By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Topeka High swept a softball doubleheader against USD 501 rival Topeka West Friday at Hummer Sports Park to extend its winning streak to 14 games.
Sophomore Adrianna Adame turned in solid relief pitching in both games of Topeka High's doubleheader sweep over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Trojans got big third-inning rallies in both games and utilized sophomore pitcher Adrianna Adame to close out both victories, winning 12-2 and 14-4 in two five-inning contests.
Topeka High has not lost since late March, with its only two losses coming against Washburn Rural, one of the top Class 6A teams in the state.
“I think we’re doing really well,” said Topeka High junior Campbell Dawson. “Our last loss was Washburn Rural, and I think we got to learn from that a lot, just seeing where we are at as a team and getting to grow from it. I think as we’ve played, we’ve gotten to play good competition, and also we’re learning our strengths and our weaknesses from playing different teams. So, I think we’re pretty confident going into postseason.”
Topeka High junior Campbell Dawson picked up the first-game pitching win and had a double and triple in Friday's doubleheader sweep over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Dawson pitched the first three innings of the opener, surrendering just one run and striking out six Chargers. She helped lead the Trojans to a doubleheader sweep at Eudora the night before.
“I was probably not at my best,” Dawson said. “I was a little tired from getting back late from Eudora last night, but I’ll do whatever I can to help the team.”
Dawson was relieved in the fourth inning by Adame, who allowed just one hit and one walk over the next two innings.
Topeka West senior Addaline Hall (left) tags out a Topeka High baserunner in a rundown in Friday's doubleheader loss to the Trojans. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Both of Topeka West’s runs in the first game came on triples by Charger senior Addaline Hall.
Kenslee Young started the second game for Topeka High, and like Dawson, left with a big lead after three innings. Adame pitched the fourth and fifth innings, again surrendering just one hit and one walk.
“She really hasn’t thrown a lot of innings this year,” Topeka High coach Shane Miles said of Adame. “We wanted to give her some work, and today was the time to get her some work. She threw two really good innings in the first game, and two more really good innings in the second game. She’s effective. She’s around the plate. She doesn’t strike a lot of people out, but she gets a lot of ground balls, fly balls.”
Miles said he did not restrict his starters to three innings each because of fatigue.
“Having played two days in a row is not an excuse for me,” Miles said. “You know, if these girls want to play at the state championship level, they’re going to have to play back-to-back days.”
With his Trojans hovering near the top of the Class 6A West standings at 16-2, Miles said his team is positioning itself for the postseason.
“After that (Washburn) Rural game, our girls have really locked in and we’re keeping the train rolling,” Miles said. “We’ve got two doubleheaders next week, so we control our own destiny. We can control where we’re at in the West (bracket) and see where it leads.”
The Trojans rapped out 28 hits and scored 26 runs over the 10 combined innings Friday. They committed just two errors in each game. But Miles said his team will need to make some improvements to achieve its ultimate goal.
“Today was one of those days where we saw some good things, but there’s a lot of things that we really need to clean up,” the coach said. “We hit the ball a lot better and executed. We took advantage of (Topeka West’s) mistakes. But now it’s go-time. The next two weeks are important to set us up for regionals and hopefully looking at that state tournament.”
GAME 1
TOPEKA HIGH 12, TOPEKA WEST 2
Topeka West (4-11) 001 01 -- 2 2 10
Topeka High (15-2) 316 2x -- 12 8 2
White and Jessepe. Dawson, Adame (4) and Robbins. W -- Dawson. L -- White. 2B -- Topeka High: Dawson, Young. 3B -- Topeka West: Hall 2.
GAME 2
TOPEKA HIGH 14, TOPEKA WEST 4
Topeka West (4-12) 103 00 -- 4 4 4
Topeka High (16-2) 127 31 -- 14 20 2
Briggs and Jessepe. Young, Adame (4) and Chard. W -- Young. L -- Briggs. 2B -- Topeka West: Tinaco. Topeka High: Young 2. 3B -- Topeka High: Dawson, Cushinberry, Backman.
