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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Mason Casebeer was a solid doubles player for Washburn Rural's boys tennis team last spring as a sophomore, including a 12th-place state finish in Class 6A and a spot on TopSports.news' 2021 All-Shawnee County team.
But Casebeer has switched to singles for the 2022 season, a move that has paid early dividends for both Casebeer and the Junior Blues as a team.
Washburn Rural junior No. 1 singles player Mason Casebeer, who went 3-0 on the day, returns a shot in Wednesday's Seaman quadrangular. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Casebeer went a perfect 3-0 in No. 1 singles in Wednesday's Seaman quadrangular at Kossover Tennis Center as Washburn Rural posted 4-0 sweeps over Topeka West, Lawrence and Seaman.
"It's a lot more work,'' Casebeer said of his transition. "It's a lot more running, instead of worrying about just one side. It's a lot more open court so it's a lot more diffcult, but it's more fun. I do like it.''
In doubles there's two players to share both the credit and the blame, but Casebeer knows that in singles it's all on him, both the good points and the bad.
"I like that more,'' Casebeer said. "I've done a lot of team sports in my life and I kind of came to tennis because I can put it more on to me than others. I like the responsibility of it.''
One of Casebeer's regular training partners is Rural state-class senior singles player Mason Thieu and Casebeer said Thieu has helped him improve.
"He's really fun to play against because he's really good,'' Casebeer said. "Rarely do I get points against him but when I do it's always a good rally and it's always a good one.''
Casebeer came to tennis after trying several of other sports and feels like he's found his perfect match in tennis.
"I fell in love with the sport,'' he said. "My (younger) brother started it really and I normally follow after him so once he started I started and I just loved the sport after that.''
Lawrence went 2-1 in Wednesday's quad, posting 4-0 win over Seaman and Topeka West, which was playing a split squad. Seaman went 1-2, with a 3-1 win over West.
SEAMAN TENNIS QUADRANGULAR
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Five Shawnee County high school soccer teams received mention in the Week 2 Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association girls state rankings.
Freshman Delaney Hill (left), senior Emma Krueger (right) and the Washburn Rural girls soccer team are ranked No. 4 in Class 6A by the KHSSCA. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural is ranked No.4 in Class 6A after getting the 2022 season off to a perfect 5-0-0 start while Hayden is No. 3 in 4A-1A after starting the year 3-0-1 and Cair Paravel Latin is No. 8 in 4A-1A at 3-2-0.
Topeka High received votes in the 6A poll while Shawnee Heights received votes in 5A.
KHSSCA COACHES POLL WEEK 2
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville's softball team ran its record to 6-0 Tuesday night with an 11-0, 17-0 Mid-East League doubleheader sweep over Riley County.
Sophomore Kinsey Perine homered in both games while sophomore Ryan Leathers also had a pair of homers on the day.
Rossville sophomores Kinsey Perine and Ryan Leathers hit a pair of home runs in Tuesday's doubleheader sweep over Riley County. [Submitted]
Rossville softball celebrates after Tuesday's Mid-East League doubleheader sweep over Riley County. [Submitted]
Perine homered and had two runs batted in for the Bulldawgs in the 11-0 first-game victory while sophomore Emma Mitchell went 2-2 with two RBI.
Vanesa Quinones improved to 3-0 on the season with the shutout pitching performance, recording five strikeouts.
The Lady Dawgs wrapped up the sweep with a 17-0 win in the nightcap.
Mitchell went 4 for 5 with a double and a triple while Perine went 4 for 5 with her homer and a triple.
Brinley Dyche moved to 3-0 with the pitching victory, recording five strikeouts.
Hayden soccer blanks Tonganoxie, 6-0
Hayden improved to 3-0-1 on the season with a 6-0 non-league road romp Tuesday at Tonganoxie.
The Wildcats opened up a 2-0 halftime advantage and turned the game into a rout with four second-half goals.
Hayden junior Sloane Sims (5) scored a pair of goals in the Wildcats' 6-0 soccer win over Tonganoxie on Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden got a pair of goals from junior Sloane Sims while junior Jenessa Broxterman, senior Macy Smith and sophomore Jill Lenherr also scored goals. The Wildcats' sixth goal came on a Tonganoxie own goal.
Sophomore Mary Burenheide contributed a pair of assists while seniors Riley Schmidtlein, Elizabeth Dunshee and Kate Roeder were also credited with assists.
Smith and sophomore Hannah Schmitz combined for the shutout in goal.
HAYDEN 6, TONGANOXIE 0
Hayden 2 4 -- 6
Tonganoxie 0 0 -- 0
Hayden -- Goals: Sims 2, Broxterman, Smith, Lenherr, own goal. Assists: Burenheide 2, Schmidtlein, Dunshee, Roeder. Shutout: Smith, Schmitz.
Lions' Everhart signs with Baker
Cair Paravel Latin soccer standout Ethan Everhart signed a college letter of intent with Baker University on Tuesday.
