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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Six home runs and a walkoff win Monday was everything Rossville's softball team had been working for.
Rossville’s offense boosted the Bulldawgs to 10-0 on the season and it was evident throughout the course of the 10-1, 9-8 doubleheader sweep over Silver Lake why that is the case.
Rossville's Vanesa Quinones (left), Kinsey Perine (middle) and Kinley Porter combined for six home runs in Monday's 10-1, 9-8 doubleheader sweep over Silver Lake. Perine hit three homers, Porter two and Quinones one roundtripper in the twinbill. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Kinley Porter, who didn’t have a home run on the season, hit two home runs against the Eagles, including the walk-off home run in Game 2 to give Rossville the sweep.
“Today was the first time I’ve ever hit a home run and the fact that I hit two tonight, it was special,” Porter said. “In practice, we practice every outcome and visualize winning games. We put our practice into real-life tonight and it paid off.”
The Monday home run derby was led by Kinsey Perine, who had a combined three home runs in the doubleheader.
“I stayed relaxed with each at-bat,” Perine said. “I had faith in our team and coaching. That’s five home runs for me now and I’m having fun.”
Corban University commit Vanesa Quinones also hit a long ball in Rossville’s Game 2 win after pitching a stellar game in the first game of the doubleheader.
“I’m proud of myself, but I’m more proud of our team,” Quinones said. “We have a team full of underclassmen that play like four-year starters. It was cool to see our girls start and finish strong.
“I’m lucky to be a senior on this team and lead such a talented group of girls.”
Rossville didn’t fold when the pressure was on in the back and forth slugfest in the second game.
Rossville coach John Nitsch said he had full confidence in his group that they wouldn’t crumble under the pressure.
“I told them that if we pitch, hit and play defense like we are capable of, we wouldn’t have any problems,” Nitsch said. “Our hitting is starting to come around more and that helps when our pitching and defense are playing as well as they are.”
The 10-1 victory for Rossville in the first game was led by the arm of Quinones, who pitched the entire seven-inning contest while only giving up a single run in the fourth inning.
Rossville was able to tally eight runs on the board before the third inning, including five runs in the first inning.
Perine had a home run, Brinley Dyche had a double and Rossville also scored on groundouts and a sacrifice fly.
Back-to-back doubles by Perine and Dyche in the bottom of the second inning and two errors by Silver Lake brought three runs home for Rossville.
That would be all Rossville needed to secure a 10-1 victory.
Game 2 would end up being a memorable game for both teams, with five lead changes and four instances where the game was tied.
Silver Lake had the hot start early in the second game, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning.
Kira Lowrey gave Silver Lake their first run with a single and Taylor Zordel would clear the traffic on the bases with a two-run triple. Lauren Rollenhagen would finish the four-run inning off with a run-scoring single.
For the second game in a row, Perine would lead off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run. That solo shot gave Rossville momentum going forward.
In the bottom of the second inning, Porter would hit the first home run of her life bringing herself and Emma Mitchell in to score. Rossville would only trail by one run at that point.
Perine would tie things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the third with her third home run of the day.
Quinones would follow Perine and Porter with a two-run home run of her own in the bottom of third bringing, Caylee Douglas home.
But Silver Lake wouldn’t give up, even after Rossville’s momentum-killing home runs.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Belle Kennedy will go down as one of the top players in Washburn Rural girls soccer history, and the senior remembers most every second of her prep career ... both the good and the bad.
Now the Junior Blues' star midfielder wants to do everything she possibly can to end her career with the best memories yet.
"I think the thing that really struck me was COVID (in 2020) because we had like a whole season just taken from us, but I can remember games perfectly back to freshman year,'' Kennedy said. "Like I can tell you the game I broke my hip; I can tell you about all of that.''
Washburn Rural senior Belle Kennedy (10) is off to a hot start this spring after earning Class 6A midfielder of the year honors last season. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Kennedy, who has already scored six goals in six games this season, made an immediate impact for Washburn Rural as a freshman after moving to Topeka from California, helping the Junior Blues post a runner-up finish in the Class 6A state tournament.
And last season as a junior Kennedy helped lead Rural to a third-place state finish, scoring 17 goals and 12 assists and being named the 6A midfielder of the year.
But Kennedy has also had to work her way through disappointment, missing a chunk of her freshman year with the broken hip she suffered in a game against Seaman and missing all of her sophomore year when COVID-19 wiped out the entire season.
"My friend, Hunter McWilliams, was at my house and the second we heard it -- it was on the news that Governor (Laura) Kelly was shutting down all the school districts -- Hunter and I cried,'' Kennedy said. "We were heart-broken because we were so excited for our season.
"We had lost some strong players but we were still a really good team so we have all this faith and then it was just stripped from us.''
Kennedy and the Junior Blues bounced back with a banner 17-3-1 campaign a year ago and the fourth-ranked Junior Blues are off to a perfect 6-0 start this spring entering Monday's 6:30 p.m. home opener against four-time deending 6A state champion Blue Valley West.
![Washburn Rural senior Belle Kennedy has helped the Junior Blues post second and third-place state finishes in her high school career. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]](/images/aa-images/BelleKennedynew.jpeg)
Washburn Rural senior Belle Kennedy has helped the Junior Blues post second and third-place state finishes in her high school career. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
"Every game I try to remember the little things,'' Kennedy said. "It's different than club because high school is where you make more memories with your friends and your teammates because you're with them all day because you see them at school. So I try to remember every game to the best of my ability.
