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Created: 26 April 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka West seniors Trevion Alexander and Marque Wilkerson, who helped lead the Chargers to the Class 5A state championship game for only the third time in school history, have been selected to play in the 2021 Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Boys All-Star Game while West coach Rick Bloomquist has been named the recipient of the Don Jones Courage Award by the KBCA.

Topeka West senior Trevion Alexander has been picked to play in the KBCA Boys All-Star Game June 19 in Salina. [File photo/TSN]

Topeka West senior Marque Wilkerson and teammate Trevion Alexander will play in the KBCA All-Star game June 19 in Salina. [File photo/TSN]

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Created: 25 April 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural will be out to continue a pair of long winning streaks this week as city competition gets under way with Monday's boys golf tournament and Thursday's boys tennis tournament.

The first city high school tournament of the spring season, and the first since 2019, is on tap Monday at Topeka Country Club, with Topeka West hosting the city golf championship in conjunction with West's annual invitational tournament.

Luke Leonetti

The city meet will be a 27-hole event, starting with nine holes at 9:30 a.m. The tournament will continue at 1 p.m. with all competitors in the field playing 18 holes.

Jared Goehring's Washburn Rural team is the 10-time defending champion in the city meet, with Hayden Beck, now at Washburn, winning the '19 city title with a 27-hole score of 112.

Junior Giles Frederickson finished fourth in the '19 city meet for the Junjor Blues while junior Luke Leonetti was seventh.

Leonetti has turned in a solid season thus far, including an individual title in the Manhattan Invitational.

The Junior Blues are also the defending champion in the Topeka West tourney, which drew 23 schools in '19.

West freshman Myles Alonzo could be in the hunt for the city title after winning the individual championship in Thursday's Dodge City Invitational with a 4-over-par 75.

Washburn Rural will also be looking to continue a long string of successful performances in Thursday's 3:30 p.m. city tennis meet at the Kossover Tennis Center.

Kevin Hedberg's Junior Blues have won the city team championship 27 out of the past 28 years, including a tight 26-23 win over Hayden and Seaman in '19.

Hayden junior Michael Sandstrom is one of the city's top tennis returners, placing third in No. 2 singles in the 2019 city meet as a freshman. [File photo/TSN

Washburn will compete Thursday with a completely revamped team from '19 and several teams would appear to be capable of challenging the Junior Blues on Thursday, including Topeka West and Hayden.

Hayden junior Michael Sandstrom is one of the city's top returners, placing third in No. 2 singles as a freshman.

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Created: 25 April 2021

Washburn freshman Jaycee Ginter notched a complete-game pitching win and had a two-run double in the Ichabods' 4-2 win over Emporia State Sunday. [File photo/TSN]

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

In the throes of a five-game losing streak, including a 6-3 first-game loss to Emporia State Sunday at Gahnstrom Field, Washburn University's softball team was in dire need of a positive turn of events.

The Ichabods got that in Game 2 on Senior Day, with freshman Jaycee Ginter starring in the pitcher's circle and at the bat as Washburn held on for a 4-2 win over the rival Hornets, improving to 24-11 overall and 10-8 in the MIAA.

"It was huge,'' Washburn coach Brenda Holaday said of the second-game win. "The kids were feeling the pressure for sure. You're trying to make the conference tournament and we were out of function for about two weeks and we've had to hit the road running and the kids are injured and sore.

"We've left tons of runners on base and just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for us in the last couple of weeks, so wins start to solve a lot of problems.''

Ginter, a Shawnee Heights product, hit a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth to stake Washburn to a 4-1 lead and survived a Hornet rally in the top of the seventh to finish off her complete-game pitching performance, improving to 12-4 while allowing nine hits and one earned run, striking out three and walking one.

"I thought Jaycee Ginter put us on her back to be honest with you,'' Holaday said. "She's one of our kids that's really hurting and she just gutted right through it.''

Emporia State (19-19, 9-11) scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but Washburn took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third.

