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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman and Shawnee Heights softball and Heights' baseball team all gave themselves a chance to advance to Friday's Class 5A state tournament semifinals on the Wichita State campus.
But at the end of the day all three city powers had suffered heartbreaking one-run losses, including a 17-inning setback for the Viking softball team, and all were eliminated from state competition.
Seaman opened the 5A softball tournament and dropped a 3-2 decision to top seed and undefeated Maize South in the 3 hour, 35-minute marathon which set a record for the longest game (for innings) in Wilkins Stadium history while Shawnee Heights suffered a 3-2 walkoff loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the final softball game of the day and T-Bird baseball dropped a 7-6 decision to Hays.
Seaman senior Kaelyn O'Rourke celebrates an out against Maize South in Thursday's Class 5A state softball tournament. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Seaman, which finished its season at 20-9, was locked in a scoreless deadlock with 29-0 Maize South through five innings before the Vikings took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double from junior Aubrey Warren.
Seaman senior Anna Mclaughlin scores against Maize South in the sixth inning of the Class 5A state softball tournament.
Maize South answered with a run in the bottom of the inning and the score remained 1-1 until the top of the 16th when Seaman went up 2-1 when senior pinch-runner Phoebe Brodine scampered home after singles from senior Raegan McConnell and sophomore Lauren Glasgow.
The Mavericks answered again in the bottom of the 16th when senior Sophie Stockam knocked in the tying run with a run-scoring flyball.
Maize South, which was playing Seaman in the first round for the second straight season (also a 3-2 South win), pushed across the winning run when junior Kinley Davis singled, stole second and third and scored when the ball got away from Seaman after the throw to third.
Seaman coach Daniel Ruda said that in a game like Thursday's there were plays throughout the 17 innings that could have been difference-makers.
"One bounce here, one bounce there and it's a different game,'' Ruda said. "That's what I told the girls. I'm so proud of them, how hard they played. There were some great plays that we made on defense to stop some of their rallies and it seemed like every time they had runners on we locked in and we made the play. Just one ball got away from us and that was the difference today.''
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By KYLE MANTHE
TopSports.news
It took nine innings to get on the board but Silver Lake softball kept its season alive with a 2-0 win over No. 2- seeded Trinity Academy in the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A State Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Topeka.
Silver Lake softball celebrates its 2-0 nine-inning win over No. 2 seed Trinity in the Class 3A state tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“Trinity had a heck of a defense. That’s been the first team to be able to take that kind of pressure this year against us,” said Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton. “I just knew our girls, not only can they play small ball but we can big ball and eventually we got those hits.”
Those hits for the Eagles came off the bats of sophomore Savanah Wende and junior Kailyn Hanni in the ninth inning. The late-game offense was coupled with a shutout two-hit effort from senior pitcher Kendra Cook in the circle to punch a ticket to the final day of the season.
Silver Lake senior pitcher Kendra Cook twirled a nine-inning two-hitter in Thursday's 2-0 win over Trinity. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“That’s just Kendra in a nutshell. She’s just worked so hard having confidence because there’s not a lot that’s going to shake her,” Hamilton said. “I told her before she started no regrets so there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to leave it on the field.”
Cook breezed through the opening of the game with four strikeouts in the first two innings. The first baserunner of the game reached in the third on a walk, the second Knight to reach came on the first hit of the game in the bottom of the sixth.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural softball team surrendered what appeared to be a commanding lead in the opening round of the Class 6A State Tournament Thursday.
Instead of panicking, they built another one in the final inning to advance to the semifinals with a 9-6 win at Arrocha Ball Park.
Washburn Rural softball celebrates Thursday's 9-6 Class 6A state tournament win over No. 3 seed Garden City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural softball coach Joy Marie Galliart celebrates Thursday's 9-6 Class 6A state tournament win over No. 3 seed Garden City with her Junior Blues. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural led 6-0 in the middle of the fourth inning, with starting pitcher Madi Davison cruising. As the sixth seed in the field, the Junior Blues looked on their way to upsetting third-seeded Garden City.
But the Buffaloes stormed back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and three more in the sixth to tie the game.
The Junior Blues were watching their dreams of the school’s fourth state title evaporate. But they had one more rally left in them.
