons at Derby 7-17—Haysville at Great Bend; Wichita at Junction City; Newton at Hutchinson; Cannons at Kingman 7-16—Kingman at Haysville; Cannons at Junction City 7-15—Hutchinson at Great Bend; Junction City at Derby; Cannons at Derby 7-14—Great Bend at Hutchinson; Derby at Junction City; Newton at Cannons; Haysville at Kingman 7-13—Hutchinson at Haysville; Wichita at Newton 7-12—Great Bend 7, Junction City 5; Haysville at Derby; Newton at Wichita; Kingman at Cannons 7-10—Great Bend 9, Junction City 5; Hutchinson 14, Haysville 6