- Details
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- The Hayden baseball team rescued its season with some seventh inning heroics Monday, plating four runs to pull off a dramatic 7-6 comeback over Rock Creek and advance to the semifinal round of the Class 4A state tournament.
Hayden baseball celebrates its 7-6 come-from-behind Class 4A state quarterfinal win Monday in Emporia. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Down to its final strike multiple times in the top of the seventh, trailing 6-3, Hayden just kept battling.
The Wildcats exploited two passed balls and a throwing error that could have ended the game to give themselves a chance.
Mason Becker drove in Everett Tourtillott from third to shave a run off the Rock Creek lead. Then, with two outs and runners at second and third, Caleb Menke drove a liner back through the middle to give Hayden an improbable lead, 7-6.
“My dad (assistant coach Shawn Menke) talked to me before I went up to bat and he was just like, ‘Listen, you’re gonna have to fight off curveballs. You’re gonna have to fight deep into the count. But once you get that fastball, you can’t miss it,' ” Menke said. “I fought off curveballs for what felt like forever until I finally got that fastball on a full count. And I just managed to put a good swing on it.”
Relief pitcher Tourtillott, who helped the Wildcats stay in it through the rocky middle innings, closed the seventh by stranding two runners on base to preserve the win.
Tourtillott entered the game in the fourth inning after a wild sequence that saw Rock Creek score three runs on errors to take a 4-3 lead. He struck out three Mustangs to help Hayden restore its hope.
“I got a great group of guys in that dugout that believe in me,” Tourtillott said. “We never doubted. I just went out there with nothing to lose. We don’t give up here. We’ve got tough practices, a good coach. We work on situations all the time. It was the right moment. We just don’t give up.”
Tourtillott struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit over four innings, but the hit was a big one. He gave up an RBI triple and then a wild pitch that let Rock Creek pad their lead in the bottom of the sixth. Trailing 6-3, the Wildcats appeared all but finished.
“Credit to the kids. They didn’t ever give up. They kept fighting,” said Hayden coach Bill Arnold. “We’ve got a great group of kids that are going to fight to the very end.”
“Everyone in that dugout loves each other. We don’t play for ourselves. We play for the team and we play for God,” Menke said of the Wildcats’ belief they could come back. “We knew that, in that last inning, we’d get down to our last strike and we couldn’t fold. And we didn’t fold.”
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden entered Monday's Class 4A-1A state soccer quarterfinal against Wichita Trinity Academy as the clearcut favorite and left no doubt, scoring three goals in the opening 19 minutes on the way to a 4-0 shutout win over the Knights.
Freshman Emma Slyter scored a pair of goals in Hayden's 4-0 win over Wichita Trinity in Monday's Class 4A-1A state quarterfinal. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"That's what we talked about is getting a goal or two early and putting them on their back foot, and it worked well,'' Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said. "I think we're focused and focus at practice and I think they're ready to take on whatever challenge is ahead of them.
"I think they work hard and if you work hard then good things happen.''
The Wildcats improved to 19-0 while advancing to Wednesday's 4 p.m. semifinal to host nine-time defending state champion Bishop Miege (11-8-0), a 5-1 quarterfinal winner over Bishop Seabury.
The Stags took a 2-1 double overtime win over Hayden in the 2025 state championship game while Hayden shut out Miege 5-0 on the road early in the regular season.
Hayden senior Grace Funk scored the Wildcats' first goal in Monday's 4-0 Class 4A-1A quarterfinal win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, which beat Wichita Trinity 3-1 earlier in the season, scored the only goal it would need in Monday's rematch just 8 minutes 40 seconds into the game when senior Grace Funk found the back of the net.
Junior Avery Becker (3) scored a goal Monday to help Hayden improve to 19-0 with a 4-0 Class 4A-1A state quarterfinal win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Freshman Emma Slyter made it a 2-0 game just 3:40 later and junior Avery Becker gave the Wildcats a commanding 3-0 halftime advantage with a goal at the 21:11 mark.
Slyter scored her second goal of the day to end the scoring with 12:17 remaining, with Monday's two goals continuing her outstanding freshman season after her family moved to Topeka from Arizona last summer.
