BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

The Great Bend Bat Cats shocked the first-place Hutchinson Monarchs 6-5 Monday to pull off a miraculous rally for the second time this summer. The Bat Cats (12-10) trailed 5-0 after five innings before staging its second comeback rally after upsetting the Cheney Diamond Dawgs 9-6 last week.

Andrew Enwiya delivered the game-winning single down the third-base line to score Noah Best with the tying run and Jett Forrest with the game-winning run off reliever Skyler Jaco. Reliever Jarrett Seaton kept the Bat Cats close with 71/3 innings of work. Kody Parker (1-1) earned the victory.

"I was trying to put the ball in play," Enwiya said in a postgame radio interview. "Seaton is our leader. Our pitching has kept us in games. They did good today."

Alex Rodgers doubled and scored on a ninth-inning wild pitch. Best walked. The Bat Cats were down to their final out when Forrest was hit by a pitch and Brett Freiberg reached base on catcher's interference.

Enwiya's game-winner triggered a wild celebration at Al Burns Memorial Field. The Bat Cats lost a pair of one-run games and a pair of two-run games in a 1-6 stretch heading into Monday's game.

"The good news is we keep playing hard," said Bat Cats coach Roger Ward. "The law of averages tells you that things will go our way."

The Monarchs (16-6) roared to a 4-0 lead June 25 against Bat Cats starter David Blackburn. Tanner White doubled home Jordan Ardoin and Easton Loyd after back-to-back singles. White scored on a double steal with Carter Young for a 3-0 lead. Loyd singled home Ardoin in the second inning. Ardoin scored on Sterling Sutcliffe's sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead. But Seaton struck out Garrett Anglim to leave the bases loaded.

Bat Cat Tyler Henry drilled a two-run homer after Enwiya reached base on an error in the sixth inning. Nico Baumbach homered in the seventh inning to slice the margin to 5-3.

But Monarch pitcher Jaco was ineffective in the ninth inning.

The Bat Cats (12-10) play Sunflower Collegiate League-leader Cheney (19-7) the next three games at Cheney. 

"We beat the first-place team tonight and play the new first-place team," Ward said. "We have to take it day-by-day. Our pitching is lined up. We've got to put the baseball in play."

Monarchs 310 100 000 — 5 11 0 

Bat Cats 000 002 103 — 6 6 1

Perry, Schoch, Jaco (9) and Griese, Harris (3). Blackburn, Seaton (2), Parker (9) and Forrest. W—Parker, 1-0. L—Jaco. 2B—GB—Best, Rodgers, Henry; HM—White. HR—GB—Henry, Baumbach,