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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Neither Washburn Rural or Seaman were able to open up any breathing room in the Centennial League baseball race in Friday's league showdown at Rural.
But neither the Junior Blues or Vikings did anything to hurt their title chances either, with the doubleheader split leaving Rural, Seaman and Manhattan all deadlocked atop the league standings at 8-2.
Washburn Rural, 8-5 overall, blasted the Vikings 12-1 in a five-inning first game, but 11-2 Seaman answered with a dominating performance of its own in the nightcap, taking an 8-1 victory.
Washburn Rural senior Carson Rosen delivers a pitch in the Junior Blues' 12-1 first-game win over Seaman Friday at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman senior Maclane Finley threw a two-hitter in Friday's 8-1 second-game win over Washburn Rural as the Vikings earned a doubleheader split. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After a scoreless first inning in the opener, Rural took control, scoring two runs in the second and four runs in the third to open up a 6-0 advantage.
Seamn scored its only run of the game in the top of the fourth, but the Junior Blues answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning and ended the game after four and a half innings due to the 10-run spread rule.
Senior Carson Rosen went the distance for the pitching win, twirling a three-hitter and recording three strikeouts.
"After the first inning I thought Carson settled in and really pitched well and we got some big hits with people on base,'' Washburn Rural coach Jay Mastin said.
Rosen also delivered a two-run double while senior Robby Bolin had a home run and a triple and junior Ty Weber had a two-run double and three runs batted in overall and junior Adam Johnson had a run-scoring double.
Seaman senior Maclane Finley opened the game with a double and junior Bryson Vawter, who took the pitching loss, also doubled for the Vikings.
Nine-time state champion Seaman has rarely been run-ruled in its proud history and Viking coach Trent Oliva was obviously not pleased with his team's first-game performance.
"What I kind of told the guys is that, 'If you're not embarrassed you're in the wrong place,' '' Oliva said. "Obviously that doesn't happen very much and that is not our expectations and we just talked about what we needed to do to get better.
"Things didn't go right for us and credit Washburn Rural. They hit the ball hard and we didn't play well on the defensive side and it kind of snowballed on us.''
But M. Finley and the Vikings bounced back with a vengeance in the second game, with Finley throwing a two-hitter (no hits after the second) while recording five strikeouts and striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh.
The Vikings fell behind 1-0 in the first, but took control with four runs in the top of the second and added four runs in the fourth.
"That was kind of our between-game speech, that we had an opportunity to get back out there on the field and see what we're made of,'' Oliva said. "I thought it started with our guy on the mound, Mac. He was aggressive, in the zone, and had a few pitches working and then we were able to get some timely hits.''
Mastin said he wasn't surprised that Seaman bounced back with a strong performance after the first-game loss.
"We talked about that between games that Game 2 wasn't going to turn out like Game 1 did,'' Mastin said. "They came out strong and we just didn't have an answer at the plate.
"(Finley) was pretty efficient and we just couldn't string anything together and couldn't get any baserunners on.''
Seaman senior Aidan Polter, (22) who had a two-run double in Seaman's 8-1 second-game win, is congratulated by senior Casen Stallbaumer after scoring a run. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Kyle Walker is congratulated by the Junior Blues' batboy after scoring a run in Friday's doubleheader against Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Aidan Polter had a two-run double and three hits in the second game while Vawter stroked his second double of the day and sophomore Holden Finley also doubled for the Vikings.
Washburn Rural will be right back in action Saturday, completing a postponed game against Hays from earlier in the year.
First game
WASHBURN RURAL 12, SEAMAN 1
Seaman 000 10 -- 1 3 3
Washburn Rural 024 6x -- 12 11 0
W -- Rosen. L -- Vawter. 2B -- Seaman: M. Finley, Vawter. Washburn Rural: Weber, Rosen, Johnson. 3B -- Washburn Rural Bolin. HR -- Washburn Rural: Bolin.
Second game
SEAMAN 8, WASHBURN RURAL 1
Seaman 040 400 0 -- 8 9 0
Washburn Rural 100 000 0 -- 1 2 2
W -- M. Finley. L -- Sharshel. 2B -- Seaman: Polter, Vawter, H. Finley.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Freshman pitcher Kendra Cook threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the nightcap, finishing off Silver Lake softball's 6-1, 7-0 Mid-East League sweep at St. Marys on Thursday.
Cook allowed one walk and struck out five against the Bears although the Eagles were charged with two errors.
Kendra Cook [Twitter/Silver Lake softball]
Silver Lake opened the day with three runs in the first inning of the opener and added two runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth, while sophomore Avery Wende pitched a four-hitter while striking out seven and issuing three walks and allowing a St. Marys run in the fourth.
The Eagles had 12 hits in the first game, including three apiece from senior Taylor Burkhardt and sophomore Hailey Horton.
Kaibryn Kruger had a triple in the game for the Eagles while Lauren Rollenhagen went 2 for 4 with two runs batted in.
In the second game Silver Lake gave Cook the only run she would need in the top of the third inning and erupted for its final six runs in the fifth to put the game away.
Silver Lake had 11 hits, with Taylor Zordel, Burkhardt and Horton all delivering two hits apiece at the top of the lineup.
Horton and Kira Lowrey both had two RBI.
First game
SILVER LAKE 6, ST. MARYS 1
Silver Lake 300 021 0 -- 6 12 2
St. Marys 000 100 0 -- 1 4 2
W -- Wende. L -- Singdhillon. 3B -- Silver Lake: K. Kruger.
