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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Friday night was a night that Highland Park's softball team wants to learn from after dropping a Centennial League doubleheader to Manhattan at Hummer Sports Park.
The Lady Indians rolled over Highland Park with a 19-0 victory in the first game and a 17-0 decision in in the second game.
“This has been a rebuilding season for us,” Highland Park coach Bill Nicholson said. “With a team that’s comprised of two seniors and the remainder is freshmen, I think we have been doing a good job of settling down. We’ve been getting better. We just need to continue growing and playing better ball.
“We need to find our small victories and grow.”
Coming into this year, nobody on the Scots’ roster had played more than three years of softball in their lives.
While the scoreboard hasn’t been in the favor of Highland Park much this year, the Scots were full of positive energy Friday. That energy is what is keeping this team going.
“The postive energy in our dugout and on the field is what is going to make our team this year,” Nicholson said. “We need to support ourselves before we get some support for our play on the field. We are trying to teach the kids that you need to support yourselves and push yourselves to be your best.
“Everything will come together for us, we just need too look forward.”
Highland Park wasn’t able to come up with any hits in either game and it was hard for the Scots to bring down Manhattan.
Manhattan’s Avery Hafliger pitched a perfect game in the first game and Kailey Wetherington threw a no-hitter in Game 2 in their first varsity starts.
While the two pitchers only pitched three innings each due to the 15-run spread, they were able to collect a combined 14 strikeouts.
“I was very pleased with them,” Manhattan coach Connie Miller said. “It was their first varsity starts today. Avery Hafliger is on the varsity team, so I thought today would be a good chance for her to get mixed in with the rotation. We also wanted to give that same opportunity to Kailey (Wetherington) today.
“Having them pitch lets Jaden (McGee) and Kierra (Goos) get an opportunity to rest up. It was a good day of pitching.”
Wetherington made her varsity debut on Friday as a sophomore.
“I felt like most of my pitches were really good today,” Wetherington said. “Having eight strikeouts out of a possible nine is a good start for me, especially with the varsity team. This is a confidence booster for me going forward.”
“We’ve been preparing to have a day like this,” Miller said. “We were hopeful that we would be able to come in today and put some runs on the board. I thought today went well.”
One of Friday’s biggest stars on offense was Tribe sophomore shortstop McKenzie Reid.
Reid had a home run, a pair of singles, three walks and six RBI in going 3 for 4.
“We put in a lot of work and practice for this,” Reid said. “I think we are a really well put together team. I think any issues we’ve had this year is us beating ourselves. I think we are good now, but we still have a long way too go.”
Kaitlyn Gregorie, Takara Kolterman and Paige Dupler played a huge part in the offensive outburst.
Gregorie, Kolterman and Dupler drove in a combined 11 runs.
Highland Park will take on Centennial League foe Topeka High on Tuesday.
First game
MANHATTAN 19, HIGHLAND PARK 0
Manhattan 6 10 3 – 19 11 0
Highland Park 0 0 0 – 0 0 3
W – Hafliger. L – Dunsworth-Gonzales. 2B: Manhattan – Hafliger, Begnoche. 3B: Manhattan – Kolterman. HR: Manhattan – Reid.
Second game
MANHATTAN 19, HIGHLAND PARK 0
Manhattan 7 10 0 – 17 10 1
Highland Park 0 0 0 – 0 0 3
W – Wetherington. L – Alcantera. 2B: Manhattan – Wollenberg, Dupler. 3B: Manhattan – Dupler.
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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.''
