SALINA - Taylor Barber hit a single-game franchise-record three home runs and helped the Hutchinson Monarchs win a wild game on Saturday at Salina.
The Monarchs saw a nine-run lead turn into three-run deficit only to rally with the final four runs of the game to defeat the Shock 15-14, the Monarchs' fourth-consecutive victory overall and 12th in a row against the Shock,
Barber became the first Monarch in franchise history to hit three home runs in a single game. Five other Monarchs - Scott Splett, Tommy Field, Bobby Morgensen, Barber and Skylar Black - had two home-run games.
Barber reached base in all six plate appearances on Saturday night. He was 3 for 3 with three homers and seven RBIs. Barber was hit with pitches twice and walked once. In addition to settng the Monarchs' single-game home run record, Barber also tied the single-game record for total bases with 12.
Barber also helped the Monarchs set a team single-game record with five home runs in the game. Brayden Whitchurch and Dylan Nedved also homered in the game. Barber's seven RBIs signed Nedved for the second-most RBIs in a single game in franchise history.
Nedved went 4 for 4 with his first homer of the season, scoring three runs and driving in three runs. Jeremiah Ceasar, Colton Cowser and Brayden Whitchurch had two hits each. Whitchurch's homer was his first of the season and he had two RBIs.
The Monarchs were out-hit 18-15.
Dawson Linder (1-0) picked up the pitching win with 3 2-3 innings of relief work. He allowed two hits and no runs with seven strikeouts and three walks. Linder pitched out of an seventh-inning jam with no runs scored. He stranded the potential game-tying run at third base in the ninth.
Barber's first homer of the game was a three-run shot in Hutch's five-run second that gave the Monarchs a 6-1 lead. Whitchurch hit a two-run blast in the third to give Hutch an 8-1 lead. The Monarch cushion balooned to 11-3 when Nedved and Barber went back-to-back in the top of the fifth.
Salina then scored 11 unanswered runs - seven in the fifth and four in the sixth - to zoom past the Monarchs for a 14-11 lead after six innings.
With one out in the seventh, Whitchurch reached on a fielder's choice and Nedved singled. Barber then tied the game with his record-breaking homer, a three-run clout to left to knot the score at 14.
Still tied into the ninth, Cowser led off the inning with a single up the middle. He took second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Nedved hit a fly ball to center to score Cowser to give Hutch a 15-14 lead.