Second game
SILVER LAKE 7, ST. MARYS 0
Silver Lake 001 060 0 -- 7 11 2
St. Marys 000 000 0 -- 0 0 3
W -- Cook. L -- Mayhew.
HEIGHTS BASEBALL POSTS THIRD STRAIGHT WIN
Shawnee Heights' baseball team pushed its winning streak to three games with Thursday's 8-2 United Kansas Conference victory over Leavenworth at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
With the win the T-Birds improved to 8-6 on the season.
T-BIRD SOFTBALL IMPROVES TO 7-1-0
Shawnee Heights rolled to a 6-0 United Kansas Conference soccer win at Leavenworth on Thursday.
The T-Birds posted their third straight win while improving to 7-1-0 on the season.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
No. 15 nationally ranked Washburn University men’s tennis wrapped up its official slate of regular-season matches with a 7-0 Senior Day sweep over Bethel College on Thursday.
The Ichabods (17-4) were ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released prior to the match as the team boasts a 5-2 record inside the division.
Raul-Alin Dicu, one of two seniors on the Washburn men's tennis roster, celebrated Senior Day with singles and doubles wins in a 7-0 win over Bethel College. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
Washburn senior Miller Zeiders posted a pair of wins in the Ichabods' Senior Day win over Bethel on Thursday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
With only an exhibition against Cowley College remaining on the schedule before the MIAA tournament, the team recognized its two seniors, Raul-Alin Dicu and Miller Zeiders, after the match.
The No. 26 pairing of Matthew Earle and Sebastian Pjontek took a 6-1 No. 1 win to open doubles play.
Dicu and Noah Neideck took a 6-3 victory at the No. 2 spot and Zeiders and Daniel Bird followed with a 6-3 win at No. 3.
Miquel Perez lost only three set points in his two-set victory at the No. 3 singles position.
He was followed by No. 26 Tim Hammes and the No. 67 ranked Dicu, who won two-set matches at the No. 2 and No. 1 spots, respectively, giving the Ichabods a 4-0 win.
Bird, Earle, and Zeiders all won their matches in two sets at the No. 4, 5, and 6 positions to complete the team's second straight sweep.
Washburn moved to 7-0 at home after the win and will begin the MIAA conference tournament April 27 after the exhibition against Cowley.
WASHBURN 7, BETHEL 0
Individual Results
Doubles
No. 1 – Pjontek/Earle, Washburn def. Milan/Singh, Bethel 6-1
No. 2 – Dicu/Neideck, Washburn def. Cech/Anderson, Bethel 6-3
No. 3 – Bird/Zeiders, Washburn def. Menard/Quercia, Bethel 6-3
Singles
No. 1 – Dicu, Washburn def. Cech, Bethel 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 2 – Hammes, Washburn def. Milan, Bethel 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 – Perez, Washburn def. Schrader, Bethel 6-3, 6-0
No. 4 – Bird, Washburn def. Pluis, Bethel 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 – Earle, Washburn def. Singh, Bethel 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 – Zeiders, Washburn def. Anderson, Bethel 6-1, 6-2
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Klaus Kreutzer never likes to lose, but the veteran Hayden soccer coach knows that's Thursday's 2-0 non-league loss to St. James Academy, No. 4-ranked in Class 5A, was the kind of test the Wildcats, tied for No. 2 in 4A-1A, needed.
"They need to understand how hard they have to work to get to where we want to go and I think they got a pretty good idea today,'' Kreutzer said.
Hayden junior Briahna Barnett (center) tries to control the ball in Thursday's 2-0 Wildcat loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden sophomore Mary Burenheide (right) battled St. James Academy senior Alyssa Campbell for the ball in Thursday's 2-0 Wildcat loss to the Thunder. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, which fell to 7-1-1, played 8-1-0 St. James even for 76 of the 80-minute contest, but two goals within a four-minute span powered the Thunder to the victory.
Sophomore Patsy O'Brien scored at the 29:51 mark of the opening half off an assist from senior Christine Znidarsic to put St. James up 1-0 and junior Kenda Radke scored off O'Brien's pass about four minutes later to account for the final score.
"I told the team they (the Thunder) were out of the gate before we knew what happened,'' Kreutzer said. "They're just a very good team and we hadn't played at that level, but second half I think we got a little bit used to it and I think we had a little more poise when we were on the ball.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Shawnee Heights star point guard Trey Brown, who helped lead the T-Birds to the Class 5A state championship in 2017, had his heart set on becoming a basketball coach.
But even Brown is surprised that things have happened this quickly, with Cair Paravel Latin announcing the 23-year-old Brown as the Lions' new head boys coach Wednesday night.
TreyBrown
"It was actually pretty crazy,'' said Brown, who recently wrapped up his college career at MidAmerica Nazarene University. "Coaching is something I always really wanted to do and I was looking around and really didn't have any plans of being a head coach right away, but I saw the (Cair Paravel) opening on a website. It was where my mom (Kim) had gotten her first coaching job and I saw it and it was kind of a shot in the dark, but I thought I might as well try.
"I ended up meeting with Gary (Cleverdon, CPLS athletic director) and had a good meeting with him and then he offered me the job. Honestly it's just been a blessing. It's something I never expected to happen, and shocked me as well, but I'm happy it did. It's been pretty wild.''
