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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
SHAWNEE MISSION – Nija Canady’s 14-strikeout performance boosted Topeka High passed Olathe North 6-0 in a Class 6A softball state quarterfinal on Thursday.
Topeka High wasn’t complete offensively until the midpoint of the contest at the Shawnee Mission District Softball Complex. It took the offense a while to click, but the defense was able to hold a previously red hot Olathe North team.
Topeka High senior NiJaree Canady pitched the Trojans to a 6-0 Class 6A state tournament win on Thursday, striking out 14 batters. [File photo/TSN]
Leading the Trojans' defensive pack was Canady. Canady pitched a complete-game shutout in Thursday night’s blistering cold game. Canady pitched seven innings, allowing three hits, not giving up any free passes and fanning 14 Eagle batters.
“I want to thank my team for today,” Canady said. “When you can get six runs as quickly as the offense did today, it helps me out a lot as a pitcher. I pitched with a lot of confidence. Even if I had a bad pitch or a bad inning, I knew my teammates were going to be there to back me up. We don’t play tomorrow if my teammates didn’t show up the way they did today. I’m excited to get back out there tomorrow with everyone.”
At one point of the shutout, Canady struck out seven batters in a row. Olathe North appeared to grow frustrated with each Canady strikeout.
“(Nija) was dominant today,” Topeka High coach Shane Miles said. “She hadn’t pitched in two weeks before today’s game. To come out and pitch the way she did today was a blessing. She will be ready to go tomorrow to pitch for us, too.”
Topeka High’s battery duo of Canady and Alesia Alvarez has been a noticeably good connection all season long. Alvarez was able to help guide Canady to her shutout and has been an integral part of High’s rotational success in the 2022 campaign.
“I think we pretty much have a flawless defense,” Alvarez said. “We had one error in the first inning, but we were able to bounce back from that relatively quickly. There was a lot of pressure put on us to win this game. I feel like we are sometimes tense at the beginning of our games, but once we settle in our defense and offense are amazing. I’m happy to get back out there with Nija and the team tomorrow.”
As Alvarez stated, the bats were tense at the beginning of the state quarterfinal contest. It took four innings for Topeka High to plate in runs and even get a hit.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Topeka High was able to gain some momentum from the bats of Alvarez and McCall Beall. Alvarez and Beall were able to bring two runners home and Topeka High looked terrific from that point on.
In the next inning, High lit up the scoreboard in dramatic fashion.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- No. 7 seed Shawnee Heights got an outstanding pitching performance from senior Trevor Schattilly and put together multiple scoring chances at the plate in Thursday's Class 5A state baseball tournament at Eck Stadium.
But Ryan Schmidt's T-Birds were unable to get the big hits that could have turned the tide against second seed Bishop Carroll, with the Eagles taking a 2-0 first-round win.
Shawnee Heights senior Trevor Schattilly threw a no-hitter in Thursday's 2-0 Class 5A state tournament loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights sophomore Jacob Malcom slides into second base in Thursday's 2-0 Class 5A state tournament loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Selena Favela/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Christian Gomez tries to turn a double play in Thursday's 2-0 Class 5A state tournament loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Schattilly, Heights' ace, limited Bishop Carroll to just two hits while striking out four hitters, but the Eagles punched what proved to be the game-winning run on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the second and added an insurance run in the fifth when sophomore Austin Selenke tripled and scored on senior Ryan Pacha's run-scoring sacrifice fly.
Shawnee Heights, which finished the season 13-10, reached James Brennan for three hits over the first six innings while stranding eight baserunners and putting runners second and third in the third and loading the bases in the fourth, but the T-Birds were unable to get a run home. Junior Reed Hanneberg came on and pitched the seventh for Carroll to pick up the save.
"We had several times where we just couldn't get that clutch hiit and timely hitting was a problem for us today,'' Schmidt said. "Pitching-wise Trevor battled like he did all year long and did a wonderful job of keeping us close and we just couldn't get that one hit.''
