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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn baseball finished out the 2023 regular season with a 6-4 victory to clinch the series win at Pittsburg State on Sunday afternoon.
Rane Pfeifer picked up the pitching win as Washburn earned the No. 3 seed for the MIAA Tournament with a 6-4 win over Pittsburg State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
With the win the Ichabods claimed the tiebreaker over the Gorillas in the conference standings to earn the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Tournament and will host a best-of-three first- round series next weekend against No. 6 seed Northeastern State.
The Ichabods (29-20 overall, 21-12 MIAA) scored four runs with two outs in the opening inning and forced Pittsburg State to make a pitching change after facing eight batters.
Hayden product Andrew Schmidtlein led off the game with a single up the middle and a single from Ike Book and then a walk to Cal Watkins loaded the bases.
With two outs Easton Bruce drew a walk to bring in a run.
Up next was Blake Scott, who sent the first pitch he saw up the middle for a two-run single. Washburn finished its scoring in the inning with an unearned run after a fielding error by Pittsburg State.
Washburn starter Rane Pfeifer left a pair of runners stranded in the bottom of the first and then retired the side in order in the second inning, needing only six pitches.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Carter Cool
CARTER COOL, Topeka West
A senior tennis standout, Cool won his second city championship in No. 1 singles last Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center, helping Topeka West win its third straight city team title (outright or shared). Cool clinched his individual title with an 8-5 win over Washburn Rural senior standout Mason Casebeer in the final.
Ian Cusick
IAN CUSICK, Topeka West
Cusick, a senior, teamed with his twin brother, Miles Cusick, to win their third straight city tennis title in No. 1 doubles last Thursday while helping the Chargers win their third consecutive city team championship (outright or shared) by a 30-26 margin over Washburn Rural. The Cusicks, defending Class 5A state champs, took an 8-0 win over Rural in the final.
Miles Cusick
MILES CUSICK, Topeka West
A senior, Cusick teamed with his twin brother, Ian Cusick, to win a third straight city tennis title in No. 1 doubles last Thursday while helping Topeka West win its third straight city team championship (outright or shared) by a 30-26 margin over Washburn Rural. The Cusicks, defending Class 5A state champs, took an 8-0 win over Rural in the final.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
No. 18-ranked Washburn University men's tennis qualified the NCAA National Championships for the first time since the 2017-18 season, defeating No. 24 Ouachita Baptist 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
Washburn men's tennis celebrates its 4-1 regional win Saturday at the Washburn Tennis Complex. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn men's tennis poses for a team picture Saturday after earning a berth in the NCAA National Championships. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will head to Orlando, Fla., with play beginning May 11.
Washburn (17-7), the No. 2 seed in the Central Region, knocked off the No. 3 seeded Tigers (12-11), for a second time this season, and avenged a 4-3 loss to Ouachita Baptist in the Central Region Tournament last season to advance to nationals for the seventh time in program history.
Doubles play started with Sebastian Pjontek and Miquel Perez, ranked No. 7, falling to the No. 6 nationally ranked pairing of Alex Blanchar and Phil Exner 6-4 at No. 1. No. 12 ranked Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon evened the match back up with a 7-6(2) tiebreaking win at No. 2.
Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Daniel Bird went back and forth early at No. 3 but were able to pull away late and win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point for Washburn.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
As Game 2 of Saturday's Washburn softball doubleheader against Emporia State got into the later and eventually extra innings, Ichabod coach Brenda Holaday let sophomore Kaylee Wagner know that she might be called on as a pinch-hitter.
Washburn sophomore Kaylee Wagner gave the Ichabods a 3-1 second-game win over Emporia State with a ninth-inning walkoff two-run home run. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
And when that time came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of a 1-1 game, Wagner came through with arguably the biggest hit of her career, a two-run walkoff home run to give Washburn a 3-1 win and a split of an MIAA twinbill which capped the regular season for both the Ichabods and Hornets.
