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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights softball team reeled off 15 runs in each of its two games against Topeka West Tuesday, rolling to two mercy rulings at Hummer Sports Park.
The T-Birds exploded for nine runs in the first inning of the first game, making a statement that they had come to hit the ball all over the yard.
Senior Grace Proctor was the winning pitcher and hit a home run in Shawnee Heights' 15-0 first-game win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Cianna Graves is congratulated by Shawnee Heights coach Tara Griffith after hitting a home run in Shawnee Heights' 15-0 first-game win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Starting pitcher Grace Proctor and catcher Cianna Graves each blasted home runs in the first game that was called with a 15-run T-Bird lead after just three innings.
After rapping out 18 hits in just three innings in the 15-0 opener, the T-Birds added 14 more base hits in the second contest to win 15-2.
Taylor Brees (2) had three extra-base hits in Shawnee Heights' 15-0, 15-2 softball sweep over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds racked up 16 extra base hits on the day, three each by Proctor, Graves and Taylor Brees.
“If felt good,” Brees said of the offensive outburst. “We kind of expect that from ourselves now. If you would have asked me a few games into the season if I thought we’d be where we are now, I would have said, ‘No way.’ But we have worked very hard every day, and we’ve really bonded and gotten super close, and I think that’s definitely helped.”
Brees singled, doubled and tripled in the opener. She picked up another double in the second game. The Washburn University softball commit said she likes the direction the team is headed.
“Like I said, I was kind of nervous at the beginning, but now I’m really excited for postseason, and I think we can really make a run,” Brees said. “I think our offense kind of just depends on the day, but our defense is always solid. Our pitching is always solid. So we can always kind of depend on that.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The goal for city softball powers Seaman and Washburn Rural is to sweep every doubleheader they play.
But Viking coach Dan Ruda and Junior Blues coach Joy Marie Galliart both found aspects of their team's performance to feel good about after Tuesday's twinbill split at Washburn Rural.
Olivia Koch launches a first-inning home run in Washburn Rural's second-game softball win over Seaman. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Olivia Koch is congratulated by her teammates after a first-inning home run in Washburn Rural's second-game win over Seaman. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Seaman (17-5) took the opener 7-5 after jumping out to a 6-0 lead and holding off the Junior Blues late, while Rural (14-7) followed its Senior Day festivities with a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
Ruda said that facing a quality program like Washburn Rural should help get the Vikings ready for their stretch run.
"We want our kids to see the best pitching they can see and play the best competition they can play so when we get to the postseason nothing's going to surprise them, hopefully,'' Ruda said. "I like the way we're playing.''
"Washburn Rural's a good program and they played clean softball in that second game and we just couldn't get a big hit there. I told our girls it seemed like they had four girls in the outfield. That center-fielder (Layla Collins) was all over. She did a great job, she was fantastic tonight, and they did a good job keeping us off-balance with their pitching.''
Galliart, meanwhile, was happy with how her team bounced back after a disappointing start in the first game.
"I definitely feel like there are some things that had we done more efficiently in the first game and not put ourselves in a six-run deficit in the first two innings then we're not feeling so much pressure the entire game and then the outcome might have been a little bit different, but Seaman is a good program and they came out ready to play the first game and I don't feel like we did,'' Galliart said.
"Of course I would have loved to have had a sweep, but we lost to a good team and a good program and we rebounded and took care of things in the second game and a split is better than getting swept.''
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning in the first game and made it a 6-0 game with four runs in the top of the second.
Seaman sophomore Acey Thompson doubled and scored in the first inning of the Vikings' 7-5 first-game softball win over Washburn Rural Tuesday. [File photo/TSN[
Right-fielder Acey Thompson led off the game with a double and came around to score while catcher Raegan McConnell walked and scored in the Seaman first.
Seaman junior Aubrey Warren had a home run and a double in the Vikings' twinbill split with Washburn Rural. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman scored four runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter in the second, including an Aubrey Warren double.
The Vikings only managed a single run in the fifth the rest of the way, but Seaman's pitching tandem of Kaelyn O'Rourke and Lydia Dreher were able to survive Rural's late threats for the win.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- In a Centennial League tournament dominated by Manhattan, Washburn Rural senior Tadd Armstrong and Hayden senior Tagen Rodriquez led the city contingent with a tie for second place individually.
