By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden baseball's upperclassmen will never completely forget the Wildcats' heartbreaking 2025 regional loss that ended an undefeated season.
But the Wildcats took a major step towards wiping that sour taste out of their mouths with a dominating performance in Tuesday's Class 4A regional at Hayden, punching their ticket to the state tournament with a 7-1 victory over Ottawa after a 6-0 semifinal win over Chanute.
Hayden celebrates its 7-1 win over Ottawa in the championship game of Tuesday's Class 4A regional at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden hoists the Class 4A regional championship plaque after Tuesday's 7-1 win over Ottawa. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"All of us were crushed after last year,'' said Wildcat senior right-fielder Keaton Waggoner. "The season we had and then to have it happen like that was heartbreaking and we knew that we couldn't let that happen again.''
Hayden coach Bill Arnold said the Wildcats discussed last year's premature end to the season heading into Tuesday's regional.
"A year later I didn't have any answers to us losing last year,'' Arnold said. "But what we did talk about was staying together as a team and we talked about if somebody makes a mistake, make sure you're the guy who gets his confidence back to make the play the next time. Let it go and make the next one.''
Now 19-5 on the season, Hayden fell behind Ottawa (16-9) 1-0 in the top of the first in the championship game, but the Wildcats took the lead to stay with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and added a run in the third before breaking open the game with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Senior pitcher Connor Hanika went the distance for the win in Tuesday's 7-1 Hayden victory over Ottawa in the Class 4A regional championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Ottawa stranded two runners in the second and left the bases loaded in the third, but Hanika got stronger as the game went on, striking out a pair of Cyclones in the fifth and striking out the side in the sixth en route to finishing the game with eight strikeouts while allowing just six hits.
"I found my groove and I had a good command for every pitch and was throwing them for strikes,'' Hanika said. "I got in my groove and went with it.
"You can't let those guys get on with easy bags -- walks, hit batters. That's just unanacceptable and then errors we can clean up this week at practice.''
Senior Keaton Waggoner had a big day at the plate Tuesday as Hayden won a Class 4A regional championship. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Waggoner got the Wildcats on the board with a clutch two-run hit in the first inning while junior third baseball Caleb Menke had a run-scoring single and a two-run knock in the sixth.
"Everybody did a really good job, top to bottom in the lineup,'' Hanika said. "They hit really well.''
Hayden took control early in its semifinal win over Chanute, scoring two runs in the first and single runs in the second and third before adding its final two runs in the sixth on a two-run single from junior Mason Becker.
Menke, Waggoner, senior Kade Mitchell and senior Zayne Litchenauer all had doubles in the game for the Wildcats.
Mitchell was forced to leave the game in the second inning of the championship game with a leg injury after colliding with the left-field fence while chasing after a Ottawa double.
Junior Everett Tourtillott turned in a pitching gem for Hayden, throwing a complete-game two-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
"I thought both of our pitchers, I don't know if they had their best stuff today, but they sure persevered and buckled down when they needed to,'' Arnold said.
Hayden advances to a 4A quarterfinal next Monday or Tuesday at either Salina, Emporia or Blue Valley, with the pairings to be announced after all regional tournaments are concluded.
Hanika was on Hayden's 3A state championship team as a sophomore and is confident the Wildcats can make another title run.
"We're excited to get down there and win the state championship,'' he said.
SEMIFINAL
HAYDEN 6, CHANUTE 0
Chanute (10-15) 000 000 0 -- 0 2 1
Hayden (18-5) 211 002 x -- 6 8 0
Harding and Alonzo. E. Tourtillott and Deutsch. W -- E. Tourtillott. L -- Harding. 2B -- Chanute: Frazell. Hayden: Mitchell, Menke, Waggoner, Z. Litchenauer.
CHAMPIONSHIP
HAYDEN 7, OTTAWA 1
Ottawa (16-9) 100 000 0 -- 1 6 2
Hayden (19-5) 201 022 x -- 7 11 2
Hepner, Blaine (6) and Seaton. Hanika and Deutsch. W -- Hanika. L -- Hepner. 2B -- Ottawa: Altic.
