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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The Washburn University softball team will finish off its regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday, hosting rival Emporia State in a doubleheader at Gahnstrom Field.
Washburn's Kimi Patterson, Paige Robbins, Jenna Moore and Hadley Kerschen will be honored on Senior Day Saturday against Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
It will also be the final home games for four Ichabod seniors -- Washburn Rural graduate Jenna Moore, Paige Robbins, Hadley Kerschen and Kimi Patterson.
The Ichabods (35-13 overall, 14-10 in the MIAA) went 2-2 last weekend after splitting doubleheaders at Northeastern State and Rogers State.
With her 213 wins at Washburn, Ichabod coach Brenda Holaday has passed Kim Newbern for second on the WU all-time wins chart. Lisa Carey is the school's all-time winningest coach by victories at 256.
The Ichabods have recorded their 19th 30-win season in program history and their third under Holaday.
Santa Fe Trail product Marrit Mead is 25th in the nation in hits with 65 while her hit total is second in the MIAA and her batting average of .414 is fourth and her 26 stolen bases is fourth in the conference.
Former Shawnee Heights star Jaycee Ginter is fifth in the nation with 23 wins in the pitcher' circle while leading the MIAA in victories. She is fifth in the nation in strikeouts with 230.
Ginter leads the nation in pitching appearances with 40.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The No. 18-ranked Washburn University men's tennis team will begin its NCAA postseason bid at home Saturday with a 1 p.m. match against No. 24 Ouachita Baptist in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Championship.
Washburn will open NCAA tournament play at 1 p.m. Saturday at WU after winning the MIAA/GAC Conference championship. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The winner will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Orlando, Fla. on May 11.
The Ichabods qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 17th time in program history after winning their fourth MIAA/GAC Championship with a 4-0 win over Northwest Missouri State.
Washburn enters the tournament at 16-7 overall, winning its last six matches while Ouachita Baptist is 12-10 on the year
Washburn had seven players named to All-MIAA/GAC conference team last week.Washburn enters the tournament with a 16-7 record after winning the conference championship tournament
The Ichabods are the No. 2 seed in the Central Region and will host the first round of postseason play. The Ichabods are 6-1 at home this season
In singles, Tim Hammes is ranked No. 15 in the nation with a 14-7 record at No. 1 in duals
Sebastian Pjontek moved up to No. 37 this season and is 13-6 overall and 10-5 at No. 2 singles.
Santiago Rendon leads Washburn with a 21-8 singles record while Daniel Bird has a 19-7 singles record and has gone 9-2 in the No. 4 spot.
Pjontek and Miquel Perez are ranked No. 7 nationally in doubles. They are 8-3 together this season at No. 1 and are 4-1 against ranked opponents
Washburn has won 65.1 percent of its doubles matches, going 56-30 this season.
Kirby Ronning is in his third year as head coach of the Ichabod men's and women's tennis team and has led both teams to the NCAA tournament in both seasons at the helm.
Ouachita Baptist is coming off a 4-2 loss to Northwest Missouri State in the MIAA/GAC Tournament semifinals
The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the Central Region.
Phil Exner is ranked No. 3 nationally or the Tigers in singles with a 25-5 overall this season and 13-2 at No. 2.
Alex Blanchar is ranked No. 16 in singles. He is 19-7 on the year with a 12-3 mark at No. 1.
WU women to host Tuesday regional match
The No. 25-ranked Washburn women's tennis team was selected as the second seed for the NCAA Central Region Tournament.
The Ichabods (16-6) will face off against the winner of No. 3 Augustana (20-3) and No. 6 Southeastern Oklahoma State (9-19) at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
It is the fourth straight tournament appearance for Washburn, and as the second highest seed in the Central Region the match will be held in Topeka.
The two teams faced off last season in the second round of the Central Region Championships and the Ichabods came out on top to advance to the National Championships.
The winning team of the second round match will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Orlando, Fla. beginning on May 11.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Hayden's soccer team had a perfect Thursday night against Baldwin, shutting out the Bulldogs in a complete 4-0 team victory at Hayden.
