BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend Bat Cat Kirby Orth capped the summer's most significant victory with a 3-run homer that clinched a 7-5 victory over the Junction City Brigade Sunday.
Reliever Jose Ortega (1-0, 4.96 ERA) earned the victory with 41/3 solid innings in his final summer appearance. Ortega will pitch for Div. 2 Cal State Dominguez in Carson, Calif.
Rightfielder Dylan Serna and centerfielder Orth flagged down fly balls to key Ortega's defense, which included a double play.
"I wanted to keep the ball on the ground and in the air to get outs," Ortega said. "We were down, and my goal was to minimize the damage."
Reliever Carter Graham recorded the final two outs to preserve the victory.
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 ahead 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 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 Brigade lead.
Great Bend's Cesar Chavira scored twice and Orth scored on wild pitches for a 4-3 deficit.
Orth's sixth-inning homer off Logan Firgens 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 Brayden Harpole for a 6-5 score.
Shaw's eighth-inning double scored McCarroll for a valuable insurance run.
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), Graham (9) and Chavira. W—Ortega, 1-0. L—Firgens. SV—Graham. 2B—GB—Shaw; JC—Luce, Walker, Oviatt. HR—GB—Orth.
HUTCHINSON — Hutchinson's 12-3 victory over the Great Bend Bat Cats Tuesday guaranteed a 4-team showdown for the Jayhawk Collegiate League.
Great Bend (23-8, 21-8 Jayhawk), Hutchinson (19-8) or Derby (19-8) would win the league if they win their final games. Junction City (19-9) must defeat Derby and the Bat Cats must lose two games.
Defending NBC champion Hutchinson visits Great Bend Wednesday.
Great Bend's Andrugh Yee hit his ninth homer. Kirby Orth hit his fifth homer to bring home George McCarroll.
Shortstop T.J. Shaw turned James Dagenhart's second-inning groundball into a double play. Centerfielder Orth turned a fly ball out by Jackson Schanuel into a eighth-inning double play at home plate.
Hutchinson pounded out 15 hits off a trio of Great Bend pitchers. The Monarchs scored four runs in the third inning and added five runs in the seventh inning.
Schanuel drilled a 3-run homer. J.J. Spafford drove in two runs with three hits. Carter Hepner and Nash Wray each drove home two runs.
Hutchinson starter Bradyn McClure struck out nine batters and reliever Daegen Vinduska added a trio of strikeouts.
Great Bend 100 020 000 — 3 7 2
Hutchinson 104 010 51x — 12 15 1
Curran, Iseman (5), Kaiser (7) and Chavrira. McCure, Vindustka (7) and Sabethe. W—McClure. L—Curran, 0-1. SV—Vinduska. 2B—H—Knox. 3B—H—Bugner. HR—GB—Yee (9), Orth (5); H—Schanuel.
JAYHAWK COLLEGIATE
Great Bend Bat Cats 21-8 23-8
Hutchinson Monarchs 19-8 20-8
Derby Twins 19-8 19-9
Junction City Brigade 19-9 20-9
Haysville Aviators 14-13 19-13
Kansas Cannons 13-14 14-14-1
Newton Rebels 9-18 11-20
Wichita Factory 8-20 8-20
Kingman Islanders 2-26 2-26
7-10—Great Bend 9, Junction City 5; Hutchinson 14, Haysville 6
7-12—Great Bend 7, Junction City 5; Derby 11, Haysville 1; Wichita 11, Newton 6
7-13—Hutchinson 5, Haysville 3; Cannons 11, Kingman 5; Newton 5, Wichita 0
7-14—Hutchinson 12, Great Bend 3; Junction City 5, Derby 3; Newton 15, Cannons 5; Haysville 17, Kingman 5
7-15—Hutchinson at Great Bend; Junction City at Derby; Cannons at Derby
