Great Bend High School head softball coach Carrie Minton got some surprising news on Tuesday evening.
At the GBHS baseball game against Garden City, it was announced that the Garden City softball team split a doubleheader with Hays, giving the Lady Panthers sole ownership of the Western Athletic Conference title with a 7-1 record.
Hays fell to 18-2 overall, 6-2 in the WAC.
“We had that opening of the ballpark ceremony, so practice ran a little late,” Minton said. “We found out from the radio announcers from Garden City, who were at the baseball game. They told us that Garden City won the second game 4-3.
“There was an announcement at the game, and some of the girls were there. They started to spread the word. We haven’t officially told the team, but the word is out there.”
Great Bend, 15-3 overall, finishes its regular season schedule at Hutchinson on Thursday. The doubleheader begins at 4 p.m.
Minton said that there is a chance that the Lady Panthers will be playing for a home game in the first round of a Class 5A regional tournament.
“Hays and Goddard-Eisenhower are up there right now,” Minton said. “Hays finished the season 18-2, so they are sure to be either one or two, but Goddard-Eisenhower played Maize (on Tuesday). They were 17-1 going in and Maize has already won the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League, so it is a good chance that they sweep Goddard-Eisenhower.
“If they do, and we sweep Hutch, then we’d be tied at 17-3 overall. Then there would be a coin toss to see who would be the No. 2 seed.”