- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- To beat Eisenhower senior pitching ace Tyner Horn and the Tigers in Thursday's first-round game in the Class 5A state baseball tournament, Seaman was going to need to get off to a good start and turn in a strong fundamental performance.
The Vikings struggled in both those areas, with the No. 5-seeded Tigers never trailing after scoring two runs in the top of the first while No. 4 Seaman issued eight bases on balls and managed just three hits and struck out 10 times against Horn as Eisenhower advanced to Friday's 1:15 p.m. 5A semifinal with a 7-0 victory at Eck Stadium.
"We knew (Horn) was coming off an injury and honestly we didn't know how sharp he was going to be and he was good,'' Seaman coach Trent Oliva said. "We were going to have a few opportunities and you've got to be able to cash those in and we were unable to do that.
"They did have a good start where they got to play from on top and we were chasing the whole way and playing from behind and when you do that the room for error is pretty small.''
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
LAWRENCE – Topeka High baseball’s 9-0 Class 6A state quarterfinal loss to Derby was a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated, and that’s what made the loss sting worse for the Trojans at the University of Kansas’ Hoglund Ballpark on Thursday afternoon.
The losing result wasn’t what Topeka High (16-7) was searching for after making its first appearance in the Class 6A tournament since 1947. But after a 76-year hiatus from the state tournament, the Trojans provided themselves with a surge of optimism for next year’s program and beyond.
“They have nothing to hang their heads about,” Topeka High coach Cody Miller said. “I’m very proud of them. It was a huge year for us. It was the next step for us to get here where we are today. Derby has knocked us out two years in a row now.
“We were talking in the dugout with our juniors while feeling bad for our seniors about us wanting to get back here next year and knock those guys out. This is something to build on.”
In Thursday's loss, Topeka High had Derby right where they wanted for four innings. The Trojans had limited the Panthers to just one run before the fifth inning.
Topeka High’s best opportunity for offensive damage came in the bottom of the third inning when the Trojans stranded junior Isaiah Kincade after a walk and junior Matthew Genrich after his single.
Through three innings, Topeka High had at least one runner on the basepaths but couldn’t drive in a run. Then, with four opportunities to put a run on the board, they couldn’t break through against Derby pitcher and Cowley College baseball commit Mitchell Johnson.
Johnson, whose fastball varied between 87-90 mph and a dropping curveball in the 75-77 mph range, was tough for Topeka High to crack.
“We had our chances there with the 1-0 game going into the fifth,” Miller said. “We had runners in scoring position a few times against (Johnson). Obviously, he’s a very good pitcher. We had our chances against him, though. They won’t have Mitchell Johnson next year.”
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
There is no replacement for experience, and when state tournament time comes around, more times than not that will show, for good or bad.
Washburn Rural softball (20-3) is not lacking in experience as the No. 4-seeded Junior Blues began a fifth straight Class 6A state tournament appearance with a 5-2 win over No. 5 Shawnee Mission North (18-5) on Thursday afternoon.
“It's that first step of coming out and immediately the first inning getting out on top and really showing what we have here at state.” said Washburn Rural coach Liz Stover. “I’m really proud of how they came out and delivered right off the bat.”
In addition to experience, the Lady Blues have new contributors that were not on last season's state runner-up team, as all five hits in Rural’s quarterfinal win came from seniors or from freshman shortstop Reagan Chapman who drove in a game-high three runs.
“I know she’s crazy nervous but she’s been killing it all season and I know that her teammates really respect her.” Stover said. “She had timely hitting at its finest and she’s hot right when we need her to be in the postseason tournament.”
A win for Washburn Rural sets up a semifinal matchup against No. 1 Olathe Northwest (23-0) on Friday at 11 a.m.
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Hayden has tapped Topekan Trey Brown, who coached Cair Paravel Latin last season, to take over the Wildcats' boys basketball program.
The 24-year-old Brown replaces Dwayne Paul, who recently resigned after two seasons at Hayden to accept the head coaching position at Free State.
"Hayden has had so many great coaches and great players and the list goes on and on,'' Brown told TopSports.news. "They have such a great tradition and I felt like it was an opportunity that I had to at least try for and see what happened.
"It's a great community and a school that plays in a great league and plays great teams and gets to play in a great atmosphere. My goal was always to have the opportunity to coach in the Centennial League. I think it's one of the best leagues in Kansas if not the best, so I felt like this was a great opportunity for me to get to coach at a school that has no much tradition and a school where you can compete at a very high level.''
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- No. 8 seed Shawnee Heights dug itself a 2-0 hole in the bottom of the third inning against No. 1 seed Bishop Carroll in Thursday's Class 5A state softball tournament at Wilkins Stadium.
But just as quickly as they fell behind, the 16-7 T-Birds answered with a clutch three-run rally in their next at bat to take the lead and rode a two-hit pitching gem from sophomore left-hander Grace Proctor the rest of the way en route a 4-2 upset over Bishop Carroll, which suffered only its second loss in 23 games on the year.
"I think we did a great job of answering back,'' Shawnee Heights coach Tara Griffith said. "They scored and then we answered right back and I'm really proud of that because that's something we've worked on all year long.
"We only have two girls that have ever been to a state tournament before, maybe three with golf, so this is a very good experience for them and for them to come out like they did, I'm just so proud of them.''
Bishop Carroll scored its only two runs of the game in the third when junior Anistyn Marcotte was hit by a pitch and came home on two-out inside-the-park home run from senior Kory Schoenfeld.
Proctor got out of the innning with a strikeout, one of her eight in the game, and then Shawnee Heights went to work in the top of the fourth to take the lead to stay.
Juniors Alaryce Millard and Karlyn Bowman came up with big RBI doubles for Shawnee Heights, which also took advantage of two Bishop Carroll errors.
Sophomore Taylor Brees, who singled, junior Audrey Schulte, who reached on an error, and Millard all scored for the T-Birds.
"As soon as we answered back, right after they scored those runs, right when we answered back I knew that we were going to do good,'' Proctor said. "We had it.''