By KYLE MANTHE
TopSports.news
For a second season in a row Silver Lake breezed to a Class 3A state softball championship game appearance.
Senior Silver Lake standout Kendra Cook holds the Class 3A runnerup trophy after Friday's 2-1 championship game loss to Frontenac. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But for a second year in a row they ran into winners of three of the last four state titles, Frontenac, on Friday evening as they fell 2-1 in nine innings.
The Eagles won an 8-0 semifinal game over No. 3 Burlington to begin the day and were tied 1-1 with the top-seeded Raiders after seven innings in the finale.
The game-winning run came in the ninth for Frontenac to knock off the No. 7 seed Silver Lake 2-1 and thwart the upset bid.
“They played hard. Like I said before everyone wants to win the title but if they leave it all on the field that’s all I can ask for and these seniors left it on the field,” said Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton. “They’re (Frontenac) just disciplined, she (head coach Cassie Rhuems) obviously has a good process in place and they stick to it.”
Game 1 of the day for the Eagles was highlighted by a no-hitter from standout senior Kendra Cook in the 8-0 affair.
Silver Lake took advantage of a pair of errors by Burlington, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout by senior Kira Lowrey in the third inning.
Lowrey came through again in the fifth inning, blasting a two-out double, scoring Hanni to double to lead.
Back-to-back doubles from sophomore Savanah Wende and junior Taylor Swygert plated a pair in the sixth to make it 4-0. The lead doubled once again in the seventh, with Silver Lake scoring two runs on errors before junior Paige Heiman hit a no-doubter to left field to go up by eight.
While the bats came alive in the final innings, Cook continued to cook on the mound.
Silver Lake senior standout Kendra Cook pitched a no-hitter in an 8-0 semifinal victory over Burlington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Washburn signee extended her scoreless streak at the state tournament to 16.0 innings. She finished striking out 13 with just three walks in the no-hit effort.
“She’s confident. There are times there where she gets that full count and she’s confident in her teammates making plays behind her ... when you trust your fielders behind you then you can throw a lot easier,” Hamilton said.
It was more of the same for Cook in the title game with two scoreless innings. Her first run allowed of the tournament came in the third on a solo home run from the Raiders' standout senior pitcher Avery Johnson.
That was the games only run until Silver Lake loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Singles from Kailyn Hanni and Lowrey put two on and Zordel was hit to juice the bases. Cook grounded back on the infield but the throw home was bobbled, allowing Hanni to score and tie the game.
With no outs the Eagles were unable to scratch across a second run and take the lead.
Cook sent the game to extras with a 1-2-3 seventh. In the eighth Silver Lake had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but hit into an inning-ending double play.
A one-out walk from Frontenac in the ninth moved to 2nd on a passed ball before coming around to score on a walk-off single by Raider senior Ella Sullivan to left field.
“It’s incredible what this group has done because everybody in our lineup 1-9 has produced something big for us all season and that’s what’s so special about this group,” said Frontenac coach Cassie Rhuems after winning her fifth title with the Raiders, all coming since 2016. “It’s great to go win one but when you go back-to-back you’re really making a statement about your team and your program.”
Silver Lake ended the game out-hitting Frontenac 8-1 while the Raiders led in errors 2-1. Cook finished with five strikeouts while at the plate Lowrey had three hits in the game and Wende had two.
The Eagles depart a five-player senior class with Taylor Zordel, Lowrey, Alana Brewster, Cook and Marlee Vande Velde finishing their careers with two straight championship appearances.
“It’s hard for high school kids to take criticism and judgment and these young ladies they leaned into it and they took what we taught them and the conflicts we had in practices and they turned it into something special,” Hamilton said.
FINAL
FRONTENAC 2, SILVER LAKE 1
Silver Lake (25-7) 000 001 000 — 1 8 1
Frontenac (30-1) 001 000 001 — 2 7 2
Johnson. Cook. W – Johnson. L – Cook. HR – Frontenac: Johnson.
SEMIFINAL
SILVER LAKE 8, BURLINGTON 0
Silver Lake (25-6) 001 012 4 — 8 8 0
Burlington (26-5) 000 000 0 — 0 0 4
Cook. Birk. W – Cook. L – Birk. 2B – Silver Lake: Lowrey, Wende, Sygert, Zordel. HR – Silver Lake: Heiman.
Rural's furious comeback falls short, 8-7
Washburn Rural softball battled back from an 8-1 deficit to cut its deficit to 8-7 and give itself a shot at a Class 6A title, but Olathe West held on for the championship at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence.
Washburn Rural's Olivia Koch celebrates a triple in the Class 6A state tournament. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
West (28-1), which also topped Rural in the 2023 title game, looked to be in control before the Junior Blues got back in the hunt with a big sixth inning, highlighted by a three-run triple from Olivia Koch.
Even though Rural's comeback came up short, the Junior Blues (22-8) posted their fourth straight top-three finish, including their third runnerup finish in four seasons, while making their seventh straight trip to state.
Washburn Rural advanced to the title game with a 2-1 win over Mill Valley.