Washburn Rural senior Tadd Armstrong shot a 72 to tie for second in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden senior Tagen Rodriguez shot a 72 to tie for second in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [File photo/TSN]
Both Armstrong and Rodriguez shot 72s to finish two strokes behind tournament medalist Charlie Haney of Manhattan.
Haney was one of four Indians who finished in the top seven individually as Manhattan won the team championship by a 288-301 margin over host Emporia with Hayden third at 302 and Washburn Rural fourth at 303.
Hayden's James Kuta and Washburn Rural's Tagan Monasmith also posted top-10 finishes, tying for eighth with 75s.
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE GOLF
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Doubles champions Cale Deutscher and Dylan Willingham paced Washburn Rural to the Centennial League tennis team championship Monday at Junction City.
Washburn Rural won the Centennial League boys tennis championship Monday in Junction City. [Washburn Rural tennis]
Washburn Rural placed all four of its entries in the top five places en route to a 39-36 victory over Manhattan in the team race.
In addition to Deutscher and Willingham's title, the Junior Blues also got third and fifth-place singles finishes from Keegan Knudtson and Greyson Jones and a fourth-place doubles finish from Ben Tryhus and Kieffer O'Connor.
Topeka High's Tres Lassiter was the Centennial League runnerup in singles while Hayden's Chase Blaser and Evan George finished second in doubles.
Lassiter, the city champ in No. 1 singles, dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Jay Hoke in the singles final while Deutscher and Willingham took a 6-4, 6-3 win over Blaser and George.
Topeka High junior Tres Lassiter finished second in singles in Monday's Centennial League tournament. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka High, which finished third as a team, also got a third-place doubles finish from Alex Raymond and Christian Sink while Hayden finished fourth in the team standings.
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE BOYS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After just under six hours of baseball, 37 hits and 38 runs, city powers Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights battled it out to a non-league doubleheader split Monday at Rural.
[Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
[Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, now 15-6, took an 8-7 eight-inning win in the first game before Washburn Rural, 13 -6, rallied from 7-2 and 11-8 deficits to take a 12-11 victory in the nightcap.
Both Rural and Heights had plenty of positives that Junior Blues coach Jay Mastin and T-Bird coach Jason Brown could point to, but both coaches also saw areas their teams need to improve on, with Rural stranding 19 baserunners in the first game and Heights issuing 13 walks in the second game.
"I thought we could have swept them, they could have swept us and we're very fortunate to walk away with a split,'' Mastin said. "Game 1 we just couldn't find the big hit. We put ourselves in scoring position with the bases loaded or second and third and the balls we did get to the outfield were right at the outfielders and we just couldn't get that big hit.''
"I think we swung the bat pretty well, especially in the second game and we got some big-time hits in some big-time situations,'' Brown said. "I thought our defense was really good. We've just got to be a little better on the mound, a little more efficient on the mound, but overall I thought we played well.''
Rural jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead in the opener, but Shawnee Heights tied the game in the third and went in front 6-2 with a four-run fifth.
The Junior Blues answered with a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the fifth to knot things at 6-6.
The two teams traded single runs in the sixth and the game went to extra innings before Shawnee Heights' Camden Olson tripled to knock in the game-winning run in the T-Birds' 8-7 win.
Carson Garner, the fourth T-Bird pitcher, picked up the pitching win and also had a triple.
Washburn Rural had 10 hits in the game, including doubles from Wilson Miller and Gage Dowell.
Shawnee Heights jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two and a half innings in the nightcap and went up 7-2 with a fourth-run fourth as Cambren Floberg and Deacon Pomeroy both homered for the T-Birds.
Rural tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth as the Junior Blues sent 10 players to the plate and got a huge three-run pinch hit double from junior AJ Payne.
The game was tied at 8-all after both teams scored single runs in the sixth but Shawnee Heights regained temporary control with three runs in the top of the seventh as Floberg delivered a two-run single and Pomeroy plated the T-Birds' final run with a single.
Washburn Rural junior Noah Johnson reacts to his game-winning walk in Monday's 12-11 second-game win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior AJ Ditch tied the game with a three-run inside-the-park homer and Rural scored the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk to junior Noah Johnson, scoring junior Drew Moore, who also walked.
