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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's Andrew Paulsey secured the series win over rival Emporia State in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon, delivering a pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Ichabods a 7-6 walkoff victory at Falley Field.
Washburn's Andrew Paulsey delivered a two-run, walkoff home run on Sunday to give the Ichabods a 7-6 MIAA win over Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn's Andrew Paulsey wears a big smile as he rounds the bases on Sunday's walkoff home run against Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Emporia State (16-26 overall, 10-17 MIAA) had gone up 6-5 in the top of the ninth on a two-run home run from Chandler Bloomer, but the Ichabods answered in the bottom of the inning to improve to 24-17 overall and 17-10 in the MIAA.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, former Hayden standout Andrew Schmidtlein reached base after getting hit by the pitch and Paulsey was called upon to be a pinch-hitter and was down in the count 1-2 when he launched a home run down the right field line for the win.
"I have not hit a walkoff home run before, not high school or anything, this is the first time,'' Paulsey said.
Paulsey said he wasn't necessarily thinking home run in that situation and just wanted to prolong the inning.
"I was just thinking, get the next guy up, put a good swing on a good pitch,'' Paulsey said. "Schmidtlein ahead of me got on base and I just knew I had to get to the next guy.''
Paulsey knew when the ball left his bat that it might have a chance to get out of the park.
"It felt pretty good off the bat,'' he said. "I had a feeling. It wasn't really a no-doubter, but I liked the way it felt.''
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By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
• Could the rise of middle school sensation Aria Pearce become the next Jim Ryun moment for Kansas high schools?
• More than a half-century since Ryun’s landmark achievements at Wichita East, and later KU, Pearce is setting American middle school records.
• Oh, I know track meets don’t fill grandstands like they did when Ryun drew throngs at Memorial Stadium.
• However, Pearce could become a box office hit.
• As a sprinter, she runs events that are now more popular than Ryun’s jaw-dropping times in the half-mile and mile.
• Pretty cool that Pearce made her splashy Kansas Relays debut at the 100th anniversary of the event.
• Allow me to wax on a bit about the term, sensation.
• After my sister Diane and her husband Jim moved to Topeka, Ryun worked out here while competing among the best in the world.
• They told me he often jogged down her street.
• Sure enough, I spotted Ryun one day during a routine jog.
• That’s when my jaw dropped, knowing his Olympic races were must-see TV throughout the US.
• Later in life, I interviewed Ryun multiple times, completing a what-goes-around-comes-around oval of my own.
• Credit, by the way, to those who have worked with Pearce to date. Amazing feats and incredible top-end speed.
• Hey, I get to watch the Royals again after a long hiatus using Dish Network as my TV provider.
• Hooked up with an internet provider. It declared my rural locale to be in the Kansas City market.
• Pretty certain I missed very little from not accessing the Royals.
• They struggle, it seems, to hit baseballs thrown with velocity and hit baseballs thrown with movement.
• Not a good combination.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 20-ranked Washburn University softball team bounced back from a doubleheader loss at Missouri Southern on Friday with a doubleheader road sweep over Pittsburg State on Saturday, posting 10-5 and 6-3 MIAA wins over the Gorillas.
Washburn (33-11 overall, 12-8 MIAA) scored in six of the seven innings of the first game, holding off a late charge by the Gorillas in the five-run win while pounding out 14 hits.
Washburn All-American Jaycee Ginter picked up her 22nd pitching win in Saturday's 10-5 first-game win at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural freshman pitcher Sadie Walker did not allow a run en route to Saturday's 6-3 second-game victory at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn's first run came in the top of the first when Santa Fe Trail product Marrit Mead started the game with a single and then came around to score on a single by former Shawnee Heights standout Jaycee Ginter as the Ichabods went up 1-0.
The Ichabods added two more in the top of the second when Kaylee Wagner walked and, after a triple by Mead, scored from second.
Silver Lake product Ellington Hogle then collected a single to send Mead home as Washburn went up 3-0.
After a scoreless third, Mead doubled to center, scoring Autymn Schreiner, who had a one-out double as the Ichabods boosted the lead to 4-0.
In the fifth, Washburn's Jaden LaBarge singled up the middle to score Paige Robbins as Washburn increased its lead to 5-0.
Pittsburg State came back with a solo run in the fifth, but Washburn added two more runs in the top of the sixth on a two-out single by Erin Boles that drove in Ginter and Hadley Kerschen.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
It took Hayden's bats four full innings before they were able to put any runs on the board, but when the Wildcats got rolling, they didn't stop in a 4-3 road victory Friday against Centennial League rival Washburn Rural in the first game of a doubleheader.
Jackson Summers helped Hayden baseball rally for a 4-3 first-game win at Washburn Rural Friday. [File photo/TSN]
The second game was postponed with a 2-2 tie in the third inning due to lightning strikes near the area.
Washburn Rural tested the Wildcats on Friday evening. The Junior Blues had superb starting pitching from sophomore Sam Bettis, solid situational baseball from its offense and were dangerous when momentum was in Washburn Rural's favor.
But Hayden overcame a four-inning scoring drought and fought back when situations were tight.
"I liked how our kids stayed focused the whole game," Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. "We got some timely hits. (Washburn Rural) did make some mistakes, and we made ours. The thing I'm most proud of is that we didn't let one mistake become two or three mistakes."
Defensively, Hayden played a solid contest later in the first game. Starting senior pitcher Jackson Summers was the man on the mound that helped lead the Wildcats to victory.
Summers threw 107 pitches and faced a lot of adversity throughout his Game 1 performance. Summers was in many sticky situations in the seven innings he threw and a few bases-loaded jams. However, Summers trusted the defense behind him, stayed poised, and never let his confidence sink.
"My goal coming into today was to fill it up, let my defense work, and I did exactly that," Summers said. "You know, I started to fall behind a little bit, but they stayed behind me and kept me confident. I wasn't looking for strikeouts sometimes. I was just trying to hit some spots, maybe get some weak contact, and luckily (Washburn Rural) didn't have any big innings."
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn pitchers limited Emporia State to just four singles while the Ichabod offense pounded out a season-high 19 hits en route to a 10-0 eight inning series-opening win over Emporia State on Friday.
Game 2 of the series is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Jack Brimacombe pitched seven innings of shutout baseball in Washburn's 10-0 run-rule win over Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Jack Brimacombe started the game strong, needing only six pitches to retire the Hornets in order in the first inning.
The Ichabod offense got right to work in the home half of the first.
Cale Savage hit a one-out infield single and moved up to second after Cal Watkins drew a walk. Trey Adams singled to shortstop to load the bases and Ike Book also beat out an infield single to bring home the first run.
Easton Bruce kept the line moving with a single to left center that drove in two runs and Otto Jones' RBI groundout put Washburn's lead at 4-0.
