By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Hayden baseball didn’t have much to grumble about at the end of its day on Tuesday after the Wildcats posted a pair of run-rule victories against Topeka West in the non-league doubleheader at Haydenl.
The Wildcats displayed great patience at the plate and capitalized on nearly all of its opportunities offensively. In Game 1, with an eight-run first inning helping Hayden take a 10-0 win that took five innings. Then, in Game 2, the Wildcats earned an 11-1 victory that took six innings.
Cooper Grace helped Hayden baseball post a non-league twinbill sweep over Topeka West on Tuesday, 10-0 and 11-1. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“At the plate, I thought we squared some balls up and hit some balls hard, which is good,” Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. “Hopefully, we build on our at-bats a little bit.”
Several Hayden batters finished the day with eye-popping stat lines in the doubleheader sweep.
Senior Jackson Summers had a combined five hits, including two doubles, a triple, four stolen bases, two walks and four RBI.
Cooper Grace, Dylan Foster, Konnor Becker, Easton Blosser and Brady Heinen had at least one game with multiple hits.
In addition, players such as Bradyn Rose, Evan Lenherr, Summers, Grace and Foster had various RBI games.
“The guys and I have been hitting the ball a lot trying to get better,” Summers said. “I felt good with the way I played today, but a lot of other guys hit well, too. I think we swing it really well and have a good zone. I’d like to maintain that same approach that we had today and just keep swinging the bat.”
Hayden rolled out three different pitchers in each game of the twinbill. The six Wildcat pitchers allowed one combined run in both games as well as 21 strikeouts and six hits in 11 innings of play.
In the 10-0 game one shutout win, Summers and Foster pitched two innings each, while Lenherr closed the game with one inning on the mound. The trio struck out seven batters, allowing no runs, two hits and three walks.
The 11-1 Hayden win in the nightcap featured Grace, Becker and Rose on the mound, who each pitched two innings. The committee for Game 2 didn’t walk anybody and fanned 14 batters. The trio allowed one run and four hits.
“I thought Cooper (Grace) looked really good on the mound,” Arnold said. He was pretty dominant in the two innings that he pitched. He’s hitting his spots, and we need guys to hit their spots. We played some pretty good defense, even with the sun issue in right field. But other than that, I thought we played pretty clean.
"We’re still trying to find ourselves a little bit. Today, we threw six different guys just to get everybody a bit of work out there. We just have to continue to keep getting better. We’re still filling the lineup out a little bit. I’m not a 100 percent set on a few positions. Guys are just battling it out in practice.”
Although Hayden is still trying to find its balance as a team, the Wildcats have had intense spurts of quality baseball throughout the 2022-2023 campaign.
Hayden took some nail-biting losses to schools like Manhattan and Ottawa but has dominated teams such as Silver Lake, Emporia and Topeka West.
“We put up a good fight with Manhattan and (Ottawa), and those didn’t go the way we wanted,” Summers said. “I feel like we’ve been competitive every game. This is definitely the most competitive Hayden team that I’ve ever been a part of. All of us are in it together, and we want to win.”
On Friday the Wildcats will have their work cut out for them as they take on Centennial League foe and city rival Washburn Rural. Although Washburn Rural has taken some bumps in the early season, Arnold knows that the Junior Blues will give Hayden its best shot.
“As far as what we need to do Friday, we need to play clean,” Arnold said. “Washburn Rural is good. They’ve got some great players over there. Their record is not indicative of the talent that they have. Rural has been in all of their games; it’s not like they’re getting blown out. We have a big one coming up on Friday.”
GAME ONE
HAYDEN 10, TOPEKA WEST 0
Topeka West 000 00 – 0 2 2
Hayden 801 01 – 10 9 0
W – Summers. L – King. 2B – Hayden: Becker 2, Summers, Lenherr. SB – Hayden: Summers 2, Wolf 2, Heinen, Becker, Brobst.
GAME TWO
HAYDEN 11, TOPEKA WEST 1
Topeka West 000 100 – 1 4 1
Hayden 251 012 – 11 14 0
W – Grace. L – Lehman. 2B – Hayden: Summers. 3B – Hayden: Summers. SB – Hayden: Heinen 2, Summers 2, Colboch, Blosser, Wolf.
