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St. Thomas Aquinas stuns Seaman in Class 5A state baseball opener, 10-9

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

WICHITA -- Seaman's top-seeded baseball team got off to a dream start in Thursday's Class 5A state tournament opener, taking a commanding 8-0 lead over St. Thomas Aquinas through the first two innings at Eck Stadium.

But the end was a nightmare that the Vikings aren't soon to get over, with St. Thomas Aquinas rallying for a 10-9 victory to advance to Friday's 5A semifinals.

Seaman junior Bryson Vawter pitched two no-hit innings and also drove in a pair of runs in Thursday's 10-9 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Selena Favela/TSN]

Seaman senior Casen Stallbaumer is congratulated by Viking assistant coach Mark Simoneau after hitting a two-run single in the second inning of the Vikings' 10-9 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thoamas Aquinas Thursday at Eck Stadium. [Photo by Selena Favena/Special to TSN]

Seaman (20-3) was semingly in control after scoring five times in the first and adding three runs in the bottom of the second, but St. Thomas Aquinas (14-9) got back in the hunt with three runs in the top of the third, tied the game with five runs in the top of the sixth and scored the game-winning runs in the top of the seventh after the Vikings had gone in front 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth.

Seaman, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, got a pair of shutout innings from junior pitching ace Bryson Vawter, including a pair of Viking double plays, but with an 8-0 advantage and the possibility of two more games on Friday Viking coach Trent Oliva made the decision to pull Vawter to give him the option of using him again.

For most of Thursday's contest that move looked like a very sound one before spotty pitching by Seaman's relievers combined with a back-to-back Viking errors on possible double play balls opened the door for the Saints.

"Bryson was doing everything we asked and everything was going right for us and I made some moves that obviously I wish I could change and it dictated what came out of the game,'' Oliva said. "Oviously that falls on my shoulders.

"That was my decision and tha's my fault.''

After Aquinas tied the game in the top of the sixth Vawter put Seaman back in front with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

Senior Maclane Finley, the fourth pitcher used by Seaman, got the first out of the seventh, but then Aquinas followed with a single by freshman Westin Boyle and a walk to senior Jax Marn to set up sophomore Blake O'Brien's  game-winning two-run double.

After two outs in the bottom of the seventh senior Braden Colley singled and pinch-runner Scout Jellison stole second to gaive the Vikings life but Aquinas  junior closer Jared Henchek ended the game with a strikeout.

"It's hard to accept because I think our guys did everything we asked of them and ultimately I feel like it comes down to a coach's decision and it was mine and I put our guys in a tough situation,'' Oliva said. "They battled back and took the lead and we weren't able to keep it in the seventh and obviously we're not going home with where we wanted to end up.''

Seaman senior Dagen Brewer had a pair of doubles and also walked twice for the Vikings, while senior Aidan Polter had a pair of singles, senior Casen Stallbaumer contributed a two-run single and junior Cameron Selbach had a two-run double.

With the victory Aquinas advanced to Friday's 11 a.m. semiffinal to face defending 5A champion Blue Valley Southwest, a 10-0 winner over De Soto.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 10, SEAMAN 9

St. Thomas Aquinas 003 005 2 -- 10 9 3 

Seaman                    530 000 1 -- 9 9 2

O'Brien, Andrews (2), Henchek (7) and Marn. Vawter, McConnaughey (3), Huston (3), M. Finley (6) and Brewer. W -- Andrews. L -- M. Finley. 2B -- St. Thomas Aquinas: O'Brien 2, Puetz. Seaman: Brewer 2, Selbach. 3B -- Aquinas: Boyle.

Bishop Carroll baseball takes 2-0 pitchers duel from Schattilly, Heights

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

WICHITA -- No. 7 seed Shawnee Heights got an outstanding pitching performance from senior Trevor Schattilly and put together multiple scoring chances at the plate in Thursday's Class 5A state baseball tournament at Eck Stadium.

But Ryan Schmidt's T-Birds were unable to get the big hits that could have turned the tide against second seed Bishop Carroll, with the Eagles taking a 2-0 first-round win.

Schattilly, Heights' ace, limited Bishop Carroll to just two hits while striking out four hitters, but the Eagles punched what proved to be the game-winning run on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the second and added an injurance run in the fifth when sophomore Austin Selenke tripled and scored on senior Ryan Pacha's run-scoring sacrifice fly. 

Shawnee Heights, which finished the season 13-10, reached James Brennan for three hits over the first six innings while stranding eight baserunners and putting runners second and third in the third and loading the bases in the fourth, but the T-Birds were unable to get a run home. Junior Reed Hanneberg came on and pitched the seventh for Carroll to pick up the save.

"We had several times where we just couldn't get that clutch hiit and timely hitting was a problem for us today,'' Schmidt said. "Pitching-wise Trevor battled like he did all year long and did a wonderful job of keeping us close and we just couldn't get that one hit.''

Although Shawnee Heights suffered a disappointing loss to end his season Schmidt said he was proud of the way the T-Birds played late in the season, earning the United Kansas Conference title and advancing to state.

"I'm really happy for these guys,'' Schmidt said. "Where we started the beginning of the year and where we got to showed great improvement for them and a couple of them get to go on and have a shot to continue their career.''

Bishop Carroll, which improved to 19-4, advanced to Friay's 1:15 p.m. state semifinal to face the winner of the first-round game between Eisenhower and Valley Center.

The 11 p.m. semifinal will match St. Thomas Aquinas and Blue Valley Southwest.

The third-place game will be played at 3:30 p.m. Friday followed by the championship game at 5:45 p.m.

BISHOP CARROLL 2, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 0

Shawnee Heights 000 000 0 -- 0 3 1 

Bishop Carroll      010 010 x -- 2 2 2 

Schattilly and Parrish. Brennan, Hanneberg (7) and Girrens. W -- Brennan. L -- Schattilly. 3B -- Bishop Carroll: Selenke.