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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
If circumstances were different, Washburn Rural softball coach Liz Stover would probably be content to spend her entire coaching career with the Junior Blues.
![Washburn Rural softball coach Liz Stover talks to seniors Alyssa Mastin (5) and Chloe Carlgren (7) during Tuesday's 14-0, 15-0 doubleheader Centennial League sweep over Emporia. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]](/images/2024/08/LizStover.jpg)
Washburn Rural softball coach Liz Stover talks to seniors Alyssa Mastin (5) and Chloe Carlgren (7) during Tuesday's 14-0, 15-0 doubleheader Centennial League sweep over Emporia. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
But as it is, all of Stover's focus this spring is on cherishing every moment of what will be her final season with her Rural team.
"This has been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make,'' said Stover, who has accepled a teaching position at Shawnee Mission South for the 2023-2024 school year. "I love this program and the reason I'm leaving is just for family.
"I grew up in Olathe. I went to Olathe Northwest, my family still lives in Olathe and my fiance teaches in Shawnee Mission now, so this is just to be a little bit closer to everybody.''
Stover, who is planning a June wedding, took over as Washburn Rural's coach last season and led the Junior Blues to a 23-2 record and a second-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament.
The 2022 season was Stover's first as a head coach and she said she realizes now how fortunate she was to have the opportunity to coach the tradition-rich Washburn Rural program.
"I don't know if I knew to appreciate how good I had it, so right now I really am just trying to enjoy everything as much as I can,'' Stover said.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn Rural soccer coach Brian Hensyel knows his talented Junior Blues can still play better than they have in the early portion of the 2023 season.
But the Junior Blues continue to pile up victories, improving to 5-1 Tuesday night with a weather-shortened 8-0 Centennial League decision over Junction City at McElroy Field.
Washburn Rural senior Mackinly Rohn (1) had two goals and an assist in Tuesday's 8-0 Centennial League win over Junction City. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Destiny Higgs (24) had a goal and two assists in Tuesday's 8-0 Centennial League win over Junction City. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
"What we told the girls at halftime is we've got to find what we call Washburn Rural energy and we haven't seen it this year, at practice, at games yet,'' Hensyel said. "We're off to a fine start, the record's fine, but what we've been known for the last few years is being tough and physical and that we're going to play hard every night against whoever.
"And we've gotten wins and we're OK, but these girls have another level or two that they can get to and we challenged them at halftime that it's time to do that because we have some tough games coming up. We've been good, but we're not on the road to great yet and we have to keep moving on.''
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings softball team received an “incomplete” grade Tuesday in an early-season test against nemesis Basehor-Linwood.
The last time Seaman faced Basehor-Linwood, the Vikings fell to the Bobcats 4-3 in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament. Basehor-Linwood went on to finish second in the tournament.
Seaman junior Jersey Jellison doubled for the Vikings in Tuesday's 9-7 first-game loss to Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Seaman senior Aspen Burgardt pitched the first game and contributed a double as the Vikings dropped a tight 9-7 UKC decision to Basehor-Linwood Tuesday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Seaman junior Rosalie Schneider delivered a double in the Vikings' 9-7 first-game softball loss to Basehor-Linwood Tuesday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
The Bobcats returned nearly everyone from that teamand are expected to contend for the title again this season.
The Vikings measured themselves against the Bobcats Tuesday at Seaman, losing the first game of the doubleheader, 9-7.
The second contest was halted due to lightning with the Vikings trailing 3-0. The two schools will have to find a date to finish the contest, which was stopped in the bottom of the fourth inning, just two outs shy of an official game.
Basehor-Linwood's Taylor Cruse, an Ohio State commit, ripped the Vikings with a home run, a double, a single and a walk in the first game.
Pitching the opener, Cruse rolled through the Vikings for four innings, but the Vikings battled back, scratching out three runs to cut the Bobcat lead to 8-5.
It was then that lightning in the area forced a 40-minute delay.
“They got on a fast start,” said Seaman coach Jay Monhollon. “We always tell our kids when they’re facing someone who is as elite as (Cruse), you just gotta keep battling, keep battling and don’t get discouraged. Because she’s going to get the best of us sometimes, but hopefully we will have an opportunity to get a ball hit hard. So, we just kept our kids up, believing something good would happen.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
In between a season-opening doubleheader sweep over two-time defending Class 6A state champion Topeka High and Tuesday's Centennial League twinbill against Emporia, Washburn Rural's softball team had a full 10 days off.
But there was not a hint of rustiness displayed by the Junior Blues, who rolled to a 14-0, 15-0 sweep over the Spartans on Rural's home field.
Washburn Rural senior star Emmerson Cope had two home runs, eight RBI and combined for a no-hitter in Tuesday's 14-0, 15-0 Centennial League sweep over Emporia. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Senior Kaci Bath rounds the bases for an inside-the-park home run in Washburn Rural's 15-0 second-game win over Emporia. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Piper Titsworth pitched a no-hitter in a 15-0 second-game win over Emporia and also had a pair of doubles and two RBI. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Rural coach Liz Stover said she didn't necessarily welcome the long layoff, but was happy with how the Junior Blues handled it.
"It would be nice to kind of get started with the season and just get on a roll, but I think the girls did a good job working hard at practice and staying ready,'' Stover said. "We just tried to keep (practice) light, keep it fun but also tried to focus on little things
"I think we were focused and ready to go. We came out and did our job and I was real happy with it.''
Washburn Rural, 4-0 overall and in the league, set the tone for the day in the bottom of the first in the opener, when Rural's second hitter, senior Emmerson Cope, hit a two-run homer, part of a six-run inning for the Junior Blues.
Rural also got run-scoring singles from senior Piper Titsworth and freshman Henley Rapp and a RBI sacrifice fly from senior Alyssa Mastin.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural volleyball star Brooklyn DeLeye is one of 20 athletes selected by USA Volleyball for the 2023 Girls U19 NORCECA Pan American Cup roster.
Washburn Rural volleyball star Booklyn DeLeye has been named the USA Volleyball U19 team for the Pan Am Cup. [File photo/TSN]
Twelve players from the 20-player roster will be chosen to compete at the Pan American Cup on May 7-15 in Ciudad de Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico.
The team will train April 30-May 6 at the Anaheim (Calif.) National Team Training Center.
Minnesota women’s head coach Keegan Cook will serve as the U19 team’s head coach.
A 6-foot-2 outside hitter, DeLeye was named the Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year for the second straight season last fall after leading the Junior Blues to a 45-1 record and the Class 6A state championship.
Washburn Rural advanced to the state volleyball tournament four straight seasons during DeLeye's career, posting first, second, third and fourth-place finishes.
As a senior DeLeye amassed 457 kills and 324 digs while posting a .503 kill percentage and a .341 hitting percentage. She also recorded 81 assists, 64 service aces and 21 blocks.
A MaxPreps.com first-team All-American, DeLeye, who will play collegiately at Kentucky, concluded her prep volleyball career with 2,090 kills.