Freshman Marrit Mead, a Santa Fe Trail graduate, singled and moved to second on on an error before scoring on Ashton Friend's third double of the day. Friend then scored on an ESU fielding error on a ball hit by Ginter.

Mead, who walked, and Kerschen, who singled, both scored on Ginter's double to end the Ichabods' scoring.

Emporia State threatened in its final at bat, with freshman Alexis Dial hitting a long home run to left field off her former Heights teammate to start the inning.

The Hornets loaded the bases with two singles and a walk but Ginter coaxed a fielder's choice grounder to end the game.

Mead, now hitting .500 on the season, went 2 for 2 in the second game.

Emporia State jumped on top 1-0 in the top of the third inning in the opener on a run-scoring double from Topeka High product Roni Raines.

Washburn knotted the score in the fifth on Friend's double, but the Hornets scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth on a wild pitch.

Emporia State then broke the game open with four runs in the top of the seventh and survived a two-run Washburn uprising in the bottom of the seventh to take the 6-3 victory.

Friend's second double of the game scored Autymn Schreiner, who reached on a pinch-hit single, and Hadley Kerschen, who doubled.

Friend drove in all three Washburn runs and Kerschen and Friend both had two hits.

Kelsey Phillips (10-5) went the distance for the ESU pitching win while Raegen Hamm (12-7) took the loss.

Raines went 2 for 3 in the first game and had three hits on the day to raise her batting average to .351.

Dial went 2 for 3 in the second game, including her first career home run.

Washburn will be back in action on Tuesday at Missouri Western before hosting Central Missouri on Wednesday (3 p.m. start).

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Created: 24 April 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University's baseball team took an 8-5 first-game win at Fort Hays State Saturday, clinching its third straight MIAA series win before the Tigers edged the Ichabods 5-4 in the second game to avoid a series sweep.

Washburn catcher Kros Bay catches a Fort Hays State foul popup Saturday in Hays. [Submitted]

The Ichabods, who opened the series with an 8-5 victory on Saturday, had a pair of four-run innings offensively while starting pitcher Brock Gilliam improved to 6-2 on the season, giving up one earned run on four hits while striking out six and issuing two walks.

Washburn jumped on top 4-0 in the first game with four runs in the top of the third inning.

Wyatt Featherston led off with a double and scored the game's first run on Eric Hinostroza's run-scoring single.

Xavier De Leon, who reached on a bunt single, scored on a throwing error to make it 2-0 WU and Zion Bowlin capped the inning with a two-run home run.

The Tigers cut their deficit to 4-1 in the bottom of the third and the score stayed that way until Washburn scored four runs in the top of the seventh, capped by a three-run home run by former Shawnee Heights standout Cole Emerson, who hit his first career round-tripper for the Ichabods.

Bowlin pushed across Washburn's first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored De Leon, who had singled.

Fort Hays State scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh and then added three more an inning later on home runs from Garrett Stephens and Jaxson Webb to end the scoring.
 
Washburn reliever Braden Minor ended the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. 

Hinostroza went 3 for 4 in the first game, knocking in a run and scoring twice, while Bowlin had three RBI and Featherston had two doubles and scored a run.
 
Fort Hays (9-22 overall, 9-18 in the MIAA) took a 1-0 lead in the second game on a first-inning home run, but Bowlin tied the game in the fourth with a solo homer.
 
The Ichabods (14-19, 13-14 MIAA) took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when De Leon singled home Kros Bay, who was hit by a pitch and advanced on a Tiger balk.

Fort Hays State reclaimed the lead with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Tigers tacked on two more runs in the eighth to extend their lead to 5-2.

Washburn rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth, getting a run-scoring triple from Bay and a run-scoring single from Featherston, but the Tigers got out of the inning after the Ichbods put the potential tying and go-ahead runs at second and third.

Bowlin was 3 of 4 at the dish and hit his fifth home run of the season. De Leon also had three hits and drove in a run, while Bay finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored.

 Washburn will return home for its final home series of the season Friday and Saturday, facing Newman.

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