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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The Washburn University softball team overcame multiple rain and lightning delays.to avoid elimination in the MIAA Tournament on Thursday at the Envista Softball Complex at Lake Shawne, posting a 3-1 win over Fort Hays State
Danielle Schlader is congratulated by Washburn softball coach Brenda Holaday after hitting a two-run homer in Thursday's 3-1 MIAA Tournament win over Fort Hays State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Jaycee Ginter came on in relief to pick up her 24th win of the season in Thursday's 3-1 MIAA Tournament win over Fort Hays State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn (37-15) will play the loser of the Missouri Southern and Rogers State game at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
The Ichabods never trailed against the Tigers.
Washburn took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Marrit Mead reached on a single to start the game, stole second and came around to score on a throwing error by the Fort Hays State pitcher.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Freshman tennis player Drew Fay made Cair Paravel Latin school history Wednesday at Rock Chalk Park, earning the school's first Class 3A-1A state tournament berth.
Cair Paravel freshman singles player Drew Fay poses for a picture with his medal after earning a Class 3A-1A state tournament berth with a fifth-place regional finish. [Submitted photo]
Cair Paravel freshman singles player Drew Fay will compete in the Class 3A-1A state tennis tournament after qualifying for state with a fifth-place regional finish. [Submitted photo]
Fay posted a 3-1 record in Wednesday's Class 3A-1A regional to post a fifth-place singles finish for Cair Paravel, which is fielding a boys tennis program for the first time.
Fay beat Bishop Seabury's Gabe Rinnert in the fifth-place match, with the top six in both singles and doubles advancing to the 3A-1A state meet May 12-13 at the Riverside Tennis Complex in Wichita.
Joey Thoennes also represented Cair Paravel in singles at the regional meet while Seth Arnold and Oliver Ellis competed in doubles.
Sophomore Destiny Higgs (24) scored four goals in Washburn Rural's 8-0 Centennial League win over Emporia Tuesday night. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Higgs' four goals power Rural soccer to 8-0 win over Emporia
Washburn Rural sophomore Destiny Higgs scored four goals as the Junior Blues clinched at least a share of the Centennial League title with an 8-0 home win over Emporia Tuesday night.
Rural can clinch the title outright with a win over Topeka High next Monday at Hummer Sports Park.
Washburn Rural senior Addi Broxterman scored a pair of goals in Tuesday's 8-0 Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
In addition to Higgs' four goals, the 9-4-0 Junior Blues got two goals from senior Addi Broxterman and a goal apiece from sophomore Kate Hinck and senior Bri Jones.
Senior Mackinly Rohn was credited with a pair of assists while Hinck, junior Savannah Tuffley, senior Maya Hoge and junior Hayley Legg also had assists.
Senior Hailey Beck (0) and junior Mackenzie Flood (00) combined for the shutout in goal in Tuesday's 8-0 Washburn Rural Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Senior Hailey Beck and junior Mackenzie Flood combined for the shutout in goal.
Rural will travel to Wichita Northwest for a non-league game Thursday night.
Seaman senior Katie Price (center) signed a bowling letter of intent with Peru State on Wednesday. Price was joined at her signing by former Seaman teammate Makenzie Millard (right) and former Washburn Rural standout Kaitlyn Doyal. [Submitted photo]
Seaman bowling standout Price signs with Peru State
Seaman senior bowler Katie Price, the Class 5A-1A state runnerup in the 2023 state tournament, signed a letter of intent with Peru State College on Wednesday at Seaman.
Price helped the Vikings win the 5A-1A state team championship in 2022 and led Seaman to a third-place finish in '23.
Price will join former teammate Makenzie Millard and former Washburn Rural standout Kaitlyn Doyal at Peru State.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Wednesday was a triumphant return to Topeka for the Central Missouri sotball trio of Paige Peteish, Abbey Fischer and coach Susan (Punzo) Anderson as the fourth-seeded Jennies took a 5-2 first-round MIAA Tournament victory over fifth seed Washburn at the Envista Softball Complex at Lake Shawnee.
Former Shawnee Heights standout Abbey Fischer (7) is mobbed by her teammates after hitting a two-run home run in Central Missouri's 5-2 MIAA Tournament win over Washburn Wednesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights prodduct Paige Petefish (left), being congratulated by teammate Jessica Sader, picked up a complete-game 5-2 pitching victory for Central Missouri against Washburn Wednesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Petefish. Fischer and Anderson, who are all Shawnee Heights graduates, returned to a Lake Shawnee complex which is where the T-Birds play their home games, and Petefish and Fischer set the tone as the Jennies advanced to the winner's bracket semifinals.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a home run by Shawnee Heights product Jaycee Ginter, a former teammate of Petefish and Fischer, in the Ichabods' first at bat and Washburn held the lead until the bottom of the third when Fischer hit a two-run home run to put UCM (33-19) up 2-1.
