By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

The Hays Larks capped off another memorable regular season in trademark fashion Thursday night.

They enjoyed another late-inning comeback victory.

"How fitting is that?," Larks manager Frank Leo said.

Hays, helped by a Joe Huwer RBI single in a two-run eighth inning, defeated Dodge City 4-3 at Larks Park.

The win, punctuated by a standing ovation from 1,115 fans and postgame celebration after the final out, erased a 12-2 loss from Wednesday night.

"It was an unbelievable scene," Leo said. "The crowd that we had here tonight was just fantastic."

It also propelled Hays, Jayhawk League champions for the sixth time since 2000, to a 31-15 record and 25-11 league finish, two games ahead of Derby. The win gave the Larks their ninth league win (fourth since last Thursday) when they trailed in the final innings and still won.

Hays finished the regular season with 20 home victories and were 11-1 in one-run league games.

"Another one-run win, another come from behind win, another win late, it's a good sign of this club," Leo said.

Thursday provided the final tuneup for next week's National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita. Hays, the No. 2 seed, will open play Tuesday after winning six of its final seven games, including four of the comeback one-run variety.

"We got heart," Huwer said of the close wins. "I think that is going to help us when we get into the NBC."

On Thursday, Huwer, the only Lark who didn't play college baseball this spring, delivered the game-winning single in the eighth, three batters after Kevin Hennessey tied the game with an RBI-double.

Huwer's hit supplied the final margin after Dodge City led for most of the game. The A's (21-26, 13-23 Jayhawk), had a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the seventh before Hays halved the lead on a Rich Michalek RBI single.

In the eighth, Mike Brownstein led off with a single, stole second and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Hennessey laced a ground ball double down the third base line for his 40th RBI, a Larks high and nine more than any other player.

The extra base hit furthered a season-long split for Hennessey, Hays' usual cleanup hitter. With bases empty, Hennessey bats .212, but with men on, the average jumps to .348 - the largest increase of any Lark.

"I have been a four hitter all life," Hennessey said. "RBIs are kind of a big deal so I can keep that role. ... I would definitely rather hit with men on base. I would just rather be in that situation, probably step my game up because I have to focus a little bit more."

After Eric Roof grounded out and Dusty Washburn was hit by a pitch, Dodge brought in Evan Cunningham to face Huwer, who grounded out in all three previous at-bats.

"I had been out in front of everything, trying to get my timing down and I was just thinking that my whole last at-bat," Huwer said. "I saw the guy warming up, I saw that he was wild. I am just thinking, stay on my back leg and wait for my pitch."

On June 15 against Liberal, Huwer had a similar late-inning situation and drove a line drive single between shortstop and third base for the game-winning hit.

He replicated the feat Thursday.

On a 1-1 pitch, Huwer laced a Cunningham fastball through the hole and into left field and gave Hays a 4-3 lead.

"Joe has had some big hits for us this year," Leo said. "He didn't have very good at-bats (earlier Thursday) but the one big at-bat you had, you key up for and you come through, you forget about everything else."

The hit gave the left-handed hitting Huwer a .283 average, sixth-highest on the Larks. While nearly every Lark had other 100-plus at-bats in the collegiate season, Huwer had to redshirt at Washington State after he transferred from Nebraska.

"I think I have accomplished exactly what I wanted to do," Huwer said. "Not playing for a whole season is pretty hard after coming out of high school and playing everyday. Coming out here playing a few games and getting some good at-bats, it helped me a lot."

Huwer, who holds the Idaho high school batting average record, hadn't seen collegiate pitching before June 1. He is one of five freshman position players on the Larks, one of two that didn't play in at least 40 spring games.

"If he had a spring under his belt, who knows what kind of numbers he would have put up this year?," Leo said. "But without getting a spring under his belt and coming in here and doing what he has done, he has a good swing, has a good eye at the plate."

"He has accomplished a lot this summer and it should definitely help him when he goes back to school," Leo added.

Hennessey clinched the win with his team-leading sixth save. The save started the standing ovation and post-game extravaganza that included smiles, autograph sessions with kids, pictures and dousing teammates with water, a fitting end to a thrilling regular season.

"It is nice to finish your season at home before people that support you like this," Leo said. "To play a good game after last night and just to see our guys kind of hanging out together and having a little bit of fun, signing autographs and tons of little kids running around.

"Who would ever thought 2 or 3 years ago that this is where the Larks program is going to be?," Leo added with a smile. "We just had fantastic support to get us here."