By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 2 seed Hesston had no answer for Hayden junior pitching ace Cooper Grace in Thursday's opening round of the Class 3A state baseball tournament, with the No. 7-seeded Wildcats advancing to Friday's state semifinals with a 2-0 victory at Tointon Family Stadium.
Hayden junior pitching standout Cooper Grace threw a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts in the Wildcats' 2-0 win over Hesston in the Class 3A state tournament. [File photo/TSN]
Grace fired a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and just two walks as 16-12 Hayden advanced to Friday's 1:15 p.m. semifinal to face No. 6 seed Hoisington (16-10), which upset No. 3 seed Sabetha, 3-1.
Grace was in control from the outset, with no Hesston player reaching second base as Grace only faced 24 batters.
Offensively Hayden was paced by senior Kyren Waggoner, who went two for three in the game, including a triple to open the second inning before scoring the game-winning run.
Sophomore Kade Mitchell knocked in the winning run in Hayden's 2-0 Class 3A state tournament victory over Hesston. [File photo/TSN]
Two batters after Waggoner's triple, sophomore Kade Mitchell singled to right field to drive Waggoner home.
In the top of third after freshman Mason Becker singled, Grace helped his own cause when he knocked a double off the center-field wall to score Becker, who went two for four on the day.
Nebraska signee Whit Rhodes took the pitching loss for Hesston, giving up eight hits and both Hayden runs.
Rhodes was relieved in the seventh by Gunner Lewis due to the pitch count limit.
Both teams played error-free defense while Hayden left eight runners on base and Hesston stranded three baserunners.
The 11 a.m. semifinal will pit No. 1 seed Wichita Trinity (21-4) against No. 5 Frontenac (18-8).
Trinity took a 13-3 win over Marysville while Frontenac edged Burlington, 6-5.
Free State ends Topeka High season with 12-1 first-round romp
After more than 70 years without a state tournament appearance, the Topeka High Trojans made their second straight trip to the 6A state baseball tournament on Thursday.
Topeka High, seeded No. 4, battled No. 5 Free State in the opening round, with the hometown Firebirds scoring a run in each of the first two innings, followed by four runs in the fourth inning and six runs in the fifth inning.
The Trojans were able to scratch across a run in the fourth inning and lost the run-rule shortened, five-inning game, 12-1 at Hoglund Stadium.
Senior Matt Genrich led the Trojans with two hits, including a double. Senior Hank Stamper had the lone RBI for Topeka High with a single, scoring sophomore Drayden Acosta in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Senior Nate Plankinton started for Topeka High on the mound and went four innings, giving up six hits and six runs. Stamper and junior Kobe Williams pitched in the fifth inning for the Trojans.
Free State was led by Mason Lester, who went two for three with a triple and four RBI. Ryker Mahnke and Cole Wright scored three runs apiece with Wright hitting a triple. The Firebirds had five stolen bases for the game.
Tyler Jeffries pitched a complete-game three-hitter for the Firebirds.
Topeka High concluded its season with a record of 17-5 and Free State (22-6) advances to Friday's semifinals, where they will face Olathe South (14-13) at 11:00 am.
In the first game on Thursday morning, the top-seeded Olathe West Owls lost to Sunflower League foe Olathe South, the No. 8 seed, 3-1.
Olathe South had been held to one hit through the first six innings, but scored all three runs in the seventh on only one hit.
(From TopSports.news contributor Charles Spurlock)
