By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
LAWRENCE –- After state runnerup finishes in 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2025, Silver Lake softball took home the Class 3A championship Saturday at Arrocha Ballpark, taking a 4-0 win over Southeast-Saline as the Eagles earned their 14th state crown in program history.
Silver Lake softball celebrates the 14th state title in school history after Saturday's 4-0 win over Southeast-Saline in Lawrence. [Photo by Vince Lovergine/TSN]
Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton ‘got the monkey off his back’ by winning it all as a head coach for the first time.
Right after the game Eagle senior standout Kailyn Hanni jumped in a car and went to Wichita to compete in state track, earning a state medal with a third-place finish in the javelin.
Hamilton alluded to the overall competitive edge of the Eagles.
“That’s just their competitive attitude,'' he said. "They want to finish strong. I thought maybe it’d be a little different but those girls, even as runnersup in past years, were some of the best players I've ever coached. They just found a way, had a little luck today and got it done.
“They had to have their own path. I said it earlier in the year that they’re going to have to do it their own way and that's what they did. The biggest thing for them there was just trust in the process. After being here -- for some of them, twice -- they had to trust it and at some point they're going to find that ball at the right time and find the luck.”
Silver Lake junior pitcher Riley Mohler said winning the title was definitely worth the wait.
“It feels so good, just being able to be out there with those girls and have that privilege to be able to show what I got with the rest of my team,'' Mohler said. "That's just so nice to be able to win with my team.''
Silver Lake never trailed in the title game as it was a pitching duel between Chargers junior Karlee Zurfluh and Mohler through the first three innings.
Silver Lake scored one run in the third inning on a bases loaded walk. Zurfluh walked four Silver Lake hitters in that inning as senior Paige Heiman was credited with the RBI.
Southeast-Saline (26-2) had several opportunities with runners in scoring position to scratch a run across but couldn’t muster anything.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mohler got out of her biggest jam after a single, a bunt, and then a wild pitch allowed the Charger runners to advance to second and third. Mohler got out of the jam unscathed.
Silver Lake then put some distance between the Chargers with three runs in the top of the sixth.
The Eagles recorded four hits in the inning, with senior Audrey Kirk ripping an RBI single, a wild pitch scoring Mckenna Harris and then a dropped third strike on Silver Lake batter Mariah Kortan scored another run, allowing her to reach first safely.
“It’s momentum and especially lower in our lineup, a couple of our seniors -- you look at them and maybe they didn’t have the best tournament -- but they made it happen when it needed to count,” Hamilton said.
“It was really important because they (Southeast-Saline) can obviously hit a home run and then it’s a tie ball game.
You can kind of tell by the fifth inning that they were kind of broke and it's really nice to be able to get those runs and when our team needed it, we were able to show it out there."
Mohler then went six up, six down in the final two frames as the Eagles finally nabbed the state championship for the first time in seven years.
“I started the season great and then went into a bit of a slump, but it felt really nice to be on it once regionals and state hit,'' Mohler said. "I knew I had a job to do and my team knew it as well and I think we really performed it out there.''
A fun fact, the Eagles won the triple crown in state championships in volleyball, girls basketball and now softball.
Junior Savanah Wende won two championships this year, the other in basketball, and she said it’s a wonderful feeling.
“I feel like all of the girls wanted to do it for (coach Hamilton) and also for each other. He’s always preached to do it for each other and good things will happen,” Wende said.
“I feel like being a part of Silver Lake is super special. There’s that tradition that’s set and that expectation that’s set super high and bringing state championships back to the community is always a great feeling.”
SILVER LAKE 4, SOUTHEAST-SALINE 0
Silver Lake (28-4) 001 003 0 -- 4 6 1
Southeast-Saline (26-2) 000 000 x -- 0 4 1
W -- Mohler L -- Zurfluh. 2B -- Southeast-Saline: Durfee.
