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By CHARLES SPURLOCK

TopSports.news

The Seaman Viking baseball team opened the home portion of its 2026 season Tuesday with a doubleheader with United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood, winning 8-5 in Game 1 and dropping Game 2, 5-1.

 

The Vikings were able to jump out to an early 5-0 lead over the first two innings while only getting one hit. They were aided by four walks and three hit batsmen.

“It was nice to put up three in the first and two more in the second,'' Seaman coach Steve Bushnell said. "Their starting pitcher (junior Sam Porterfield) struggled with his control, but to come out early and get a lead with Axton Brewer (junior starting pitcher) on the hill, certainly allowed us to get comfortable and settle in.”

Following a couple of runs by the Bobcats in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 5-2, the Vikings responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

 

Viking senior third baseman Cooper Hayes hit a fly ball over the left-fielder for a triple and came home to score on an error on the throw back to the infield from the left-fielder.

The Vikings tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend their lead to 8-2, thanks to another triple from junior Bryson Fehr and a single from senior Cole Rosenberger.

Bobcat senior first baseman Steven Zimbelman hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh off of sophomore relief pitcher Michael Dobbs, who picked up the win.

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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.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Silver Lake senior point guard Kailyn Hanni has been tapped as the TopSports.news 2026 All-Shawnee County girls basketball player of the year after leading the Eagles to their second Class 3A state championship in three seasons.

Silver Lake senior Kailyn Hanni has been named the TopSports.news Shawnee County girls player of the year after leading the Eagles to their second Class 3A state title in three seasons. [File photo/TSN]

A three-time All-Shawnee County Top 10 pick, Hanni helped lead Silver Lake to a 28-1 record and a third straight trip to the 3A state championship game, with the Eagles sandwiching titles in 2024 and this past season around a second-place finish in 2025.

Hanni is one of five repeat picks on the All-Shawnee County Top 10, including four-time honoree Maddie Gragg of Seaman, junior repeat selections KK Emmot of Shawnee Heights and Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton of Topeka High and sophomore repeat pick Hailey Schmidtlein of Hayden.

Schmidtlein helped lead Hayden to the 4A state championship while Emmot helped Shawnee Heights post a fourth-place state finish in 5A and Rayton helped Topeka High advance to the state quarterfinals in 6A.

Also earning All-Shawnee County Top 10 spots are Rossville senior Rylee Dick, Shawnee Heights junior Pearmella Carter, Topeka High sophomore Hailey Caryl, Silver Lake sophomore Karys Deiter and Washburn Rural freshman Brynn Anderson. 

Anderson was also named the Shawnee County newcomer of the year, while state-champion coaches Kyle Porter of Silver Lake and Carvel Reynoldson of Hayden were named the co-county coaches of the year.

All-Shawnee County capsules:

Brynn Anderson, Washburn Rural

BRYNN ANDERSON, Washburn Rural -- Anderson was named an All-Shawnee County Top 10 pick and the Shawnee County newcomer of the year for 2025-2026 after averaging 14.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals and canning 41 3-pointers for the Junior Blues. Anderson was also a first-team all-county selection in volleyball. 

Pearmella Carter, Shawnee Heights

PEARMELLA CARTER, Shawnee Heights -- After starring for two seasons at Highland Park, the 5-foot-9 junior had a big season in her first year at Shawnee Heights, helping the 22-6 T-Birds win their first United Kansas Conference championship and post a fourth-place finish in Class 5A in Heights' first trip to state since 2011. Carter, a second-team all-county pick as a sophomore, averaged 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds for Heights while shooting 56 percent from the field on two-point attempts. 

 Hailey Caryl, Topeka High

HAILEY CARYL, Topeka High -- A 5-foot-10 sophomore, Caryl moves up to the All-Shawnee County Top 10 this season after being a Second 10 pick as a freshman. Caryl averaged 14.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists this past season while shooting 57 percent from the field from two-point range, helping lead the Trojans to a 17-9 record, the Centennial League championship and a quarterfinal berth in the Class 6A state tournament. 

Karys Deiter, Silver Lake

KARYS DEITER, Silver Lake -- Deiter, a 5-foot-6 sophomore, helped Silver Lake post a 28-1 record and win the Class 3A state championship this past season. Deiter moves up to the All-Shawnee County first team this season after being a Second 10 pick as a freshman and also earned first-team All-Big East honors. Deiter was also an all-county pick in volleyball after helping Silver Lake win the 3A state title.   

Rylee Dick, Rossville

RYLEE DICK, Rossville -- Dick, a 5-foot-8 senior, helped lead the Bulldawgs to a Class 2A state tournament berth for the first time in 20 years this past season, averaging 20.6 points on the season. A unanimous All-Big East League selection, Dick finished her high school career with 1,578 points, which ranks No. 2 on Rossville's all-time list. Dick scored 31 points in Rossville's quarterfinal state loss to Ellinwood.  

KK Emmot, Shawnee Heights

KK EMMOT, Shawnee Heights -- Emmot, a 5-foot-8 junior, is a two-time All-Shawnee County Top 10 pick after earning second-team honors as a freshman. Emmot, who helped lead the T-Birds to a 22-6 record, the United Kansas Conference title and a fourth-place Class 5A finish, earned first-team All-United Kansas Conference honors for the second straight season after averaging 16.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 3.0 assists while connecting on 67 3-pointers and shooting 82 percent from the free throw line. 

Maddie Gragg, Seaman   

MADDIE GRAGG, Seaman -- A 5-10 senior, Gragg is an All-Shawnee County Top 10 selection for the fourth straight season. Gragg, also a four-time All-United Kansas Conference first-team pick, averaged 12.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.4 steals while hitting 32 3-pointers. Gragg helped the Vikings win the Class 5A state championship in 2024 and finish second in 2025.

 Kailyn Hanni, Silver Lake

KAILYN HANNI, Silver Lake -- Hanni, a 5-7 senior, was named the Shawnee County player of the year after leading Silver Lake to a 28-1 record and the Class 3A state championship this past season. Hanni also played a major role in the Eagles' 26-0 state championship run in 2024 and a runnerup state finish in 2025. Hanni is a three-time All-Shawnee County Top 10 selection as well as an All-Big East first-team pick.

 Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, Topeka High

AHSIEYRHUAJH RAYTON, Topeka High -- Rayton, a 5-7 junior All-Shawnee County repeat pick, averaged a city-high 23.6 points on the season for the 17-9 Trojans while also averaging 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals and shooting 52 percent from two-point range and 37 percent on 3-point attempts. Rayton helped the Trojans win the Centennial League championship and advance to the Class 6A state tournament.

Hailey Schmidtlein, Hayden  

HAILEY SCHMIDTLEIN, Hayden -- Schmidtlein, a 6-0 sophomore, earned first-team All-Shawnee County recognition for the second straight season after helping lead the Wildcats to a 22-6 record and Hayden's first Class 4A state championship since 2004. Schmidtlein averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.7 steals, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocked shots. 

2025 TSN ALL-SHAWNEE COUNTY GIRLS BASKETBALL

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