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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
No. 4-ranked Shawnee Heights' late first-half surge was all the T-Birds needed to take down No-10-ranked Seaman in Monday's 3-1 road victory.
Shawnee Heights continued to be dominant on the defensive end, with Seaman’s goal against the T-Birds one of only two goals that they have allowed in the entire season.
Shawnee Heights' Isabell Van Fleet (white) advances the ball against Seaman's Kinley Wilhelm in Monday's 3-1 Heights soccer victory. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Shawnee Heights' Makenna Lunsford (white) attempts a free kick guarded by Seaman's (left to right) Stella Appelhanz, Carstyn Anderson and Kinley Wilhelm. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
“Having the defensive solidity is a big reason why we’ve been able to be successful,” Shawnee Heights coach Kellen Griffin said. “We’ve got to keep our defense going and communicating well. I thought we communicated on the field great tonight.
“When we communicate like we did, knowing our assignments and where the ball is will be much easier for us to win games.”
The T-Birds' defense was led by senior goalkeeper Tatum Hoge.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Twenty-six times Washburn softball has played at Gahnstrom Field this season and 26 times the Ichabods have won.
A 2-0, 3-2 sweep over No. 8 Rogers State Monday afternoon completed that accomplishment and moved the team's overall win streak to 20 games.
Washburn senior Ashton Friend (20) celebrates her walkoff home run with teammate Jaden LaBarge in Monday's 2-0 Game 1 win over No. 8 Rogers State. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
Washburn mobs teammate Ashton Friend at home plate after her game-winning home run Monday against No. 8 Rogers State. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
Monday's wins moved the Ichabods to 40-11 on the year, the most wins for the program since the 2002 season where they won 48 games.
“Really just so proud of our kids,'' Washburn coach Brenda Holaday said. "I mean, you are talking about the No. 8 team in the nation. I thought our kids were fighters … we capitalized when we needed to and then our pitching and defense was really good.”
All five runs came on just two home run swings, the first two from Ashton Friend to walk-off Game 1 and the final three by Autymn Schreiner to come from behind in the second game.
“This is unreal, I mean, this is probably the greatest win that I have experienced here at Washburn,'' Friend said. "Just to be a part of it is amazing.''.
“Just hearing it is surprising but I don’t doubt it because we worked so hard every single day for this and there is nobody more deserving,” Friend added about the 20-game win streak.
Two top-10 wins hope to provide a boost to the team's No. 7 Central Regional and No. 32 NFCA Coaches Poll rankings from the week before.
“Every kid's goal at the Division II level is to get into the postseason and so anything we can do to help our cause is important,” Holaday said. “Last year at this time we couldn’t even think about that, we weren’t in that position. We’re at least in that position but there is still a lot of work to do.”
The sweep momentarily puts Washburn atop the MIAA standings over Central Oklahoma who has two more games left to play than the Ichabods.
Game 1 was a pitcher's duel between former Shawnee Heights star Jaycee Ginter, who leads Division II with 26 wins, and Andrea Morales, who boasted a 1.09 ERA entering the day for the Hillcats.
The game lived up to expectations, with both teams combining for just one hit over the first five innings.
“Morales for Rogers State is an All-American for a reason, she is so good and I think this is the first time we have beat her,” Holaday said.
Rogers State picked up its first hit in the sixth inning with a one-out double, but Ginter was able to force two fly balls to keep the game scoreless.
Ginter cruised through the top of the seventh and led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single.
It was followed up by an 0-2 home run from Friend that bounced on and over the wall in center field to walk-off the 2-0 victory.
“Honestly it was going to be all or nothing up there. I made solid contact and as I was running down first base I was just hoping it would go and then once it went too many emotions rushed through me and it was just great, it was awesome,” Friend said.
Even after the wild win, Holaday was pleased with the discipline of the team to stay under control and focus for the second game.
“The funny thing is I still worry about that but I really don’t have to anymore,” Holaday said. “They did a really good job on their own switching gears and getting ready for the second game so the credit is to them, not me.”
Game 2 started in a similar fashion, with Raegen Hamm in the circle for the Ichabods.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights junior Alex Valdivia added the city individual title to the United Kansas Conference championship he won earlier in the spring Monday at Topeka Country Club while Washburn Rural continued to pile up city team titles, posting its 12th straight championship by a 38-stroke margin over Seaman.