"It's definitely different because Arizona's so much bigger than the town I live in now, but out of all the schools I could have gone to this is the best school for me,'' Slyter said. "All of the girls are so welcoming and the team just always wants what's best for all the girls and no one's selfish and are all just good teammates.
"The coaching is awesome and it's a good fit for me. It's really good teamwork and the practices are perfect.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
One inning doesn't decide a softball game, but No. 2 seed Mission Valley's four-run third inning put No. 7 Rossville in a hole the Bulldawgs couldn't recover from in Monday's 5-0 Class 2A quarterfinal loss at the Envista Softball Complex at Lake Shawnee.
Rossville's softball coaches talk to the Bulldawgs after Monday's 5-0 Class 2A-1A state quarterfinal loss to Mission Valley at the Envista Softball Complex. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Mission Valley and Rossville were locked in a scoreless deadlock through two and a half innings before the Vikings, now 28-2, used five hits, including a two-run double from senior Madisyn Kraus and RBI singles from sophomore Keagan Kraus and senior Kaityn Coursen, to take command 4-0 in the bottom of the third.
The Vikings added a single run in the fourth on an RBI single from Abagail Sims and pitcher M. Kraus did the rest, limiting Rossville (22-8) to a single hit while striking out 10 Bulldawgs.
"They put the ball in play and hit the ball well and we just didn't hit it very well today,'' Rossville coach John Nitsch said. "Hats off to them. Madi Kraus pitched a whale of a game and they made some good defensive plays behind her.''
Sophomore Claire Whitmore had Rossville's lone hit in the game while the Bulldawgs stranded four baserunners.
Sophomore Falyn Clurman went the distance in the pitching circle for Rossville in Monday's 5-0 Class 2A-1A state quarterfinal loss to Mission Valley. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Aside from the fourth-inning Mission Valley uprising, Bulldawg sophomore Falyn Clurman was very solid in the circle overall, limiting the Vikings to a run and five hits over the other five innings.
Mission Valley advanced to a 1 p.m. Thursday state semifinal at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence to face the winner of Monday's quarterfinal between Thomas More Prep-Marian and Uniontown.
Rossville graduates Maggie Sanders, Brook Springer, Lilly Mitchell and Shalee Hubbell, but Nitsch is confident about what the future holds for the Bulldawgs.
"I'm proud of them and what we've accomplished this year,'' Nitsch said. "I hate to lose this senior class and their good leadership, but we've got some good young players coming back and I think we'll be back again.''
CLASS 2A-1A STATE SOFTBALL
MISSION VALLEY 5, ROSSVILLE 0
Rossville (22-8) 000 000 0 -- 0 1 0
Mission Valley (28-2) 004 100 x -- 5 10 0
Clurman and Mitchell. M. Kraus and Bryan. W -- M. Kraus. L -- Clurman. 2B -- Mission Valley: L. Kraus 2, M. Kraus, Bryan.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural senior diver Rhiannon Good completed a successful return from ACL surgery Saturday at the Shawnee Mission District Aquatic Center, posting her second straight top-five Class 6A finish.
Washburn Rural senior Rhiannon Good placed sixth in Saturday's Class 6A diving event, her second straight top-five state finish. [File photo/TSN]
After finishing third as a junior Good finished fifth on Saturday while posting a final score of 379.35 points.
Good was sixth in the 6A standings after Thursday's semifinals before cracking the top five in the finals.
Irene Gettya of Olathe East won her third state title with a 570.85 score.
Cair Paravel freshman Avery Rosenow finished 10th in diving in her first Class 5A-1A state meet. [File photo/TSN]
Rosenow finishes 10th in 5A-1A in state debut
Cair Paravel Latin freshman Avery Rosenow posted a 10th-place finish in Class 5A-1A diving on Saturday's at the Shawnee Mission District Aquatic Center in her state debut.
Rosenow, who competed for Hayden in the regular season, finished with a final score of 304.00.
Allisyn Weiss of Emporia won her third 5A-1A state championship.