"You want to play as hard as you can every game because literally every game you play in league is going to be the last time you play that team, at least until playoffs start. People I know from other teams, I'll talk to them after games and it's nice to chat and be able to stand on our field or on their field and just be like, 'This is my last year, I'm going to give it all I've got.' ''
A team captain, Kennedy has set the bar high for the 2022 campaign, including trying to help the Junior Blues to win the program's first-ever state championship.
"Right now the biggest thing, my biggest goal, is to win state,'' Kennedy said. "That's my No. 1 goal because I promised coach (Brian) Hensyel my freshman year that we would do it, or at least try to the best of my ability to do it,'' she said. "A personal goal is just to try to get midfielder of the year again. I got it junior year so if I got it junior year why can't I do it again?''
While all of Kennedy's current focus is on helping the Junior Blues mount a title bid, she is also excited about her future after signing a letter of intent with hometown Washburn University.
"I looked at Washburn and it was not my first choice location-wise, but the second I went in and toured that place I fell in love,'' Kennedy said. "When you were on campus it didn't feel like you were in Topeka. The coach (Davy Phillips), the players, the dorms are great and the athletic facilities are off the charts.''
Kennedy got an added bonus when teammate and fellow All-Stater McWilliams made the decision to join her in the Ichabod fold.
"I think that honestly was like a cherry on top,'' Kennedy said.
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- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Dagen Brewer
DAGEN BREWER, Seaman
A senior catcher/infielder, Brewer had a big day in last Friday's 14-1, 12-1 Centennial League doubleheader baseball sweep over Topeka High at Hummer Sports Park. Brewer homered in both games and went 4 of 4 at the plate with two doubles and five runs batted in for the Vikings in the nightcap as Seaman improved to 6-1 on the season.
Taryn Burkhardt
TARYN BURKHARDT, Silver Lake
Burkhardt, a senior, went 8 for 8 at the plate in last Monday's 11-1, 14-2 non-league doubleheader softball sweep at Hayden. Burkhardt contributed a triple and a pair of doubles while scoring four runs and knocking in three runs on the day for the Eagles, who finished second in the Class 3A state tournament last spring.
Adisyn Caryl
ADISYN CARYL, Topeka High
A junior infielder, Caryl helped Topeka High remain unbeaten with a 2-1, 9-5 Centennial League softball sweep over Manhattan last Monday at Hummer Sports Park. Caryl was credited with a double and an inside-the-park home run in the second game as the defending Class 6A state champions pushed their winning streak to 31 straight games dating back to last season.
Jaycee Ginter
JAYCEE GINTER, Washburn University
Ginter, a sophomore pitcher/outfielder, helped the Ichabod softball team boost its winning streak to 12 straight games with weekend MIAA sweeps at Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney. Ginter boosted her pitching record to 21-3 with a pair of wins, including a 1-hitter and a 4-hitter, and also recorded a save while recording 23 strikeouts in her three appearances. At the plate the former Shawnee Heights star hit two-run home runs against Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney.
Zach Sulzen-Watson
ZACH SULZEN-WATSON, Washburn Rural
A senior thrower, Sulzen-Watson continues his hot start to the 2022 track and field season with two more individual wins in last Friday's Olathe Invitational. Sulzen-Watson recorded personal-bests in both the shot put and discus en route to decisive wins in both events. Sulzen-Watson won the discus title by more than 14 feet with a throw of 172 feet, 10 inches and took the win in the shot put by more than two feet with a winning effort of 54-5.50.
Avery Walz
AVERY WALZ, Seaman
Walz, a sophomore swimming standout, won three gold medals in last Wednesday's Topeka High Invitational at the Capitol Federal Natatorium, including a pair of individual victories. Walz won the 100-yard freestyle in 54.52 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 1:02.48 and also swam on the Vikings' winning 400 free relay (2:45.29).
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
GIRLS
100 METERS
Reed, Highand Park 12.6
Benz, Shawnee Heights 13.06
Anderson, Shawnee Heights 13.15
Brooks, Topeka West 13.23
Schuman, Seaman 13.44
Estudillo, Washburn Rural 13.2
Highland Park sophomore Victoria Reed is the Shawnee County leader in the girls 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
200 METERS
Reed, Highland Park 26.5
Fredrickson, Washburn Rural 27.29
Benz, Shawnee Heights 27.44
Rottinghaus, Shawnee Heights 27.49
Brooks, Topeka West 27.66
400 METERS
Reed, Highland Park 60.4
Rottinghaus, Shawnee Heights 61.43
Foster, Rossville 63.89
Fredrickson, Washburn Rural 64.0
Zuniga, Topeka High 66.06
800 METERS
Druse, Seaman 2:21.5
Ismert, Washburn Rural 2:32.5
Fink, Washburn Rural 2:32.6
Farmer, Silver Lake 2:37.29
Heston, Seaman 2:38.4
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
NOTE: Top.Sports.news plans to compile a weekly track and field honor roll for Shawnee County high schools throughout the 2022 season. Coaches are asked to email updated times and marks or any corrections to Rick Peterson at
BOYS
100 METERS
Smith, Shawnee Heights 10.27
Reed, Highland Park 10.5
Richardson, Highland Park 10.5
Peoples, Topeka High 10.6
Lee, Topeka West 10.94
Highland Park junior Tre Richardson is the Shawnee County leader in the 200-meter dash. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
200 METERS
Richardson, Highland Park 21.6
Renfro, Silver Lake 22.67
Schrickel, Hayden 23.21
Santiago, Washburn Rural 23.31 (23.1)
Matlock, Topeka High 23.4