“(Garden City) threw a shot at us a couple of innings after we had a big lead, and you could sense the momentum shifting a little bit,” Washburn Rural coach Joy Marie Galliart said. “I told my kids going into the seventh inning that (Garden City) had all the momentum. I said, ‘You need to take it right back.’ ”
Having not scored for two frames, the Junior Blues found themselves in a 6-6 tie in the seventh inning.
Washburn Rural got two runners on base to lead off the top of the seventh. Next up was sophomore Olivia Koch, who had come on to pitch the previous inning to stem the Garden City rally. Having done her job on the mound, Koch laced a double to drive in the go-ahead run. Addalyn Boleski followed Koch with a two-run single, putting the Junior Blues back in front by three runs.
“I told our kids, that was a true testament – an example of resilience and of teamwork and of not panicking,” Galliart said. “Offensively, we didn’t go into coast mode. We had runners on almost every inning, but we just didn’t produce for a couple of innings in a row when we had runners in scoring position. I knew we can’t just score in one or two innings and expect to win a seven-inning game. You have to keep scoring inning after inning.”
Freshman second baseman Addalyn Boleski pulled off an unassisted double play in Washburn Rural's 9-6 Class 6A state tournament win over No. 3 seed Garden City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Sophomore Olivia Koch starred in the pitching circle and at the plate in Washburn Rural's 9-6 Class 6A state tournament win over No. 3 seed Garden City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Koch held off the Buffaloes in the final inning, capitalizing on an unassisted double play by second baseman Boleski.
Koch rapped a triple and a double and Boleski drove in four runs on three singles to lead the Junior Blues.
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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural went toe-to-toe with the top seed in the Class 6A State Baseball Tournament, but the run came to a close with a 4-1 loss to Free State in the quarterfinal round Thursday.
The Junior Blues advanced to the tournament at Hoglund Stadium on the campus of Kansas University by knocking off the Campus Colts, the second seed in the West Regional, the previous Thursday in a dramatic 1-0 regional final.
Austin Ditch and Washburn Rural baseball dropped a 4-1 decision to top seed Free State in Thursday's Class 6A state tournament opener. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN] budtt
By reaching state with a mark of just 15-11, the Junior Blues were shouldered with the eighth seed, forcing them to play the top-ranked Firebirds in the opening game of the tournament.
The teams dodged raindrops while battling through two scoreless innings. In the third inning, the Junior Blues struck first. They drew three straight walks off Central Missouri commit Blaine Larkin to start the inning. When the Firebirds’ first baseman mishandled a smash off the bat of Drew Moore, the Junior Blues plated the game’s first run.
But with the bases loaded and still no outs, Larkin escaped any further damage. The Junior Blues knew they had missed an opportunity.
The Firebirds immediately tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Wesley Cupps’ triple drove in a run. The top seed took the lead in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Finn Moore.
“We had opportunities early on with runners in scoring position that we’d have liked to get in, but it was still a 1-1 game halfway through,” said Washburn Rural coach Jay Mastin. “If we get a couple of those hits with guys on base we’re playing with the lead for a little bit, but obviously that didn’t happen today.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wamego won its third straight Class 4A team championship Wednesday at Newton's Sand Creek Station.
But it took a strong finish for the Red Raiders to survive a second-day rally from Hayden, with Wamego finishing with a three-stroke victory over the Wildcats (621-624) after starting the day with a seven-stroke advantage.
Hayden senior James Kuta finished fourth in the Class 4A state golf tournament, leading the Wildcats to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
"Early in the round, it did not look good,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson told KSHSAA Covered. "We got down pretty big. But the fact that we stormed back and took the lead there on the second nine was fun.
"Credit Wamego. We didn't blow it. They stepped up."
Despite the fact that the Wildcats' title bid came up short, Reynoldson said he was extremely proud of his team.
"What I love about this group is it's hard to get them to go home before dark,'' Reynoldson said. "It's 6 o'clock and I'm heading home and they're still working. They really wanted this and to come up short hurts."
Senior James Kuta led Hayden with a fourth-place individual finish at 152 (77-75) while senior Tagen Rodriguez finished ninth at 156 (81-75).
Lions finish fourth in Class 2A
Cair Paravel Latin finished fourth as a team in the Class 2A state tournament at the Turkey Creek Golf Course in McPherson.
Cair Paravel junior Caleb Cleverdon for sixth individually at 155 (76-79).
Rossville junior Jack Donovan tied Cleverdon for sixth place at 155 (76-79) Bulldawg senior Jonathan Hart tied for 15th at 162 (78-84) to earn a state medal.
