If things pan out right for Great Bend High School, both the Panthers baseball team and the Lady Panthers softball team will be playing host to Class 5A regional tournaments next Tuesday.
The Great Bend baseball team (14-4) has already secured the No. 2 seed and will host regional play at Al Burns Memorial Field. The Panthers likely will face either Topeka West or Newton in a first-round game at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Panthers travel to Scott City today for a non-conference doubleheader to end the regular season. It is a makeup from a postponement because of inclement weather earlier in the season.
The GBHS softball team (15-3) needs to win at least one of two games today in a regular-season-ending triangular at Harms Field to secure a home regional berth. The Lady Panthers play Hutchinson at 2 p.m., followed by the McPherson-Hutchinson game at 4 and the Great Bend-McPherson game at 6.
In a worst-case scenario, a pair of losses today and a Valley Center win would force a coin-flip to determine a regional home berth. Valley Center (15-5) plays Arkansas City on Friday in the second game of a game that was suspended earlier in the season because of lightning.
In another scenario, if Salina South would happen to upset Hays twice in a doubleheader and the Lady Panthers win both of their games today, it would force a coin flip between Hays and Great Bend for the No. 1 overall seed.
If the Lady Panthers wind up as the No. 2 seed, they will likely play Wichita West on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Harms Field.
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Hays, the No. 1 seed in both baseball and softball and will host regionals on Tuesday, providing the softball team doesn’t stumble.
Hays’ baseball team, the defending state champions, has already secured a No. 1 seed. The Indians went undefeated in eight WAC games to capture the conference crown. Great Bend and Dodge City tied for second place in the WAC with 5-3 records.
Hays’ softball team, which swept Garden City 3-0 and 7-2 on Tuesday, won the WAC crown outright with the Lady Panthers (6-2) finishing second.