City champion Alex Valdivia, a Shawnee Heights junior, watches a shot in Monday's city tournament at Topeka Country Club. Valdivia posted a two-stroke victory with a 27-hole score of 116. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Valdivia, who had been 12 strokes off the winning pace en route to a sixth-place finish as a sophomore, posted a 27-hole score of 116 to take medalist honors by two strokes over 2021 city champion Luke Leonetti, a Washburn Rural senior.
Valdivia earlier had posted a four-stroke individual win in the UKC tournament with a 69 and said doubling up in the city meet was a goal.
"I think I was more focused on league and regionals, but city I was definitely wanting to win it,'' Valdivia said.
And being a city champ become more of a goal after his win in the UKC meet on April 11.
"First I was just thinking about league and then I realized we had the city tournament coming up and that was definitely a goal of mine.''
Valdivia had his ups and downs over the 27 holes, but used a couple of late up and downs for par to hold off Leonetti.
"I was kind of playing perfect my first nine, I just made a couple of mistakes, and then my second front nine I played pretty much perfect until my last hole and I had some trouble starting the back nine,'' Valdivia said. "I had a double the first hole and then (No. 15) that par 5 I had a triple.
:"I was kind of bounced back a little bit and was able to make some pars and kind of keep it decent.''
Senior Luke Leonetti finished second in Monday's city golf tournament,, helping lead Washburn Rural to its 12th straight city team title. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural golf won its 12th straight city team championship Monday, posting a 38-stroke victory over Seaman. [Submitted]
Leonetti led a 2-3-4 finish by Washburn Rural, with seniors Giles Frederickson (120) and Joe Morse (121) finishing third and fourth. Seaman senior Gavin Wilhelm and Rural senior Turner Depperschmidt tied for fifth at 124.
Washburn Rural didn't have one of its best days, tying for fourth in the 23-school Topeka West Invitational held in conjunction with the city meet, but Rural coach Jared Goehring said the Junior Blues achieved their primary goal of winning the city title.
"The bottom line is we accomplished a goal by being city champions,'' Goehring said. "I know we had a couple of individuals fall just short of their individual goal, but I know they would take a team win over an individual win any day of the week.''
Shawnee Mission East won the Topeka West Invitational with a 323 four-man score while Olathe Northwest's Drake Krumme, a senior, took medalist honors with a 76.
Shawnee Heights' Aiden Jones was part of a four-player tie for fifth with a 78, along Leonetti and Valdivia.
CITY GOLF TOURNAMENT Team scores
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys tennis team won the team championship in Saturday's Salina Central Invitational, led by junior doubles champions Miles and Ian Cusick.
The Cusicks, who won their third tournament on the week, took an 8-3 win over Arkansas City in the championship match.
Topeka West's Miles Cusick returns a shot as Ian Cusick looks on Saturday in the Sallina Central Invitational. The Cusicks win the doubles title, leading the Chargers to the team championship. [Submitted]
Topeka West's Gavin Chavez (left) and Carter Cool finished third in doubles in Saturday's Salina Central Invitational, helping the Chargers win the team title. [Submitted]
Senior Gavin Chavez and junior Carter Cool posted a third-place finish, bouncing back from a semifinal loss to teammates Cusick and Cusick to win the third-place match.
Sophomore James Maag added a fourth-place finish in singles for the Chargers.
• Topeka West finished second as a team to Wichita Classical in Friday's Emporia Invitational, with Miles and Ian Cusick claiming the championship in an all-West doubles final.
The Cusicks beat teammates Chavez and Cool 8-7 (7-4 in a tiebreaker) for first place.
Maag from Topeka West finished 4th in singles.
Senior Michael Sandstrom and junior Gus Glotzbach finished fifth in doubles for Hayden.
Maag from Topeka West finished 4th in singles.
NEWKIRK JOINS ALL-TIME DISTANCE ELITE
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Even after scoring only six combined runs Washburn softball’s undefeated home record still stands, now at 24-0, after a doubleheader sweep over Northeastern State University on Sunday with scores of 3-0 and 3-2.
“Pitching and defense is so important for games like that and I thought we were really good in those two areas today,” said Washburn coach Brenda Holaday said. “It’s just about kids battling at the plate and I think we battled … we did enough to win.”
Sophomore Jaycee Ginter picked up the pitching wins in both games, including a one-hitter in Game 1, as Washburn stretched its winning streak to 18 games on Sunday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Wahburn Review]
Washburn softball honored seniors Maddie Stipsits (left), Ashton Friend (middle) and Raegen Hamm (right) on Senior Day Sunday at Gahnstrom Field. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
The 38-11 Ichabods extended their winning streak to 18 games, a new high mark in Holaday’s six years, surpassing a 17-game run earlier in the season.
