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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden star senior pitcher and cleanup hitter Cooper Grace was asked after Friday's Centennial League doubleheader against Junction City what he gets most excited about -- a dominating performance on the mound or a big hit at the plate.
Hayden senior Cooper Grace turned in a banner performance in Friday's doubleheader sweep over Junction City. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Grace went with option No. 3 -- success as a team.
"I get excited when you get a big win to be honest with you,'' Grace said. "That's kind of the ultimate thing that I care about.
"It's fun to have some individual goals for myself, but as a team, I get excited about the wins.''
Grace achieved all three of those goals, Friday, allowing just three hits and striking out 12 in 6 2/3 innings in the first game and stroking two doubles and a triple in the nightcap as Hayden improved to 12-0 overall and 6-0 in the league with a 6-0, 3-2 sweep over the Blue Jays (6-10, 1-5).
"I know it's a cliche, but you've just got to play them one at a time,'' Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. "I felt like all our pitchers today did a really good job, but we've got to clean some stuff up.''
In the opener, Grace gave up just three singles and struck out every hitter in the Junction City lineup at least once before senior Liam Annand came on in relief to record the final out and preserve the shutout.
Junction City junior starter Conrado Gomez shut out Hayden over the first four innings, but the Wildcats broke the game open with a five-run fifth, sending 10 hitters to the plate in the inning.
Hayden got a two-run single from senior Brady Heinen and a run-scoring single from Annand while the Wildcats also scored a pair of runs on Blue Jay wild pitches.
Hayden sophomore shortstop Mason Becker (left) throws out a runner in Friday's doubleheader sweep over Junction City. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden added its final run in the sixth when sophomore shortstop Mason Becker doubled and came around to score.
Senior Jett Wahlmeier got the pitching start for Hayden in the second game and picked up the win, shutting out the Blue Jays over the first four innings and working into the fifth before being relieved by junior Connor Hanika.
Hayden jumped on top in the first when Becker singled and scored on a Grace triple.
The Wildcats added a run in the third when junior Aiden Roberts singled, stole second and scored on a Heinen sacrifice fly and scored their final run in the fourth when Grace doubled and scored on a single from junior Kade Mitchell.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University softball will wrap up the 2025 regular season on Saturday, hosting Emporia State in a 1 p.m. Senior Day doubleheader.
Seniors Mariah Wheeler, Alexis Tanguma, Jaden LaBarge, Kaylee Wagner and Ellington Hogle along with student assistant coach Riley Stephens will be honored between games.
Washburn senior catcher Kaylee Wagner (left) is congratulated by her Ichabod teammates after hitting the go-ahead home run in last Friday's 10-7 win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Ichabods (30-19 overall, 12-10 MIAA) split a doubleheader with No. 5-ranked Central Oklahoma last Friday in their only action of the week.
Emporia State is 29-21 this season and 9-13 in the MIAA after sweeping Newman on April 19 in Emporia.
The Ichabods are in sixth in the MIAA standings entering the final weekend, two games behind Central Missouri for fifth.
The 2025 MIAA Championship Tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday at the conclusion of all games. The top 10 in the final standings qualify for the single-elimination tournament which will be hosted by Fort Hays State April 30-May 4.
Washburn junior pitcher Sadie Walker is ninth in the nation in games started (26), 11th in appearances (33 ) and 38th in shutouts (4) while also ranking 47th in strikeouts (47).
Jenna Sprague is seventh in the nation with five saves.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University baseball will finish up the 2025 regular season with a three-game series against Newman, beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. and wrapping things up on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch and 12 p.m. Senior Day ceremony.
Washburn baseball will wrap up its 2025 regular season with a three-game weekend MIAA series against Newman. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
On Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m. there will be a ceremony to re-name WU's stadium Falley Field at Steve Anson Stadium in honor of the late Steve Anson, the winningest coach in Washburn baseball history.
Washburn fell to 23-24 overall and 15-18 in the MIAA after losing 9-2 to No. 3 Central Missouri on Wednesday.
Newman enters the weekend 10-30 overall and 6-24 in the MIAA after falling 12-6 to No. 23 Fort Hays State.
The Ichabods are 12-7 at Falley Field this season while going 10-14 in road contests and 1-3 in neutral site games.
At the plate the Ichabods are hitting .313 with a .410 OB% and a .533 SLG%. Washburn has hit 84 home runs with 105 doubles.
The pitching staff has a 7.41 ERA with 320 strikeouts across 404.2 innings with a 1.41 WHIP. The Ichabods have allowed 452 hits and issued 295 walks.
Washburn has a .963 fielding percentage on the year, turning 32 double plays with 63 total errors.
WU is 7-5 in games against NCBWA nationally ranked opponents this season.
Owen Laessig has the current longest hitting streak for Washburnat eight games after Jackson Mervosh had his 16-game streak come to an end. Cash Jay had the longest of any Ichabod player this season at 17 games.
Jett Buck leads the team with 16 games of recording multiple RBI with two games with five or more driven in.
Buck is hitting .360 while starting in all 47 games. He has a team-high 19 home runs on the year with 62 RBI, also tops on the team. He ranks first in the MIAA and 11th nationally in hits and is second in the conference and sixth in the nation in home runs. He is also third in the MIAA in RBI and fourth in SLG%.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park sophomore soccer star Micah Williams has been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Star of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Williams over the past week:
Highland Park sophomore Micah Williams, the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Rising Star of the Week, scored six goals in Tuesday's 7-2 win over KC-Washington and seven goals in Thursday's 7-4 victory over KC-Wyandotte. [File photo/TSN]
MICAH WILLIAMS, Highland Park
Williams scored 13 goals in two Highland Park soccer wins on the week, raising her season total to 20 goals.
Williams, a first-team All-City pick as a freshman in 2024, scored six goals in Tuesday's 7-2 home Meadowlark Conference victory over Kansas City-Washington on Tuesday and followed that up with a seven-goal performance in Thursday's 7-4 conference road win over KC-Wyandotte as Highland Park improved to 3-6-1 on the season.
Williams now has 43 goals in her career for the Scots.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a slow start to Thursday's non-league girls soccer match against Olathe West, Washburn Rural put itself in position to pull out a victory before dropping a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime decision to the Owls at McElroy Field.
Senior Kate Hinck (9) scored Washburn Rural's lone goal in Thursday's 2-1 overtime loss to Olathe West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to knot the game and had several near-misses in the second half before Olathe West junior Molly Collins scored the golden goal with just 13 seconds remaining in the first 10-minute overtime period.
"A tough game,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "We didn't get off to the start we wanted to. I thought we had some chances early to maybe grab a lead and then they got the first goal, so anytime you're playing from behind it makes life a little tougher.
"I liked in the second half how we came out and got an early goal and really battled. I thought there was about a 20-minute stretch there where we were maybe going to get another one and then both teams kind of got tired and when you get to overtime anything can happen.''
Owl senior Kinzie Taylor scored with 18:42 left in the first half to put Olathe West (5-3-1) in front 1-0 and that lead held up through halftime before Junior Blue senior star Kate Hinck scored on an outstanding individual effort to tie the game with 33:31 left in regulation.
Rural (7-2-0) put together multiple scoring threats the rest of the way, including a flurry of shots late in regulation, but was unable to find the back of the net and the game went to OT.
