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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

One inning doesn't decide a softball game, but No. 2 seed Mission Valley's four-run third inning put No. 7 Rossville in a hole the Bulldawgs couldn't recover from in Monday's 5-0 Class 2A quarterfinal loss at the Envista Softball Complex at Lake Shawnee.

Rossville's softball coaches talk to the Bulldawgs after Monday's 5-0 Class 2A-1A state quarterfinal loss to Mission Valley at the Envista Softball Complex. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Mission Valley and Rossville were locked in a scoreless deadlock through two and a half innings before the Vikings, now 28-2, used five hits, including a two-run double from senior Madisyn Kraus and RBI singles from sophomore Keagan Kraus and senior Kaityn Coursen, to take command 4-0 in the bottom of the third.

The Vikings added a single run in the fourth on an RBI single from Abagail Sims and pitcher M. Kraus did the rest, limiting Rossville (22-8) to a single hit while striking out 10 Bulldawgs.

"They put the ball in play and hit the ball well and we just didn't hit it very well today,'' Rossville coach John Nitsch said. "Hats off to them. Madi Kraus pitched a whale of a game and they made some good defensive plays behind her.''

Sophomore Claire Whitmore had Rossville's lone hit in the game while the Bulldawgs stranded four baserunners.

Sophomore Falyn Clurman went the distance in the pitching circle for Rossville in Monday's 5-0 Class 2A-1A state quarterfinal loss to Mission Valley. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Aside from the fourth-inning Mission Valley uprising, Bulldawg sophomore Falyn Clurman was very solid in the circle overall, limiting the Vikings to a run and five hits over the other five innings.

Mission Valley advanced to a 1 p.m. Thursday state semifinal at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence to face the winner of Monday's quarterfinal between Thomas More Prep-Marian and Uniontown.

Rossville graduates Maggie Sanders, Brook Springer, Lilly Mitchell and Shalee Hubbell, but Nitsch is confident about what the future holds for the Bulldawgs.

"I'm proud of them and what we've accomplished this year,'' Nitsch said. "I hate to lose this senior class and their good leadership, but we've got some good young players coming back and I think we'll be back again.''  

CLASS 2A-1A STATE SOFTBALL

MISSION VALLEY 5, ROSSVILLE 0 

Rossville           (22-8) 000 000 0 -- 0 1 0

Mission Valley (28-2)  004 100 x -- 5 10 0

Clurman and Mitchell. M. Kraus and Bryan. W -- M. Kraus. L -- Clurman. 2B -- Mission Valley: L. Kraus 2, M. Kraus, Bryan.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Hayden entered Monday's Class 4A-1A state soccer quarterfinal against Wichita Trinity Academy as the clearcut favorite and left no doubt, scoring three goals in the opening 19 minutes on the way to a 4-0 shutout win over the Knights.

Freshman Emma Slyter scored a pair of goals in Hayden's 4-0 win over Wichita Trinity in Monday's Class 4A-1A state quarterfinal. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

"That's what we talked about is getting a goal or two early and putting them on their back foot, and it worked well,'' Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said. "I think we're focused and focus at practice and I think they're ready to take on whatever challenge is ahead of them.

"I think they work hard and if you work hard then good things happen.''

The Wildcats improved to 19-0 while advancing to Wednesday's 4 p.m. semifinal to host nine-time defending state champion Bishop Miege (11-8-0), a 5-1 quarterfinal winner over Bishop Seabury.

The Stags took a 2-1 double overtime win over Hayden in the 2025 state championship game while Hayden shut out Miege 5-0 on the road early in the regular season.

Hayden senior Grace Funk scored the Wildcats' first goal in Monday's 4-0 Class 4A-1A quarterfinal win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

 Hayden, which beat Wichita Trinity 3-1 earlier in the season, scored the only goal it would need in Monday's rematch just 8 minutes 40 seconds into the game when senior Grace Funk found the back of the net.

Junior Avery Becker (3) scored a goal Monday to help Hayden improve to 19-0 with a 4-0 Class 4A-1A state quarterfinal win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Freshman Emma Slyter made it a 2-0 game just 3:40 later and junior Avery Becker gave the Wildcats a commanding 3-0 halftime advantage with a goal at the 21:11 mark.

Slyter scored her second goal of the day to end the scoring with 12:17 remaining, with Monday's two goals continuing her outstanding freshman season after her family moved to Topeka from Arizona last summer.

"It's definitely different because Arizona's so much bigger than the town I live in now, but out of all the schools I could have gone to this is the best school for me,'' Slyter said. "All of the girls are so welcoming and the team just always wants what's best for all the girls and no one's selfish and are all just good teammates.

"The coaching is awesome and it's a good fit for me. It's really good teamwork and the practices are perfect.''

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural girls soccer was just 7-6 well into the 2026 regular season, but a six-game winning streak has the Junior Blues back in the Class 6A semifinals for an amazing 12th straight season after Monday's 2-0 state quarterfinal win over Centennial League rival Manhattan at McElroy Field.

Washburn Rural senior captain Allie Schroeder (14) celebrates with her teammates after scoring the Junior Blues' second goal in a 2-0 Class 6A quarterfinal win over Manhattan. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Now the red-hot Junior Blues, 13-6-0 on the season, will go on the road for a 6 p.m. Wednesday tilt to take on a 16-1-2 Mill Valley team that Rural beat 1-0 on penalty kicks in the 2025 state championship game.

Veteran Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel isn't surprised by the Junior Blues' late-season run.

"One, all of our losses are to really good teams, teams that are still in the tournament,'' Hensyel said. "Five of our six losses, all of those teams made the quarterfinals, so we were losing to high-quality teams. The second thing was we have state champions on this team. We have nine girls that are champions and have the heart of a champion and we had a lot of young talent that just had to figure out our style and the way we wanted to play and as soon as you put those two things together we knew we were going to make a run.

"The schedule got a little bit more favorable, but we had to take care of business and I couldn't be prouder. After we lost to Blue Valley West we said we've got to win six straight games and we're going to be right back where we were last year and now here we are and I like our chances, just because we've found ways to win.''

Rural senior captain Allie Schroeder said that although the early-season losses were frustrating the Junior Blues knew they had the ability to make some noise when it counted the most.

"Honestly, you have frustrations during the season, but our thing was you've got to get on the field the next day and you've just got to work harder and you've got to keep working,'' Schroeder said. "The biggest thing was we had to make sure our team mojo and chemistry was still about being positive and uplifting.

"And we had to make sure that everyone, whether you're not playing that many minutes or you're playing a lot of minutes, we just had to make sure we're all working together as a team and all having positive attitudes and also have a fun atmosphere.''

Schroeder said that with every win the Junior Blues have gained more confidence.

"Every game I felt like led us to the next game,'' she said. "We just started playing with more confidence and everyone was just having a blast. Obviously when you're having fun you make stuff happen and we're making plays all around.''

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