Hayden freshman Reese Huscher (15) advances the ball against Baldwin in the Wildcats' 4-0 non-league soccer win. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Hayden freshman Reese Huscher (15) is congratulated by teammate Elaina Wolff (2) after scoring one of her two goals in Thursday's 4-0 non-league soccer win over Baldwin. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Hayden junior Jill Jenherr moves past a fallen Baldwin defender in Thursday's 4-0 non-league soccer win. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Freshman Carsyn Broxterman (4) scored the first goal in Hayden's 4-0 non-league win over Baldwin Thursday night. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
It's been a busy week for the Wildcats. Hayden's contest against the Bulldogs was its second out of three this week. And for the second time in the past three days, the Wildcats were victorious.
"I thought offensively we performed better," Hayden coach Klause Kreutzer said. "I thought we did an excellent job with our passing combinations. We were looking for each other tonight. We've had some games in the past where we play to the other team. Our possession was a little bit better, and we were more composed in front of the goal.
"You can't be a good coach without good players."
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys tennis team came up just short of a title sweep in Thursday's city tournament, dropping its final match in a tiebreaker.
Topeka West senior twin brothers Ian Cusick (left) and Miles Cusick were all smiles Thursday en route to their third straight city No. 1 doubles championship. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
City tennis standouts Carter Cool of Topeka West (left) and Mason Casebeer of Washburn Rural congratulate each other after Cool won his second No. 1 city singles title with an 8-5 decision. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West's tennis team captured its third straight city team title (outright or shared) Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center. The Chargers won the 2023 title by a 30-26 margin over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But after winning the 2021 city title by a single point over Washburn Rural and sharing the championship with the Junior Blues in 2022, the Chargers left no doubt on Thursday, sweeping the No. 1 and 2 city singles titles and taking the No. 1 doubles crown en route to a 30-26 victory over Rural at Kossover Tennis Center.
"We played better,'' West coach Kurt Davids said about the Chargers' performance. "We've talked a lot about first-round matches and early matches and then finishing strong.
"We're still moving up in the right direction. We've got another chance at league on Tuesday and we'll keep working.''
Senior Carter Cool captured the second city No. 1 singles title of his career with a hard-earned 8-5 win over Washburn Rural senior Mason Casebeer while senior twin brothers Ian and Miles Cusick won their third city title in No. 1 doubles in as many tries with an 8-0 win over Washburn Rural senior Kiefer Von Lintel and freshman Dylan Willingham.
Cool had another tough match with Casebeer in Thursday's final after taking a tiebreaker win over his friendly city rival in the recent Topeka West Invitational.
"I'd say that this finals match has been my closest and my hardest all year,'' Cool said. "I knew that coming into today and it played out like I thought it would be, too.''
Cool had been forced to rally from a big deficit to beat Casebeer in the West meet, but played Casebeer on pretty much even terms Thursday before closing out the win.
"I didn't want to get down,'' Cool said. "My coach talked to me before the match and we were like, 'We don't want to have a comeback again, we'd like to just stay ahead.' But even though I got a little down it was a lot closer than the first match was.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Wednesday night wasn't a memorable night for the Highland Park softball team, with the Scots taking an 18-0 loss in Game 1 and dropping the second contest, 20-1, in a doubleheader against former Centennial League foe Emporia.
But the move from the Centennial League to the Meadowlark Conference has been an overwhelmingly good transition for the Scots.
Highland Park has earned a few blowout wins in its new conference, giving a young and inexperienced Scot team confidence on the field.
A team that has a limited amount of softball playing experience presents its challenges. But with Highland Park earning some wins in the 2023 campaign, the team hopes that the victories will help build on the players' skills.
"It's been a rocky road this year," Highland Park coach Bill Nicholson said. "I think the more we play, the more it will help the experience for them. We have seen some great things, and I think they get more confidence with every at-bat. That's just what it's going to take. We need to keep working hard, and great things will happen."
