By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A rainy Wednesday morning hardly felt like a day to celebrate baseball. Yet the Barton County Commission proclaimed Wednesday morning that June 21 is Great Bend Bat Cats Day. General Manager Roger Ward helped bring the team to Great Bend in 2017. The Bat Cats are 11-2 through their first 13 games this season, and Commissioner Barb Esfeld shared some other details about the program.
"We've had players come to our community from 22 different states and five countries, two from Australia this year," she said. "Three players who graduated from Great Bend High School have been able to stay home and play summer ball. Over 40 players who played at Barton County College have played for the Bat Cats."
The Bat Cats have played in three National Baseball Congress World Series tournaments in Wichita, finishing ninth in 2017, eighth in 2019, and fifth in 2021. Four Bat Cats have been named NBC World Series All-Americans, and eight former Bat Cats have gone on to sign professional contracts. Beyond the field, Esfeld pointed out a recent incident in which the team was stuck beneath an underpass for nearly an hour while a violent storm passed.
"When they were able to get out, there was a lady that had spun off in the ditch," Esfeld said. "These gentlemen, several of them got out and got that car out of the ditch and on the road for her. I understand she was very, very scared. That's the quality of coaching, management, that's the quality of young athletes you have before you that we're recognizing today."
Behind the organization, Ward and company have been able to revitalize Al Burns Field at Veterans Memorial Park. With those renovations, Great Bend will host the Jayhawk League Home Run Derby and All-Star Game on Sunday, July 2. That event is usually held at Wichita State University. The Bat Cats are scheduled to play at home Wednesday, June 21, and Friday and Saturday, June 23-24.