Washburn standout Marrit Mead connects on a home run in Wednesday's 5-2 MIAA Tournament loss Wednesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Jennies added a solo run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 advantage before WU's Marrit Mead connected on a home run to cut the UCM lead to 3-2.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
If things had worked out just a little bit differently, Ty Zentner might have never kicked a football.
But the new Philadelphia Eagle is sure happy he did.
Former Shawnee Heights three-sport standout Ty Zentner, sporting an Eagles hat, celebrated with family and friends in Topeka last Saturday after signing an NFL contract. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
Ty Zentner said his phone "is still blowing up'' after signing a free agent contract with the Philadephia Eagles last Saturday. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
"I was already committed to Barton Community College to play soccer right at the end of the summer going into my senior year and Trey Brown and Michael Brooks and Cole Emerson, they were all playing on the football team and those are my best friends,'' Zentner told TopSports.news in a phone interview. "We needed a kicker because the guy the year before was a senior so I went out.
"I really didn't know how it was going to work, but luckily for me Steven Block was there and he's got a lot of kicking experience and has coached a lot of guys so he really taught me the fundamentals. And by the end of the season he had just totally convinced me that I had a better future playing football.''
The rest, as they say, is history.
Zenter went on to become a standout at Butler Community College and Kansas State and launches his NFL career this week with the Eagles after signing a free agent contract last Saturday.
Zentner, an All-State goalkeeper in soccer and a starter for Shawnee Heights' 2017 Class 5A state championship basketball team, was scheduled to fly to Philadelphia on Wednesday to join his new team.
"I'm going out for the mini-camp and I'll be back for about a week and then I head back for what they call rookie development period and that lasts about a month,'' Zentner said.
Zentner, who averaged 44.5 yards per punt and went 11 of 11 on field goals for Kansas State last fall, said it was more than an coincidence that he ended up with the Eagles.
"After the season ended they have all the senior games and the NFL Combine and I didn't get invited to any of that, which really surprised me because I felt like I deserved it, but it is what it is and that stuff's kind of hit or miss,'' said Zentner, who kicked the game-winning field goal in the Big 12 championship game.. "After all of that stuff kind of wrapped up then teams can start to work you out and the Eagles were the very first team to come work me out.
"They came and worked me out and they kept in touch more than any other team throughout the whole process. Like five other teams came to Manhattan and worked me out but I talked to the Eagles twice more than any other team.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
SILVER LAKE – Class 3A No. 1-ranked Silver Lake shook off last week's twinbill losses to 4A No. 1-ranked Wamego by sweeping Hayden, 7-2, 10-0, on Tuesday night in a non-league doubleheader.
Silver Lake sophomore Kendra Cook watches her second-game home run in the Eagles' doubleheader sweep over Hayden on Tuesday. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton congratulates senior Chloe LaDuke as she rounds the bases on a Game 2 home run for the Eagles against Hayden. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
It didn't take long for the Eagles to get back on the right track with a pair of convincing wins against 4A Hayden. The bats and defense were nearly perfect against a formidable Wildcat squad.
Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton still believes the Eagles have room for improvement but was pleased by the way they created momentum for themselves after taking their first losses of the year eight days ago.
"We've got a good schedule with some teams with some good pitchers, so a part of winning these games is finding momentum," Hamilton said. "It took us a bit of time to find that momentum, but once we did, I felt the confidence come back. Our girls just competed."
Silver Lake (14-2) didn't jump out to the fastest of starts in Game 1.
Hayden earned a 2-0 lead against the Eagles through three and a half innings thanks to an RBI double from senior Alyssa Droge and a groundout RBI from Kylie Carswell.
"We had a slow start in the first game, but I thought we finished really well," Silver Lake second baseman McKinley Kruger said. "Avery (Wende) did a great job, and I thought we did a good job of backing her up on defense. Later, we finally got used to Alyssa Droge, who's a really great pitcher.
"We mostly wanted to improve at the plate especially knowing we were going to face a great pitcher today. She has good speed and good spin. So we want to pick out what we want to hit and not be satisfied."