Hayden junior Kaelyn Gerdel posted two top-16 finishes in the Class 5A-1A state meet Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Gerdel posts top-16 finishes in 5A-1A
Hayden junior Kaelyn Gerdel placed in a pair of Class 5A-1A 'B' finals Satursday at the Shawnee Mission District Aquatics Center.
Gerdel finished 13th in the 200-yard freestyle 'B' final in 2:13.51 after qualifying 16th and finished 16th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.86.
- Details
By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
Topeka West served as the host of a Class 5A track and field regional track and field meet on Friday at Hummer Sports Park, with city schools Seaman and Topeka West both competing.
The top three qualifiers of each event advanced to the 2026 state meet next Friday and Saturday (May 29-30) at Wichita State's Cessna Stadium. The remaining qualifiers will be the six best qualifiers from across the state's four regionals.
Seaman junior Jack Esser began the meet by winning the boys high jump by clearing 6-foot-4.
Topeka West's Jayden Lindsey won a Class 5A regional title in the 200-meter dash Friday at Hummer Sports Park. [File photo/TSN]
The city contingent had one other regional champion, with Topeka West senior Jayden Lindsey winning the boys 200-meter dash in a personal-best time of 22.34,
where seven of the eight runners all finished within the 22-second window.
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer qualified for the Class 5A state meet in both the 1,600 and 3,200. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer qualified for the state meet in a pair of girls distance events.
In the girls 1,600 meters, Spencer finished third in a personal best of 5:15.09.
“I knew all the times were close going in and I was pretty nervous going through the day, but I was trying to make the most of it,'' Spencer said. "I wanted to get out fast and get a lead on the ones behind me and stick with the ones in front of me. I think I executed pretty well and stayed focused.”
In the 3,200 meter race, Spencer also finished third in a time of 11:28.99.
Her strategy was a little different in the 3,00 race.
“I knew the times were going to be more spread out, so my main goal was to run a fast time and not worry too much about the placement,'' Spencer said. "I knew the two girls in front of me were going to get out and go, so I wanted to make sure I kept a lead over the girl behind me.”
Seaman senior Brody Anderson followed up his three race sweep at the United Kansas Conference with three qualifying times in the boys 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter races.
His first event of the day, the 1,600 meters, he finished second with a time of 4:15.23, just two-hundredths of a second behind winner Daniel Enriquez of Wichita’s Kapaun Mt. Carmel (4:15.21).
“The race was smooth and at the end I wanted to save a bit for the 800 and qualify,” Anderson said.
The 800 meters was a highly contested race, with four runners going under two minutes. Anderson finished in third with a time of 1:55.12.
“The 800 felt super smooth and in the last 100 meters, I let those guys go (the top two finishers) knowing I had eight more laps to run (in the 3,200 meters),” Anderson said.
His final event of the meet was the 3,200 meters, where he also placed third in a time of 9:29.78.
“It was matter of hanging on as I was hurting the last couple of laps after the long day,'' Anderson said. "This was just my second time running in three events in one meet, so I was pleased to qualify in three events next week.''
Anderson will have an advantage next week by not having to run all three events on the same day. The 3,200 will take place on Friday morning with the remaining two events happening on Saturday.
Friday's morning session will have the preliminaries for classes 4A-6A and will begin with the finals of the 3,200 at 7:45 a.m.
The afternoon session will begin at 2:10 with the preliminaries for classes 1A-3A with the final event of the day, the 3,200 meter finals, starting at 7:00 p.m.
Championship Saturday will begin with the preliminaries of the 100 meter dash at 8:30 a.m. and conclude with the 4x400 relays at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Other city qualifiers:
• Seaman freshman Baylee Ayres finished second in the girls high jump with a clearance of 5-2.
- The Seaman boys 4x800 relay team -- Gage Geiger, Drake Spurlock, Conner Bloom and Trindon Jones -- qualified for the state meet by finishing fourth in a season best time of 8:16.32.
- Sophomore Alyssa Babcock of Topeka West finished third in the girls discus with a personal best throw of 114-0
- The girls 4x400 relay team from Seaman -- Brynn Scheid, Kinley Robinson, Jemah Cebulski and Julia Molleker -- qualified for the state meet by finishing third in a time of 4:11.72.
CLASS 5A REGIONAL TRACK & FIELD