Cair Paravel Latin senior Ethan Everhart signs a soccer letter of intent with Baker University on Tuesday as his parents, Rachel and David, and Baker assistant men’s soccer coach Sean McAllister look on. [Photo courtesy of Jan Pabitzky]
Everhart received first-team All-City recognition last fall and also received All-Shawnee County honorable mention in basketbal this past season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A 10-run fifth inning led Washburn baseball to a 14-4 seven-inning victory over William Jewel on Tuesday afternoon in Liberty, Mo.
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli
Cale Savage
William Jewell (17-10) opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, but the Ichabods (23-11) cut the deficit in half when Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli hit a home run to left field in the third inning.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the third after scoring two unearned runs, but WU's Brett Ingram led off the fourth with a homer to center field to trim William Jewell's lead to two.
Washburn's offense exploded for a10-run fifth inning on seven hits and two errors.
TrevorMcCollum and Cale Savage started the frame with back-to-back singles and then two straight wild pitches allowed McCollum to score.
Kros Bay leveled the score with a run-scoring single up the middle. A single by Clark-Chiapparelli and a hit by pitch to Parker Dunn loaded up the bases for Brett Ingram, who drew a seven-pitch walk to bring in the go-ahead run. After Connor Scott's sacrifice fly, Cal Watkins drove in a pair of runs with a double and then scored on the same play after a throwing error.
Another hit batter and an error put runners on and Savage kept the line moving with an RBI double down the left field line. Clark-Chiapparelli sent the first pitch of his at bat to left field for a single that plated a run. The final run of the inning was scored after a wild pitch to make it 12-4 in favor of the Ichabods.
The Cardinals made a little noise the following half inning with two singles, but John Cross left them stranded and ended the inning with a strikeout and a fielder's choice.
With two outs in the sixth, Washburn hit three consecutive singles to bring home another run and go up, 13-4.
After Cross struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, the Ichabods tacked on one final run in the seventh to make it a 10-run advantage as Dunn launched his 13th home run of the season.
Jake Schroeder worked a scoreless seventh inning and allowed just one walk and secured the run-rule victory with a strikeout.
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
After dropping a 10-run decision to Hays in Tuesday's first game Washburn Rural's baseball team was three innings away from potentially earning a split before the second game was suspended due to darkness
The Junior Blues took a 14-4 loss in game one but had a 15-5 lead in the second game before the umpires suspended the game in the top of the third inning.
Before the second game was suspended, Washburn Rural, a 6A state qualifier last spring, was able to see some promising offense.
Ty Weber had four runs batted in, while Keaton Catlin drove in two runs.
“We were more aggressive and patient at the plate than we had been,” Washburn Rural coach Jay Mastin said. “We were able to get the bases loaded and take a lot of walks. Our guys did well with runners on base and were able to hit the ball out to the outfield. The offense was a lot better in the second game.”
Hays, third in 5A last season, walked 10 Washburn Rural batters through two innings. The traffic on the base paths was the key for the Junior Blues to have an 11-run second inning.
The first game wasn’t as kind to Washburn Rural as the second one.
The offense got started early for the Indians. In the top of the second inning, Tennessee commit Dylan Dreiling hit a grand slam over the right-field fence.
Washburn Rural would come back with some offense of its own in the bottom of the third as Weber cleared the bases with a three-run double to bring the Junior Blues within one run.
After the third inning, runs weren’t easy to get for Washburn Rural against Hays pitcher Carson Spray.
“We had a hard time putting a swing on anything,” Mastin said. “We had about four or five guys go down looking on strikes. Putting the bat on the ball was a challenge for us in the first game.”
Junior Blue southpaw Colin Redeker would come on in relief and did a solid job.
Collectively, things would trend more in the right direction for Hays in the top of the fifth inning. Garrett Wellbrock and Dalton Dale would drive in four runners off of two singles and a runner would score on a walk.
Washburn Rural would score a run in the bottom of the sixth off of a wild pitch and were five runs away from tying the Indians.
Hays would come back and demolish the baseball in the top of the seventh inning. Bradyn Dreher and Gage Porter both had singles, driving in a combined four runs.
“(Hays) had a lot of guys load up the bases in the first game which wasn’t good for us,” Mastin said. “The bases were loaded almost every inning and we had to keep pitching out of trouble. If you put that many guys on you will get burned a few times.”
Washburn Rural will host Centennial League foe Manhattan on Friday.
First game
HAYS 14, WASHBURN RURAL 4
Hays (3-0) 040 050 5 – 14 8 1
Washburn Rural (2-2) 003 001 0 – 4 3 2
W – Spray (1-0). L – M. Bettis (0-1). 2B – Hays: Dreiling, Porter. Washburn Rural: Weber. HR – Hays: Dreiling.
Second game (suspended)
WASHBURN RURAL 15, HAYS 5
Hays 230 – 5 3 1
Washburn Rural 4(11)x – 15 8 0
