- Details
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel Latin School girls advanced from the regional round of the soccer playoffs with a 6-0 win over Eudora Thursday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Sophomore KellyAnn Chada (11) is congratulated by her Cair Paravel teammates after scoring one of her four goals in Thursday's 6-0 win over Eudora in a Class 4A-1A regional. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Senior Katherine Keys (left), who had three assists, congratulates sophomore KellyAnn Chada after a goal in Cair Paravel's 6-0 regional win over Eudora. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Sophomore KellyAnn Chada accounted for four of the Lions’ six goals, including one in the opening minutes of the contest.
“It was crazy,” Chada said. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without my team. They had some great assists. I got the first one and that just started the game off on the right foot and then they just kept coming.”
“She is a goal-scoring machine” Cair Paravel coach Doug Woolery said of Chada. “She is one of those players who always seem to put themselves in the right spot.”
Zahra Friess and Clare Everhart added goals for the Lions while Katherine Keys tallied three assists.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It became apparent early on that a big play or two was probably going to decide the pitcher's duel between Silver Lake junior Kendra Cook and Santa Fe Trail senior Kaelee Washington in Wednesday's Class 3A regional softball final at Hayden.
Winning pitcher Kendra Cook (25) exchanges a hug with senior teammate Kaibryn Kruger (9) as Silver Lake celebrates its 1-0 win over Santa Fe Trail in Wednesday's Class 3A regional final. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Silver Lake softball celebrates its Class 3A regional championship after Kira Lowrey scored the winning run in Wednesday's 1-0 win over Santa Fe Trail. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And after Cook and Washington matched goose eggs through six and a half innings, a triple by Silver Lake junior Kira Lowrey and a perfectly-executed bunt from senior McKinley Kruger in the bottom of the seventh were enough to give Eagles a berth in next week's 3A state tournament with a 1-0 victory over the Chargers.
"At some point you just put it in their hands, right, and they've got to take care of business,'' said Silver Lake head coach Nick Hamilton, who picked up his 100th career win as the Eagles improved to 22-2 on the season entering next Thursday's state tourney at the Envista Softball Complex at Lake Shawnee.
"It gave us a test for sure. To be honest with you, I think we've just seen the best pitcher in 3A and if we can figure out how to hit her and get better I think we'll be tough. Competition always helps you.''
Silver Lake junior Kira Lowrey rounds second base on her seventh-inning triple and scored the game-winning run in Wednesday's 1-0 win over Santa Fe Trail. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washington, a Kansas signee, kept Silver Lake in check for most of the day while recording 12 strikeouts, but Lowrey broke through with a leadoff triple down the right-field line in the seventh.
Senior Lake senior Makenzie McDaniel threatened to end things with a blast well over the left-field fence, but the ball went foul and McDaniel eventually went down on strikes, leaving it up to Kruger to be the hero.
Silver Lake senior McKinley Kruger (12) celebrates with her teammates after delivering the game-winning bunt in Wednesday's 1-0 Class 3A regional win over Santa Fe Trail. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I just told her to do her job,'' Hamilton said. "She knew what she had to do and no better person to have do it.''
Kruger took one ball and one strike on her at bat before Hamilton put on the bunt sign.
"He trusted me to swing it and then he saw an opportunity to win the game and I'm willing to do whatever it takes,'' said Kruger, who is headed to Washburn for her college career.
Kruger said she felt confident that she could get the bunt down.
"I haven't bunted very much this year but I have confidence in my bunting ability,'' Kruger said. "It's just harder against a tougher pitcher obviously, so I really just had to hone in on where the ball was being pitched and put it down.''
- Details
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Trey Brown wasn't looking to leave Hayden after coaching the Wildcats to a Class 3A state tournament berth this past season in his only year at the school.
Trey Brown, who announced his resignation as Hayden's coach on Monday, has accepted a position as an assistant coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University, where he was a standout point guard. [Photo by Kyle Grunert/Special to TSN]
But when the opportunity arose for the former MidAmerica Nazarene standout point guard to return to his alma mater as an assistant coach, Brown knew he needed to jump at it.
"I wasn't planning on anything and it kind of just happened out of the blue,'' Brown told TopSports.news. "It happened really fast but they had some turnover with their staff this year and had an opening and coach (Adam) Hepker reached out and said they might have an opening for me.
"We kind of talked about it and I took a lot of time to think about it and went through the whole process there and talked with my family and thought it was the best situation for me.''
Hepker, also a MidAmerica grad, returned to MNU as an assistant Brown's senior season and has been the Pioneers head coach the past two years after longtime coach Rocky Lamar retired.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to learn under him because he has just done a phenomenal job in following in coach Lamar's footsteps, which is no easy task at all, but he hasn't skipped a beat and I have the utmost respect for coach Hep and just the way he carries himself and what he's all about,'' Brown said.
