DERBY – The Great Bend Bat Cats’ are down to their ninth and final life. Their amazing quest for the NBC Baseball Championship in their inaugural season will come down to their final Jayhawk League game.
The Bat Cats (22-19) stay tied with the Dodge City A’s (22-19) following a 10-5 victory over the Derby Twins Wednesday. But since Dodge City beat Haysville, the teams stayed tied for the fourth NBC berth for the Jayhawk League.
Dodge City owns the tiebreaker over the Bat Cats with a 4-2 series edge. The Bat Cats play at Derby Thursday and Haysville plays at Dodge City.
Bat Cats Ben Sems, Corrigan Bartlett, Jordan Wilkerson and Payton Barnes homered at Derby’s hitter-friendly bandbox. Starter Taylor Langston pitched six innings and struck out four batters.
Hunter Romero’s RBI groundout and Brandon Fontenot’s RBI single gave the Bat Cats a 2-0 lead. Sems’ homer gave Great Bend a 3-2 lead. Sems delivered an RBI single for a 4-3 lead. Bartlett drilled a two-run homer for a 6-3 lead. Barnes’ homer made it 7-3.
Wilkerson’s homer gave the Bat Cats an 8-5 lead. Barnes and Sems delivered RBI singles for a 10-5 lead after eight innings.

BAT CATS 10, DERBY 5
GB 201 031 030 – 10 17 1
DT 200 100 200 – 5 12 1
Langston, Ruxlow (7), Repp (9) and Bonar. Britt, McMutcheon (5), LeClair (6), Myers (8), Lindley (9) and Bourland. W—Langston. L—Britt. 2B—GB—Zunica, Bartlett; DT—Bland 2. HR—GB—Sems, Bartlett, Wilkerson, Barnes; DT—Fernandez.

DERBY 6, BAT CATS 5 (Tuesday) — The Great Bend Bat Cats were one out away from another historic Jayhawk League victory when Derby’s Russell Crippen ruined the night. His two-out, two-run double turned a huge victory into a heartbreaking 6-5 loss Tuesday.
Crippen’s double off Dawson Pomeroy scored Davis Elliot and Noah Bland for the tying and winning runs with two out. The Bat Cats drop to 21-19 with games left Wednesday and Thursday at Derby. The Bat Cats stayed tied with Dodge City (21-19), which lost 6-2 to Haysville Tuesday. El Dorado (20-20) also lost 5-3 to the Hays Larks.
Peyton Barnes homered off Matthew Dallas for a 5-4 lead after seven innings. Ben Sems homered in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. Brandon Bachar drilled a two-run homer in the fifth inning after Brennan Fontenot walked. Corrigan Bartlett’s single scored Barnes for a 4-3 lead after Barnes walked and Sems singled.

DERBY 6, GREAT BEND 5
GB 100 030 100 – 5 9 0
DT 003 010 002 – 6 10 1
Seaton, Pritchard (6), Pomeroy (9) and Asher. Burch, Cook, (5), Dallas (7), Myers (9) and Thibodeaux. W—Myers. L—Pomeroy. 2B—GB—Romero; DT—Cripper 2. HR—GB—Sems, Bacher, Barnes.

JAYHAWK LEAGUE BASEBALL
Liberal BeeJays 30-12
Hays Larks 29-12
Derby Twins 28-13
GB Bat Cats 22-19
Dodge City As 22-19
El Dorado Broncos 20-21
Haysville Aviators 10-31
x-Oklahoma City 4-38
x-OKC forfeits 6 games

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Liberal 1, OKC 0 (forfeit)
Haysville at Dodge City
Great Bend at Derby
El Dorado at Hays

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Liberal 1, OKC 0 (forfeit)
Great Bend 10, Derby 5
Hays 10, El Dorado 0
Dodge City 10, Haysville 6

TUESDAY’S GAMES
Liberal 1, OKC 0 (forfeit)
Derby 6, Great Bend 5
Hays 5, El Dorado 3
Haysville 6, Dodge City 2

MONDAY’S GAME
Liberal 18, Hays Larks 6