The end of July marked the end of the "First Week" of competition at Eck Stadium for the 85th National Baseball Congress World Series, although it spilled into August for about an hour-and-a-half.
There were two games on Wednesday night on the Wichita State campus, with the two winners advancing to "Championship Week", and the two losers eliminated.
The Derby Twins defeated the Hays Larks 9-7, followed by the Great Bend Bat Cats beating the Hutchinson Monarchs 24-10, in a game that ended at 1:35 a.m. Thursday.
The next 10 days now comprise "Championship Week", as 16 teams compete for the World Series title; Day 6 of competition on Thursday features the opening four games of Pool Play, starting at 1:00 p.m.
Thursday's featured game at 7:00 p.m. has the Seattle Studs taking on the Cheney Diamond Dawgs; then at 9:30 p.m., the Fairbanks (Alaska) Goldpanners face the Colorado Cyclones.