Five things to know from pool play with NBC World Series baseball shifting to bracket

Pool play in the 89th National Baseball Congress World Series concluded at Eck Stadium late Tuesday evening, setting up the start of single-elimination bracket play on Wednesday.

Here are the five things for Wichita fans to know about what happened in the first six days of the tournament during pool play.

Tickets start at $10 for general admission and can be purchased online through Wichita State’s ticket office.

1. Hutchinson Monarchs carry hot play into NBC World Series

The Hutchinson Monarchs finished with a 19-16 record in Jayhawk Collegiate League play this summer, but won eight of their final 10 games entering the NBC World Series.

That hot play has carried over to Eck Stadium, where the Monarchs came away with a perfect 3-0 record in arguably the toughest group. Hutchinson earned a top seed and first-round bye, set to face the winner between Lonestar Baseball and Arlington Baptist on Thursday.

Hutchinson kicked off the tournament with a nail-biter, rallying from a 4-0 deficit in the final two innings against the Hays Larks and then scoring two runs in the 11th inning for a 6-4 victory.

Maize graduate Jaden Gustafson, an outfielder at Wichita State, sparked the Monarchs with a two-RBI double, then scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning. Caleb Cotton (Sam Houston State) tied the game with an RBI double in the ninth, then put Hutchinson in front with a go-ahead RBI double in the 11th inning, while Andale graduate Drew Bugner plated an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.

After run-ruling the Seattle Blackfins, champions of the Pacific International League, the Monarchs held on in a 12-11 shootout with the GPS Legends from Texas on Tuesday. Hutchinson led 9-6 after the second inning, trailed 10-9 after the seventh inning, but took a 12-10 lead in the eighth inning on a three-run home run by former WSU catcher Cooper Harris (Pittsburg State).

Harris leads the tournament with six RBIs, while Gustafson and Nebraska outfielder Max Buettenback have five apiece. Hutchinson Community College outfielder Will Edmunson leads the team with six hits, while Bishop Carroll graduate Brady Pacha (Pittsburg State) struck out eight and allowed just one earned run in six innings to earn a victory in his start.

2. Kansas Cannons earn top seed in competitive group

Pool A saw three teams finish with a 2-1 record, as the Kansas Cannons, Lonestar Baseball Club and Denver Cougars all traded victories against one another.

But it was the Jayhawk Collegiate League champions that won the tiebreaker with score differential, thanks to an 8-1 win over Denver and 9-0 victory over Sedgwick County Blues on Monday.

As a result, the Cannons earned a day of rest on Wednesday and will face the winner between the Hays Larks and Five Tool Kraken on Thursday.

Maize South graduate Jack Wagner, who crushed 15 home runs with 56 RBIs and a .337 batting average at Tarleton State this past season and is now committed to Arkansas, has led the way for the Cannons with five hits and a team-high five RBI.

Bishop Carroll graduate Cale Blasi, committed to William Jewell, has a team-high six hits with a .625 on-base percentage, while Arkansas City graduate Garrett VanDeventer (Newman) and Winfield native Conner Woods (Stephen F. Austin) have both tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball.

3. Hays Larks enter bracket play with two straight wins

After losing a heartbreaker to the Hutchinson Monarchs, failing to protect a 4-0 lead in the final two innings in an eventual 6-4 loss in 11 innings, the Hays Larks bounced back with two strong wins.

Holland native Luuk ter Beek (Fort Hays State) earned the win in a 5-2 win over the GPS Legends, then Hays’ offense jumped all over the Seattle Blackfins, scoring 11 runs in the fourth inning to run-rule the Pacific International League champions in a 16-3 victory on Tuesday.

Arkansas State shortstop Austen Jaslove leads the team with five hits and three RBIs through three games, while Damian Ruiz (Huston Christian) and Trent Baker (Huston Christian) each have four hits. Another Huston Christian product, infielder Tyler LaRue, leads the team with five RBIs, while Dallas Baptist starter Tyler Schott struck out nine in six innings and didn’t allow a run in his start against the Monarchs.

After finishing second in pool play, the Larks will play an elimination game against the Five Tool Kraken, a third-place team from Group B, in a showcase 6 p.m. game at Eck Stadium on Wednesday.

4. Liberal Bee Jays come back strong after opening loss

Things didn’t start pretty for the proud Kansas organization that has five NBC World Series championships to its name.

But after taking a 10-2 shellacking to the hands of the Seattle Studs, the Liberal Bee Jays followed with a 12-4 rout of the D-Bat Collegiate League team and run-ruled Arlington Baptist 13-3 on Monday.

The D-Bat Collegiate League team managed to pull off an upset of the Studs, but Seattle still edged Liberal in run differential for the group’s top seed. Seattle will face the winner between the Great Bend Bat Cats and Seattle Blackfins on Thursday, while Liberal faces the Denver Cougars, the third-place team in Group A, in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Arkansas catcher Hudson Polk has a team-high six RBIs for Liberal, as he has hit a home run and has a .364 batting average through three games. Australia native Ryota Kusumoto (Oklahoma Panhandle) has five hits and five RBIs, while Owen May (Point Loma Nazarene) and Issac Webb (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) both have four hits for the Bee Jays.

5. Great Bend Bat Cats pushed three-time defending champions

The Santa Barbara Foresters were heavy favorites entering the NBC World Series, as the organization is seeking a tournament-record fourth straight championship.

The Foresters maintained their status with a perfect 3-0 record in pool play, but the Great Bend Bat Cats showed they could compete with the star-studded roster of the California Collegiate League champions in an extra-innings 5-4 loss on Sunday.

Great Bend took a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning when Tyler Cowan delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to break a tied game. The Foresters rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh inning, capitalizing on an error for one run and then scoring another on an RBI single by Texas sophomore Jalin Flores.

Santa Barbara walked it off in the bottom of the 10th inning after Flores led off with a double, then scored on another error by Great Bend.

Barton County catcher Grant Nottlemann has led the Bat Cats with a 7-for-11 (.636 average) showing through three games. Great Bend finished 21-7 this summer and won the regular-season title in the Jayhawk Collegiate League.

The Bat Cats face an elimination game against the Seattle Blackfins, which finish third in Pool D, in Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. game. Meanwhile, group winner Santa Barbara will face the winner between the Liberal Bee Jays and Denver Cougars on Thursday.