Although Shawnee Heights suffered a disappointing loss to end his season Schmidt said he was proud of the way the T-Birds played late in the season, earning the United Kansas Conference title and advancing to state.
"I'm really happy for these guys,'' Schmidt said. "Where we started the beginning of the year and where we got to showed great improvement for them and a couple of them get to go on and have a shot to continue their career.''
Bishop Carroll, which improved to 19-4, advanced to Friay's 1:15 p.m. state semifinal to face the winner of the first-round game between Eisenhower and Valley Center.
The 11 p.m. semifinal will match St. Thomas Aquinas and Blue Valley Southwest.
The third-place game will be played at 3:30 p.m. Friday followed by the championship game at 5:45 p.m.
BISHOP CARROLL 2, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 0
Shawnee Heights 000 000 0 -- 0 3 1
Bishop Carroll 010 010 x -- 2 2 2
Schattilly and Parrish. Brennan, Hanneberg (7) and Girrens. W -- Brennan. L -- Schattilly. 3B -- Bishop Carroll: Selenke.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Seaman's top-seeded baseball team got off to a dream start in Thursday's Class 5A state tournament opener, taking a commanding 8-0 lead over St. Thomas Aquinas through the first two innings at Eck Stadium.
But the end was a nightmare that the Vikings aren't soon to get over, with St. Thomas Aquinas rallying for a 10-9 victory to advance to Friday's 5A semifinals.
Seaman junior Bryson Vawter pitched two no-hit innings and also drove in a pair of runs in Thursday's 10-9 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Selena Favela/TSN]
Seaman senior Casen Stallbaumer is congratulated by Viking assistant coach Mark Simoneau after hitting a two-run single in the second inning of the Vikings' 10-9 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thoamas Aquinas Thursday at Eck Stadium. [Photo by Selena Favena/Special to TSN]
Seaman (20-3) was semingly in control after scoring five times in the first and adding three runs in the bottom of the second, but St. Thomas Aquinas (14-9) got back in the hunt with three runs in the top of the third, tied the game with five runs in the top of the sixth and scored the game-winning runs in the top of the seventh after the Vikings had gone in front 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth.
Seaman, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, got a pair of shutout innings from junior pitching ace Bryson Vawter, including a pair of Viking double plays, but with an 8-0 advantage and the possibility of two more games on Friday Viking coach Trent Oliva made the decision to pull Vawter to give him the option of using him again.
For most of Thursday's contest that move looked like a very sound one before spotty pitching by Seaman's relievers combined with a back-to-back Viking errors on possible double play balls opened the door for the Saints.
"Bryson was doing everything we asked and everything was going right for us and I made some moves that obviously I wish I could change and it dictated what came out of the game,'' Oliva said. "Oviously that falls on my shoulders.
"That was my decision and tha's my fault.''
After Aquinas tied the game in the top of the sixth Vawter put Seaman back in front with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
Senior Maclane Finley, the fourth pitcher used by Seaman, got the first out of the seventh, but then Aquinas followed with a single by freshman Westin Boyle and a walk to senior Jax Marn to set up sophomore Blake O'Brien's game-winning two-run double.
After two outs in the bottom of the seventh senior Braden Colley singled and pinch-runner Scout Jellison stole second to gaive the Vikings life but Aquinas junior closer Jared Henchek ended the game with a strikeout.
"It's hard to accept because I think our guys did everything we asked of them and ultimately I feel like it comes down to a coach's decision and it was mine and I put our guys in a tough situation,'' Oliva said. "They battled back and took the lead and we weren't able to keep it in the seventh and obviously we're not going home with where we wanted to end up.''
Seaman senior Dagen Brewer had a pair of doubles and also walked twice for the Vikings, while senior Aidan Polter had a pair of singles, senior Casen Stallbaumer contributed a two-run single and junior Cameron Selbach had a two-run double.
