BY JIM MISUNAS jmisunas@gbtribune.com Great Bend Bat Cat Kirby Orth capped the summer's most significant victory with a 3-run homer that clinched a 7-5 victory over the Junction City Brigade Sunday. Reliever Jose Ortega (1-0, 4.96 ERA) earned the victory with 41/3 solid innings in his final summer appearance. Ortega will pitch for Div. 2 Cal State Dominguez in Carson, Calif. Rightfielder Dylan Serna and centerfielder Orth flagged down fly balls to key Ortega's defense, which included a double play. "I wanted to keep the ball on the ground and in the air to get outs," Ortega said. "We were down, and my goal was to minimize the damage." Reliever Carter Graham recorded the final two outs to preserve the victory. Great Bend outscored the Brigade 7-1 after trailing 4-0. The first-place Bat Cats (23-7, 21-7 Jayhawk) move 21/2 games ahead of the Brigade. The Jayhawk Collegiate champion earns an invite to the 2026 NBC World Series. Great Bend has two games remaining against Hutchinson and Haysville. Former Bat Cat Kyle Walker ripped a 2-run double. Hayden Oviatt hit an RBI double and Ian Luce scored on a groundout for a 4-0 Brigade lead. Great Bend's Cesar Chavira scored twice and Orth scored on wild pitches for a 4-3 deficit. Orth's sixth-inning homer off Logan Firgens came after Andrugh Yee was hit by a pitch and Dylan Sarna singled for a 6-4 lead. Shortstop T.J. Shaw and second baseman George McCarroll turned a critical double play that scored Brayden Harpole for a 6-5 score. Shaw's eighth-inning double scored McCarroll for a valuable insurance run. Junction City 022 000 100 — 5 Great Bend 000 123 01x — 7 Chambers, Gagnon (2) Siemens (5), Firgens (6), Kellogg (7) and Jorgensen. Smth, Ortega (5), Graham (9) and Chavira. W—Ortega, 1-0. L—Firgens. SV—Graham. 2B—GB—Shaw; JC—Luce, Walker, Oviat. HR—GB—Orth. JAYHAWK COLLEGIATE Great Bend Bat Cats 21-7 23-7 Derby Twins 18-7 18-8 Junction City Brigade 18-9 19-9 Hutchinson Monarchs 17-8 18-8 Haysville Aviators 13-12 18-12 Kansas Cannons 13-13 14-13-1 Newton Rebels 7-18 9-20 Wichita Factory 8-19 8-19 Kingman Islanders 2-24 2-24 7-10—Great Bend 9, Junction City 5; Hutchinson 14, Haysville 6 7-12—Great Bend 7, Junction City 5; Derby 11, Haysville 1; Wichita 11, Newton 6; Cannons 11, Kingman 5 7-13—Hutchinson at Haysville; Wichita at Newton 7-14—Great Bend at Hutchinson; Derby at Junction City; Newton at Cannons; Haysville at Kingman 7-15—Hutchinson at Great Bend; Junction City at Derby; Cannons at Derby