Between games, the team recognized its group of three seniors, Raegan Hamm, Maddie Stipsits and Ashton Friend.
“They go about it in a quiet way … their work ethic is great. They just have a way of just creating such a positive and good culture with our kids, and the others follow,” Holaday said. “To be honest, I don’t know that I would single any one of them out as a great leader but collectively, man have they done a good job.”
Hamm will finish as Washburn’s all-time strikeout leader while the two position players have combined to make 78 starts this season.
In a season of spectacular performances, sophomore Shawnee Heights product Jaycee Ginter was as sharp as ever, throwing a complete-game shutout and allowing only one hit and one walk in Game 1.
“The great part about her is she comes out and sets the tone for the day, so it’s not just about her quality pitching and attacking really good lineups,” Holaday said. “She instills confidence in all of us … it was huge.”
Season-long success from Ginter and Sante Fe Trail product Marrit Mead, who scored the walk-off run in game two, have propelled Washburn to No. 7 in the latest NCAA Central Regional rankings and a tie at the top of the MIAA standings.
Washburn will get a chance to improve its regional and national standings in its two final home games against No. 8 Rogers State on Monday.
“(Monday) is a big day for us, battling for first in the conference obviously, so we are going to have to come prepared as they are going to be,” Ginter said.
“We know we have to do a lot of what we did today,” Holaday said. “We are going to see great pitching on their end. It’s going to be up to us to step up.”
Ginter started her day in the circle with two hitless innings, setting up the offense.
In the second, Jaden LaBarge doubled and was brought home on a single from Kimi Patterson to put the Ichabods on the board.
Through four innings Ginter was still working a no-hitter to go along with five strikeouts. Patterson put another run on the board in the fourth inning, scoring Friend with a ground-rule double.
Hadley Kerschen grounded to second base to score LaBarge, putting Washburn up, 3-0.
That was all the scoring in the game as the Ichabods managed only two more hits the rest of the way. On the other end, Ginter kept Northeastern State hitless until there was one out in the seventh inning.
She finished the game striking out eight batters and allowing just one hit and one walk over seven innings of work to earn win number 24.
“I didn’t feel any pressure,” Ginter said. “I felt pretty confident going into the game and I knew that we needed it.”
Hamm took over in the circle for Game 2 and threw a scoreless first two innings while allowing just one hit.
At the plate, Patterson led off the bottom of the second with a single and was moved to third on an error. Kaylee Wagner grounded out to second base, scoring Patterson.
Kerschen, who reached via error, was able to score on a wild pitch, putting Washburn up 2-0 after two innings of play.
The RiverHawks loaded the bases in the third but could not score, but would in the fourth after back-to-back doubles led off the inning.
Hamm exited after four innings pitched, allowing just the one run and striking out four, leaving the score still at 2-1.
Ginter took over pitching responsibilities next, throwing scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth. She surrendered a single and double in the top of the seventh before a sacrifice fly tied the game at two.
In extra innings, Ginter retired the Northeastern State in order. Mead led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. Ellington Hogle pinch-hit for an infield single and a walk from Ginter loaded the bases.
“My thinking was, if Marrit got on we would bring Ellie in to bunt because she is the best bunter we have on the team,” Holaday said. “For a freshman who doesn’t get to be on the field a lot to stay ready and come in for a big pressure moment and do that was huge for her.”
Friend struck out swinging but the wild pitch went to the backstop, allowing Mead to score and walk off with a 3-2 win.
Washburn’s MIAA record sits at 20-2 after the sweep. The doubleheader with the Hillcats begins at 3 p.m. Monday.
First game
WASHBURN 3, NORTHEASTERN STATE 0
Northeastern State (23-21) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 0
Washburn (37-11) 0 1 0 2 0 0 X – 3 7 0
WP – Ginter (24-3). LP – Young (9-9). 2B – Washburn: LaBarge, Patterson.
Second game
WASHBURN 3, NORTHEASTERN STATE 2
Washburn (38-11) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 3 6 0
Northeastern State (23-22) 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 – 2 8 3
WP – Ginter (25-3). LP – Evans (8-10). 2B – Northeastern State: Bradshaw, Wolfe, Rosenquist.