With the victory Aquinas advanced to Friday's 11 a.m. semiffinal to face defending 5A champion Blue Valley Southwest, a 10-0 winner over De Soto.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 10, SEAMAN 9
St. Thomas Aquinas 003 005 2 -- 10 9 3
Seaman 530 000 1 -- 9 9 2
O'Brien, Andrews (2), Henchek (7) and Marn. Vawter, McConnaughey (3), Huston (3), M. Finley (6) and Brewer. W -- Andrews. L -- M. Finley. 2B -- St. Thomas Aquinas: O'Brien 2, Puetz. Seaman: Brewer 2, Selbach. 3B -- Aquinas: Boyle.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn softball sophomore pitcher/utility Jaycee Ginter, a former Shawnee Heights star, and sophomore third baseman Marrit Mead, a Santa Fe Trail product, were part of 54 student-athletes from 43 different schools who were named to the 2022 NFCA Division II All-America team released Wednesday by the coaching organization.
Ginter was a first-team at-large selection, becoming the first Ichabod to earn NFCA All-American first-team honors and Mead was selected as an at large third-team selection.
Washburn sophomore softball star Jaycee Ginter, a Shawnee Heights product, has been named a first-team NCAA Division II All-American. [File photo]
Washburn sophomore star Marrit Mead, a Santa Fe Trail grad, has been named a third-team NCAA Division II softball All-American. [File photo]
The Ichabods finished the 2022 season 45-15, winning the MIAA regular season championship before making their fifth NCAA postseason appearance.
This past season, Ginter became the third Ichabod to be named the MIAA Player of the Year and a unanimous selection as an All-MIAA First Team pitcher/utility player and was recognized as a NFCA Top 25 Player of the Year nominee.
Ginter was a first-team NFCA all-region selection and a first-team D2CCA/CoSIDA all-region selection, finishing the season with a 30-7 pitching record and breaking the Washburn single-season win total while striking out 290 in 2341/3 innings setting, also a school record.
With the bat, Ginter led the Ichabods with 57 runs batted in and was second with 10 home runs, batting .385 with 65 hits, scoring 41 runs and adding 15 doubles with a .601 slugging percentage.
Ginter led the Ichabods with 18 multi-RBI games while recording 18 multi-hit games. She was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week four times and was also named to the MIAA Tournament All-Tournament squad.
Mead was a first-team all-region selection by the NFCA and the D2CCA, earning first-team all-MIAA honors at third base for the second-straight season.
Mead led the Ichabods with 84 hits to finish sixth in the nation and her 23 doubles was an Ichabod single-season record and second in the nation.
She was one of three players to start all 60 games for the Ichabods this season and led the Ichabods with 61 runs scored, setting a Washburn single-season record. She collected 40 RBI and led the team with 22 stolen bases, 125 total bases and a .470 on base percentage recording 26 multi-hit games and 10 multi RBI games.
Mead was a D2CCA third -team All-American as a freshman.
2022 NFCA Division II All-Americans
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
For the first time in Cair Paravel Latin's short history in the KSHSAA, the Lions' girls soccer team will take part in the Class 4A-1A state semifinals after knocking off Hayden in Tuesday's state quarterfinal game at the Bettis Family Sports Complex, 2-1.
Cair Paravel (14-3-0) has shown in the 2022 campaign that it deserves to be considered one of 4A-1A's top teams and on Tuesday, the Lions' victory proved that the moment wasn’t too big for its youthful squad. Out of its 22 players, only one player is a senior.
Cair Paravel freshman Zahra Lewis (3) celebrates the Lions' first goal with sophomore Katherine Keys in Tuesday's 2-1 state quarterfinal victory over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Cair Paravel soccer celebrates Tuesday's 2-1 Class 4A-1A state quarterfinal win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Cair Paravel has now laid the foundation and is hoping that the state quarterfinal victory won’t be its last of the season.
