By Brad Hallier
The Hutchinson Monarchs raced to an early seven-run lead Monday before holding off a late Newton rally, as the Monarchs beat Newton 8-6 in Newton.
Cole Toureau turned in one of the top pitching performances of the season. The winning pitcher in last year’s NBC World Series championship game was nails again, throwing seven innings, allowing a run on two hits while striking out 14.
Jace Minor helped get out of trouble in Newton’s five-run seventh inning, and he pitched two shutout innings in earning a save.
The Monarchs didn’t waste much time getting on top. Blake Bradford’s RBI single with nobody out gave the Monarchs the lead for good. Jarrett Flaggert added an RBI double, and Sam Wiese had an RBI single.
Zerick Warren added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, scoring Camden Johnson.
The Monarchs tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth, building an 8-1 lead.
The Monarchs improved to 1o 18-7 and play again at 7 p.m. today at the Kansas Cannons.
