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Ichabod softball fights through winter weather to improve to 17-3
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This past weekend was more suited for the Winter Olympics than it was for softball, but host Washburn University did what it needed to on and off the field to get the Washburn Invitational in the books.
Washburn senior pitcher Sadie Walker improved to 8-1 Sunday with a five-hitter in the Ichabods' 5-1 win over Minnesota State-Crookston. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn was able to get the tournament, which included games at three sites, in the books while dealing with cold weather throughout and Saturday morning snow.
"All these teams, they all have the same conditions and it puts everybody in a tough spot because you travel here, you spend the money and you want to play,'' Washburn coach Brenda Holaday said. "I felt like it was our job to get the fields ready for those teams that wanted to play.
"We had some dads that jumped in and helped out and our maintenance crew here and the folks out at Silver Lake and Washburn Rural did everything they could to get it ready and that's all we could do is get it ready and then leave it up to the teams whether they wanted to play or not. But I felt like we owed it to everybody to do that. I would want teams to do that for us and I think teams overall were glad to get the games in.''
On the field the Ichabods posted a 4-1 record to improve to a glossy 17-3 record on the season.
The Ichabods capped the event on Sunday with a 5-1 victory over Minnesota State-Crookston on Sunday at Gahnstrom Field.
"The loss that we took against Wayne State (6-0 on Friday night) was more of a credit to them,'' Holaday said. "Their pitcher pitched really well against us and we struggled a little bit pitching and gave up some hits we wouldn't normally give up, but for the weekend I was really pleased overall with how we did.
"Today I don't think we hit the ball as well as we did (Saturday) for sure but it feels like 25 (degrees) out there so it's easy for me to sit back here and want them to hit a little bit better, but it's hard to square it up in that. I thought Sadie was really strong for us today and needed to be, knowing that it was going to be a lot harder to hit. It's hard to spin it, too, in this weather and she did a good job.''
Washburn baseball opens MIAA play with series win at Newman, narrowly misses sweep
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The first five batters of Sunday's game reached base for Washburn, 4-6 overall, 2-1 MIAA, with a walk by Ian Luce and singles by Jackson Mervosh and Easton Wasinger, the second scoring a run.
Another run came around to score on an error in the field and Levi Risenhoover plated another with a single into left to make it 3-0.
The Jets (3-10, 1-2) got two runs back on a hit and an error in the bottom of the inning.
In the second Washburn got a runner on with an error before Chase Littrell smashed a home run to right field to get the two runs back. Newman strung together three hits in the bottom of the third inning to pull within one.
Littrell struck again, plating one run in the fourth as he scored Trenton Barry, who doubled.
Kai Bennett finished off his start on the mound with a scoreless fourth inning. A pair of doubles in the fifth, first from Wasinger and then Brandt Beeby boosted the Ichabod lead to 7-4.
In the sixth Washburn got two more runs, one on an RBI grounder by Trey West and another on a single from Luce.
Max Strash entered the game in the fifth and tossed a pair of scoreless innings.
In the home half of the seventh Newman took advantage of a pair of errors by the Ichabods that extended the inning and allowed four runs to come around and make it a 9-8 game.
Washburn left two runners on in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom the Jets scored a pair to go in front for the first and only time in the game.
The Ichabods out-hit Newman 11-10 while also leading in walks 6-5. They committed four errors in the game while the Jets had just two.
Four pitchers combined for nine strikeouts, led by seven in 4.0 innings for Bennett. At the plate Littrell went 2-4 with three RBI while Wasinger and Beeby also had multi-hit games.
Highland Park avenges 21-point loss with 69-56 Senior Night romp past KC-Sumner
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Highland Park hosted Kansas City-Sumner on Friday night for a Meadowlark Conference rematch of a 73-52 Scots loss to the Sabres earlier this season.
JoJo Kingannon led three Highland Park players in double figures with a game-high 21 points in Friday's 69-56 home win over KC-Sumner. [File photo/TSN]
And the Scots got their revenge in resounding fashion, rolling to a 69-56 Senior Night win.
Highland Park honored three seniors before tipoff and then made sure the outcome would be different this time.
Sophomore Davion Anderson opened the scoring for the Scots, but Sumner answered quickly. Senior Jaxon Davis attacked the rim, converted an and-one opportunity, and gave the Sabres an early 3-2 lead.
Junior JoJo Kingcannon responded by driving to the basket to reclaim the advantage. Davis continued to pressure the defense, knocking down two free throws to briefly put Sumner back on top, but senior Treonte Mitchell sparked the Scots with a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter, pushing Highland Park ahead 11-5.
Sumner countered with a 5-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to one, 11-10. Both teams closed the quarter strong, with the Scots holding a slim 15-14 lead after one.
Highland Park seized control in the second quarter. Mitchell scored inside to extend the lead to 19-14, then buried a 3-pointer to make it 24-17. The Scots followed with a 7-0 run that broke the game open at 31-19.
Mitchell scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter, helping Highland Park outscore Sumner 26-11 and take a commanding 41-25 lead into halftime.
“It feels really good,'' Mitchell said. "My teammates trusted me, and it was very important to us to get this win on Senior Night.''
Highland Park coach Nate Wallace praised his senior’s resilience and leadership.
“Treonte is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever had,'' Wallace said. "He’s really buying into his role. This is the second game in a row where he’s scored 15 or 13. When he produces like that, we’re a tough team. He missed his sophomore and junior years for unfortunate reasons, so to see him show up and stay bought in all year has been huge for us.”
Wallace also credited the team’s energy and ball movement in the decisive quarter.
“The second quarter was huge. It gave us the lead and comfort,” Wallace said. “We had several guys check in and contribute. It was an all-around team effort. I loved the ball movement. We’ve been working on shooting and conditioning, so to see shots fall wasn’t a surprise. The way they moved the ball was the most impressive part.”
Kingcannon caught fire to open the third quarter, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points and a 47-28 lead.
Sumner battled back in the period, trimming the deficit to 55-43 by the end of the third.
