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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University softball will wrap up the 2025 regular season on Saturday, hosting Emporia State in a 1 p.m. Senior Day doubleheader.
Seniors Mariah Wheeler, Alexis Tanguma, Jaden LaBarge, Kaylee Wagner and Ellington Hogle along with student assistant coach Riley Stephens will be honored between games.
Washburn senior catcher Kaylee Wagner (left) is congratulated by her Ichabod teammates after hitting the go-ahead home run in last Friday's 10-7 win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Ichabods (30-19 overall, 12-10 MIAA) split a doubleheader with No. 5-ranked Central Oklahoma last Friday in their only action of the week.
Emporia State is 29-21 this season and 9-13 in the MIAA after sweeping Newman on April 19 in Emporia.
The Ichabods are in sixth in the MIAA standings entering the final weekend, two games behind Central Missouri for fifth.
The 2025 MIAA Championship Tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday at the conclusion of all games. The top 10 in the final standings qualify for the single-elimination tournament which will be hosted by Fort Hays State April 30-May 4.
Washburn junior pitcher Sadie Walker is ninth in the nation in games started (26), 11th in appearances (33 ) and 38th in shutouts (4) while also ranking 47th in strikeouts (47).
Jenna Sprague is seventh in the nation with five saves.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University baseball will finish up the 2025 regular season with a three-game series against Newman, beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. and wrapping things up on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch and 12 p.m. Senior Day ceremony.
Washburn baseball will wrap up its 2025 regular season with a three-game weekend MIAA series against Newman. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
On Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m. there will be a ceremony to re-name WU's stadium Falley Field at Steve Anson Stadium in honor of the late Steve Anson, the winningest coach in Washburn baseball history.
Washburn fell to 23-24 overall and 15-18 in the MIAA after losing 9-2 to No. 3 Central Missouri on Wednesday.
Newman enters the weekend 10-30 overall and 6-24 in the MIAA after falling 12-6 to No. 23 Fort Hays State.
The Ichabods are 12-7 at Falley Field this season while going 10-14 in road contests and 1-3 in neutral site games.
At the plate the Ichabods are hitting .313 with a .410 OB% and a .533 SLG%. Washburn has hit 84 home runs with 105 doubles.
The pitching staff has a 7.41 ERA with 320 strikeouts across 404.2 innings with a 1.41 WHIP. The Ichabods have allowed 452 hits and issued 295 walks.
Washburn has a .963 fielding percentage on the year, turning 32 double plays with 63 total errors.
WU is 7-5 in games against NCBWA nationally ranked opponents this season.
Owen Laessig has the current longest hitting streak for Washburnat eight games after Jackson Mervosh had his 16-game streak come to an end. Cash Jay had the longest of any Ichabod player this season at 17 games.
Jett Buck leads the team with 16 games of recording multiple RBI with two games with five or more driven in.
Buck is hitting .360 while starting in all 47 games. He has a team-high 19 home runs on the year with 62 RBI, also tops on the team. He ranks first in the MIAA and 11th nationally in hits and is second in the conference and sixth in the nation in home runs. He is also third in the MIAA in RBI and fourth in SLG%.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park sophomore soccer star Micah Williams has been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Star of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Williams over the past week:
Highland Park sophomore Micah Williams, the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Rising Star of the Week, scored six goals in Tuesday's 7-2 win over KC-Washington and seven goals in Thursday's 7-4 victory over KC-Wyandotte. [File photo/TSN]
MICAH WILLIAMS, Highland Park
Williams scored 13 goals in two Highland Park soccer wins on the week, raising her season total to 20 goals.
Williams, a first-team All-City pick as a freshman in 2024, scored six goals in Tuesday's 7-2 home Meadowlark Conference victory over Kansas City-Washington on Tuesday and followed that up with a seven-goal performance in Thursday's 7-4 conference road win over KC-Wyandotte as Highland Park improved to 3-6-1 on the season.
Williams now has 43 goals in her career for the Scots.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a slow start to Thursday's non-league girls soccer match against Olathe West, Washburn Rural put itself in position to pull out a victory before dropping a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime decision to the Owls at McElroy Field.
Senior Kate Hinck (9) scored Washburn Rural's lone goal in Thursday's 2-1 overtime loss to Olathe West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to knot the game and had several near-misses in the second half before Olathe West junior Molly Collins scored the golden goal with just 13 seconds remaining in the first 10-minute overtime period.
"A tough game,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "We didn't get off to the start we wanted to. I thought we had some chances early to maybe grab a lead and then they got the first goal, so anytime you're playing from behind it makes life a little tougher.
"I liked in the second half how we came out and got an early goal and really battled. I thought there was about a 20-minute stretch there where we were maybe going to get another one and then both teams kind of got tired and when you get to overtime anything can happen.''
