By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural baseball team gave coach Jay Mastin his 200th career victory in a 14-1 home romp over Gardner-Edgerton in the Junior Blues’ season-opener Tuesday.
Washburn Rural baseball coach Jay Mastin picked up career win No. 200 in Tuesday's 14-1 win over Gardner-Edgerton. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Rural senior pitcher Isaac Ansley spun five efficient innings, which were a sharp contrast to the opponent. The visiting Trailblazers’ parade of hurlers were crippled by free passes and balks, compounded by shaky defense behind them. The Junior Blues produced 14 runs on just eight hits, only one of which went for extra bases.
The all-time leader in wins at Washburn Rural with 175, Mastin kicked off the season with his 200th career win, which the team and fans celebrated after the game. Starting his 14th season at Washburn Rural, Mastin racked up his first 25 victories during three seasons at Perry-Lecompton.
“I’ve had a lot of great players here over the years. I have a great, great coaching staff,” Mastin said. “And I’m very fortunate. We have had great support. We’ve got a first-rate facility, a lot of support from administration, a lot of support from parents, and just a great group of kids to be able to coach.”
Ansley worked around a double in the first inning, then came out for the second frame with a 3-0 lead. He allowed just one walk in the second, then saw his team put up three more runs. The Junior Blues’ pitcher gave up two hits which produced the Trailblazers’ only run in the third. When he came back for the fourth, he was working with a 12-1 lead.
“It helps, 100 percent,” Ansley said of the run support. “First inning, you get three runs, you can just pitch with the lead, start out on top, get outs and trust your defense. Then they kept putting up crooked numbers each inning and just helped me a lot.”
Ansley faced just 20 batters and used just 47 pitches to get through five innings. He allowed four hits and one walk.
“I had location, pitch selection, got on top,” Ansley said. “The catcher helps. He called the game. Defense helped me out with some great plays and I always trust them.”
Senior Austin Ditch spearheaded the Junior Blues’ offense with two singles. Junior Dominic Nimz cracked an RBI double in the fourth.
Mastin was happy to get the milestone victory out of the way and put one in the win column to start 2026.
“You don’t know (what you’ve got),” Mastin said of opening games. “You always feel like you could use another practice or two. But on the other hand, we’re ready to play and ready to compete. When you have Gardner-Edgerton as your opener, you know that’s no guarantee. They are a quality program. So, this is a good win.”
Ansley praised the preparedness of the senior-led Junior Blues, a group which qualified for the Class 6A state tournament a season ago.
“I feel this team is ready to go from the beginning,” Ansley said. “A lot of guys coming back, and this team is really fun, having a lot of fun energy.”
“We’ve got a good, tight group of seniors, a lot of them got a lot of playing time last year,” Mastin said. “And we’ve got a group of juniors right behind them who are going to push and compete this year.”
WASHBURN RURAL 14, GARDNER-EDGERTON 1
Gardner-Edgerton (0-2) 001 00— 1 4 6
Washburn Rural (1-0) 336 2x — 14 8 0
Ansley and Newberry. Hart, Cassida (2), McCall (3), Kohl (4) and Lewis. W -- Ansley. L -- Hart. 2B -- Gardner-Edgerton: Swaim 2, Washburn Rural: Nimz.