"And obviously it's a bonus to get to go back home to a place where I got to play and a place that really changed my life on the court but more importantly off the court. It's home and it just felt like an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.''
The 25-year-old Brown helped lead Shawnee Heights to the Class 5A state championship in 2017 and the All-Stater began his college playing career at Missouri Western before transferring to MidAmerica Nazarene.
Brown averaged 13.4 points as a senior and scored more than 1,000 career points for MidAmerica, where he earned his criminal justice degree in 2022.
Brown's first coaching job was at Cair Paravel Latin, which he led to a 9-13 record in the 2022-2023 season before he accepted the Hayden position. The Wildcats posted an 8-16 record this past season, but posted three straight sub-state wins to earn a trip to the 3A state tournament.
Hayden dropped a 56-42 decision to top seed Beloit in the first round.
Even though Brown began his coaching career at the high school level he said the idea of coaching in college intrigued him.
"I think it was always in the back of my mind for further down the line,'' Brown said. "I didn't really plan on going anywhere now, and like I told the (Hayden) guys the other night, I definitely didn't think I'd get this chance to do this so early in my coaching career.
"But life is crazy and God works in mysterious ways, so I was presented with a great opportunity and thought long and hard about it and felt it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Due to weather-related postponements on Monday, several area golf regionals were pushed back a day until Tuesday.
But having to wait an extra day didn't seem to faze local golfers, with three teams earning team berths for next Monday and Tuesday's state events.
Here's a class-by-class look at Tuesday's tournaments involving Shawnee County teams:
Washburn Rural's golf team poses for a picture after finishing second in Tuesday's Class 6A regional at Junction City. [Washburn Rural golf]
Washburn Rural earns runnerup 6A finish
Led by top-10 finishes from senior Camden Zimlich and junior Tagan Monasmith, the Junior Blues finished second as a team behind Centennial League rival Manhattan in the Class 6A regional at Rolling Meadows in Junction City to advance to next week's Class 6A state tournament at Garden City.
Zimlich shot an 82 to tie for sixth place while Monasmith shot an 83 to tie for eighth to lead Washburn Rural while Hayden Glynn and Tadd Armstrong tied for 11th with 86s to round out the Junior Blues' four-man team score of 337.
Tanner Kasprznk added a 93 and Michael Wilson a 94 for Washburn Rural.
Manhattan won the team championship at 320 while Rural out-distanced Wichita East by 22 strokes for second place.
Hayden's golf team poses for a picture after earning a Class 3A state tournament berth with a runnerup regional finish on Tuesday in Seneca. [Hayden Golf]
Hayden posts second-place finish in 3A regional
Hayden finished second in Tuesday's Class 3A regional at Seneca's Spring Creek Golf Course to advance to next week's state tournament at Emporia.
Sabetha won the regional title with a four-man score of 310 while Hayden was second at 322 to earn the final team berth for state.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 2 West seed Topeka High faced supreme challenges in both of its games in Tuesday's Class 6A baseball regional at Hummer Sports Park.
But after ending a state tournament drought of more than seven decades in 2023, the Trojans weren't going to be denied in their bid for a return trip to state, rallying for a 9-6 win over No. 15 seed Wichita East in the semifinals and eeking out a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Derby in the championship game.
Topeka High baseball poses for a team picture after capturing its second straight Class 6A state berth with a 2-1 win over Derby Tuesday at Hummer Sports Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka High baseball coach Cody Miller accepts the Class 6A regional championship trophy from High principal Dustin Dick Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"This team plays with a lot of heart and they don't quit, ever, so I think that was pretty much on display in that first game because we didn't have it early on and we didn't play very well at all, but we turned it on and that was a great effort,'' Topeka High coach Cody Miller said.
Topeka High fell behind 6-0 against Wichita East, who the Trojans had just swept in a twinbill last Thursday, before scoring nine straight runs to advance to the final.
"It's so difficult to beat a team three times in one season and we had just shown them our two arms four days before,'' Miller said. "We knew they were going to be ready to go and they were going to try and knock us off and they played great, too, so hats off to them.''
And fired up by that come-from-behind win Topeka High never trailed in the championship game, getting the only two runs it would need on a two-run double in the bottom of the third from sophomore Drayden Acosta and then riding the pitching of senior ace Nate Plankinton with last-out help from first-game starter Hank Stamper to close out the victory and punch its ticket to next week's 6A state tournament at Hoglund Stadium on the campus of the University of Kansas.
"I was telling the guys, it might not seem like it, but it's so rare to go back to back years and I hope they enjoy it because it's a really special thing for us to do and I'm so proud of those guys,'' Miller said.