Owl senior Kinzie Taylor scored with 18:42 left in the first half to put Olathe West (5-3-1) in front 1-0 and that lead held up through halftime before Junior Blue senior star Kate Hinck scored on an outstanding individual effort to tie the game with 33:31 left in regulation.
Rural (7-2-0) put together multiple scoring threats the rest of the way, including a flurry of shots late in regulation, but was unable to find the back of the net and the game went to OT.
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings softball team had thunder in their bats Thursday in 4-2 and 14-2 United Kansas Conference victories over city rival Topeka West, tallying 26 hits across the two games at Seaman.
Junior Aubrey Warren had three hits with a double in the first game and a home run and three RBI in the second game as Seaman took a 4-2, 14-2 UKC sweep over Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Ace pitcher Kaelyn O’Rourke set the tone to start Game 1 of the twinbill for the Vikings, striking out the side in the top of the first.
Seaman put a run on the board in the bottom half of the inning, with Aubrey Warren crossing the plate on a Natalee Simpson single.
The visiting Chargers looked to answer, putting together back-to-back singles from Mya Miller and Christina Briggs to put pressure on the Vikings, but O’Rourke struck out opposing pitcher Jordyn White, a freshman, to put an end to the threat.
The Seaman offense went back to work in the bottom of the third, with Warren scoring again on a Simpson single and courtesy runner Phoebe Brodine coming around to score on an error to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
Seaman senior pitcher Kaelyn O'Rourke struck out six hitters in Thursday's 4-2 first-game win over Topeka West, [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After three shutout innings from O’Rourke, Seaman coach Dan Ruda turned to freshman Kynnedi Kitzman to start the top of the fourth.
Topeka West found its first run of the game in the frame, with Callie Jones drawing a leadoff walk and scoring on a Briggs single to cut the deficit to 3-1.
After Kitzman shut down the Chargers in the top of the fifth, Seaman added an insurance run in the bottom half, with Simpson recording her third RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Topeka West showed signs of life to begin the top of the sixth when Jones launched a home run over the left-field fence to make it a 4-2 game.
After giving up the solo shot, Kitzman settled in and recorded the final six outs without allowing a hit or walk to earn the save for the Vikings.
Seaman recorded 11 hits in Game 1, with Warren leading the way with a 3 for 4 outing. Simpson went 2 for 2 for the Vikings, driving in a run in each of her three plate appearances.
O’Rourke earned the win in the circle, striking out six over three innings pitched.
Topeka West senior shortstop Callie Jones scored both of West's first-game runs in a 4-2 loss to Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Isabella Kutina and Briggs each had two hits in the loss for Topeka West, while Jones tallied both runs scored for the Chargers.
In Game 2, the Vikings sent out another freshman pitcher, Lydia Dreher, who retired the Chargers in order in the top of the first.
Seaman got on the board early again, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with a Raegan McConnell RBI double and an O’Rourke RBI single.
The hosts tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second, with Kayleigh Neill driving in Addison Sibley after Sibley’s leadoff double.
A few batters later, McConnell added her second RBI in as many innings with a single up the middle to give Seaman a 4-0 lead.
After a third hitless inning from Dreher in the top of the third, the Vikings broke the contest open with a seven-run bottom of the third.
With the bases loaded following two singles and a walk, Sibley hit a sacrifice fly to center field to push the Seaman lead to 5-0.
With two outs in the inning, the Vikings rattled off five consecutive hits, including a two-run double from Anna McLaughlin and a two-run home run to center field by Warren.
O’Rourke and Simpson each added RBI doubles before the Chargers managed to record the final out of the inning.
Topeka West chipped away at the deficit in the top of the fourth, starting the inning with three straight singles.
Jones drew a walk with the bases loaded, and Addaline Hall came in to score on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 11-2.
Seaman added three more runs in the bottom of the inning, starting with a leadoff single from Kinsley Smith.
The Vikings took advantage of four Charger errors in the inning to reach the final score of 14-2.
The hosts had 15 hits in the nightcap, with each starter recording at least one hit.
Warren drove in three runs in a 2 for 4 effort, while McConnell went a perfect 3 for 3 with two runs driven in.
Dreher went the distance in the circle, going five innings while allowing only two runs and striking out five.
With O’Rourke working her way back from a minor shoulder injury, Ruda was pleased with the way his two freshman pitchers took the pressure off of their star senior.
“(Kitzman and Dreher) have done a really good job of stepping up in (O’Rourke’s) absence, and getting that varsity experience right away,” Ruda said. “(We're) trusting all of our pitchers to go in and get the job done, and just trying to keep kids healthy for the long run.”
