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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Sophomore Lailah Benz scored a three-goal hat trick Tuesday night as Shawnee Heights' girls soccer team improved to 2-1 on the season with a 5-0 non-league win at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Lailah Benz (2) scored three goals in Tuesday's 5-0 non-league win over Ottawa. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights posted its second straight shutout win after blanking Kansas City-Harmon 10-0 last Thursday.
Benz scored the T-Birds' first two goals against the Cyclones and also scored Shawnee Heights' final goal of the night.
Shawnee Heights also got goals from seniors Peyton Hack andd Lily Martin while freshman Mackenzie Mertel registered the shutout in goal.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
In Seaman’s first softball game of the 2023 season the Vikings took a 6-3 loss to Topeka West before bouncing back with a 13-1 win in the second half of the doubleheader.
Tuesday, in a single game, Seaman fell behind 5-1 after the second inning and scored eight runs over the final four innings to knock off Shawnee Heights, 9-5.
Seaman junior Jersey Jellison had a home run in Tuesday's 9-5 UKC comeback win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman senior Aspen Burgardt was the starting pitcher and contributed a two-run double as the Vikings rallied for a 9-5 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“The kids, they have a lot of character. It’s a really close-knit group of kids, “ said Seaman coach Jay Monhollon. “Today they just kept battling, you know, because to them they were in control.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
It had been so long since Topeka High took a baseball game from Washburn Rural, no one in attendance at Hummer Sports Park Tuesday night could remember for sure when it last happened.
The Trojans didn’t just win a game on Tuesday, they swept a doubleheader over the Junior Blues in dramatic fashion.
Topeka High's baseball team huddles up after Tuesday's Centennial League doubleheader sweep over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Topeka High junior Nate Plankinton turned in clutch relief pitching performances in both games in the Trojans' twinbill sweep over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Washburn Rural jumped out to early leads in both games, only to see the scrappy Trojans roar back with big innings and gutsy pitching from junior Nate Plankinton to win both.
Topeka High claimed the first game 6-5, then won a wild 11-10 marathon that included a 20-minute delay for a light outage.
“This was a really tough test for us,” said Topeka High coach Cody Miller. “They placed third in state last year and they’re a really good team. For us to not fold and keep our heads up and keep chipping away at them ... we didn’t really do anything spectacular. We did basic things and kept making basic plays.
"Then we handed it over to Nate at the end because we had a chance to go get it. He’s our guy. He did a great job of closing it out for us.”
Plankinton, scheduled to pitch the second game of the doubleheader, came in in relief in the fourth inning of the first game when the Trojans bats came alive.
He entered the first game in the top of the fifth inning after the Trojans rallied back from a 5-1 deficit to lead 6-5. The junior struck out six batters and surrendered just one single and one walk over the next three frames for the win.
“I don’t even focus on how many runs we’re up,” Plankinton said. “I just focus on getting the guys out at the plate. That’s all we need.”
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Seaman’s girls soccer team is off to an undefeated 3-0-0 start, with two of its early regular-season wins coming from teams that were in state tournaments a year ago.
Seaman junior Marin Schuler (22) scored two goals Tuesday as the Vikings improved to 3-0 with a 3-2 non-league win over Cair Paravel Latin. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Seaman's soccer team celebrates a goal by Viking junior Marin Schuler in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Cair Paravel at the Sunflower Soccer Complex. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
In Seaman’s home opener last Tuesday, the Lady Vikings knocked off Class 6A Manhattan. 3-1. Manhattan finished fourth in the state last year. Then on Thursday, Seaman defeated former Centennial League foe Emporia, 6-0.
Seaman started the second week of the season on the right foot Tuesday with a 3-2 city defeat over Cair Paravel Latin.
The Lions return a nearly identical team from last season after their fourth-place finish in the 4A-1A state tournament.
It hasn’t been the most leisurely start to the season with Seaman’s high-quality opponents, but the Vikings are happy with how they have found a way to handle the challenges.
“It’s been a great start,” Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum said. “We just want to keep getting better every day, and we want to keep this thing going.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Tuesday was the continuation of a longstanding baseball rivalry between perennial Class 5A contenders Seaman and Shawnee Heights ... with a new twist.
After several seasons in different leagues, the Vikings and T-Birds are both in the United Kansas Conference this spring, with Tuesday's game at the Bettis Family Sports Complex was the first of two league games this season.
And although the defending UKC-champion T-Birds will get another shot at the Vikings late in the season, Seaman, which earned a share of the Centennial League title a year ago, drew first blood with a decisive 13-3 victory.
Sophomore Max Huston watches the flight of his three-run home run in Seaman's 13-3 UKC win over Shawnee Heights Tuesday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman sophomore Max Huston is congratulated by his teammates after his third-inning home run in the Vikings' 13-3 win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"It's our crosstowns rivals and we're always excited to come play them,'' said Seaman sophomore standout Max Huston, who had three hits, including a home run, and four runs batted in. "We were looking forward to the game.''
Seaman, which improved to 3-0 overall and in the UKC, never trailed after scoring three runs in the top of the first.