"I was just thinking, look for a pitch I can drive and (Sydney Righi) gave me a pitch on the inner half and I went after it,'' Wagner said. "It's really exciting. I'm super happy and I'm happy for my team that we got that win.''
Wagner has struggled offensively off and on this spring, but Holaday said she had confidence in her.
"That's Kaylee's pitch, the pitches that that girl throws, and she was getting a little bit predictable I thought and I knew (Kaylee) was going to get a pitch inside,'' Holaday said. "I thought she had a chance to turn on it, if anybody did.
"She's got a lot of power and I just thought it was time to give her a chance.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
As Topeka West senior star Lenny Njoroge finished off a dominating win in Friday night's boys 3,200-meter run in the Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Invitational, another runner was announced as the race winner due to a mixup in hip numbers.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge runs alone in the 3,200 in Friday's Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Invitational en route to a win in 9:20.08. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN].
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge (left) begins his move past Shawnee Mission Northwest's Henry Born en route to a win in Friday's 1,600 meters in the Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Invitational in 4:17.71. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But that temporary error, which was quickly fixed, was the only thing that went wrong for Njoroge in a banner night at Seaman.
"They said something Purvis, but that's OK, it's part of the process,'' Njoroge said. I'm not mad about that.''
Njoroge, who may be better known as a 3,200 meters and cross country runner, set the tone for his night when he bested a state-class field to win the 1,600 in a time of 4 minutes, 17.71 seconds, which was believed to earn Njoroge a share of the Topeka West school record in that event.
Shawnee Mission Northwest senior Henry Born finished second in 4:18.17 and Great Bend senior Kaiden Esfeld was third in 4:25.75.
"Freshman year coming in coach (Donnie Palmer) said, 'You're more of a two-miler than a miler,' but I just tell him that I love to do both -- mile for the speed, two-mile for the base,'' Njoroge said.
Njoroge came back later in the night to win the 3,200 by more than six seconds in 9:20.08 and admitted that Friday might have been the best performance of his prep career.
"Last fall in cross country (I was) asked, 'Is this your best race?' '' Njoroge. "Well now for four years this is my best race. I almost had two school records today.''
Shawnee Mission Northwest senior Evan Mitchell placed second in the 3,200 in 9:26.99 and Shawnee Mission North junior Micah Blomker was third in 9:30.66.
Njoroge said that Friday's double was just what he needed heading into the biggest meets of the spring -- city, United Kansas Conference, Class 5A regionals and the state meet at Wichita.
"The next four weeks it's championship season,'' Njoroge said. "The competition is going to get tougher and tougher every week leading up to state. I'm going to be facing some really good guys.''
Other boys meet highlights:
• Washburn Rural senior Josh Sulzen-Watson won the championship in the javelin by nearly seven feet with a top throw of 175 feet, 1 inch.
Senior Mathew Moeder of Great Bend finished second at 168-2 while Lawrence senior Jerron Shield was third at 167-8.
• Topeka West senior Jacob Reimer finished second in the discus with a best throw of 139 feet, 2 inches.
Lansing senior Jamale Williams won the event at 166-1.
• Highland Park senior Keijuan Johnson finished second in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 15.23 seconds.
Olathe North senior star Josh Parrish won the event inn 14.36.
• Seaman senior Sean Miller was the runner-up in the discus with a best throw of 50 feet, 2.75 inches.
Lansing's Williams won the event at 56-11.50.
• Seaman senior Branen Moore posted a third-place finish in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:00.12.
Wamego junior Harrison Cutting and senior Emery Wolfe went one-two, with Cutting winning in 1:56.81 and Wolfe second in 1:59.17.
• Seaman sophomore Peyton Holmes placed fourth with a personal-record effort in the long jump at 22 feet, 1 inch.
Holmes was one of five jumpers in the event to reach the 22-foot mark.
Leavenworth senior Isaac Ativie won the event at 23-11.
BOB CAMIEN/CLAUDIA WELCH INVITATIONAL
At Seaman
