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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights put five players on the All-United Kansas Conference softball first team after winning the league title and advancing to the Class 5A state tournament.
The T-Birds, who went 9-1 in the UKC and finished 18-5 overall are represented on the first team by seniors Mykala Johnico, Adysen Burghart, Taylor Hawkins and Ariah Durkes and junior Abby Schulte.
Shawnee Heights senior pitcher Mykala Johnico was one of five T-Birds to earn All-United Kansas Conference first-team softball honors. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Abby Schulte (22) was named to the All-United Kansas Conference softball first team as an infielder. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Johnico was Shawnee Heights' standout pitcher while Schulte, Burghart and Hawkins were selected as infielders and Durkes as an outfielder.
Heights' five first-team selections were a league high, while Basehor-Linwood had four players earn first-team honors and De Soto three.
T-Bird junior Deja Gardenhire received All-UKC honorable mention.
Shawnee Heights senior Taylor Hawkins (right) was named to the All-United Kansas Conference softball first team as an infielder. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
ALL-UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE SOFTBALL
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Fifteen Shawnee County players have received All-State recognition from the Kansas Association of Baseball coaches, led by first-teamers Brock Howard and Hunter Vondemkamp of Washburn Rural, Cole Askew of Seaman and Connor Pruyser of Silver Lake.
Washburn Rural junior first baseman Brock Howard has been selected as a first-team All-6A pick by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Howard, a junior, was named to the All-City 6A first team at first base and senior Vondemkamp at second base after helping lead the Junior Blues to a 6A state tournament berth while Seaman senior Askew, the Centennial League player of the year, was a first-team outfielder in 5A after helping the Vikings reach the 5A state tournament.
Silver Lake senior pitcher Connor Pruyser has been named a first-team All-3A pick by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches. [File photo by
Silver Lake's Pruyser, a senior, was an All-3A first-team selection at pitcher.
Rural seniors Cooper Carlgren (pitcher) and Brady Patterson (catcher) were second-team selections in 6A while Seaman's Kevin Mannell (pitcher), Dagen Brewer (third base) and Bryson Vawter (designated hitter) were second-team picks in 5A. Mannell is a senior, Brewer a junior and Vawter a sophomore.
Silver Lake senior Trent Reamer (outfielder) and junior Daigan Kruger (outfielder) were named to the second team in 3A as was Rossville junior McGwyre Leathers (third baseman).
Seaman senior Kolden Howerton and junior Maclane Finley received 5A honorable mention while Rossville junior Torrey Horak received 3A honorable mention.
KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF BASEBALL COACHES 2021 ALL-STATE TEAMS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist has recorded more than 500 career wins, taken two schools to state championship games and has received numerous accolades over his long career.
But for Bloomquist none of those things tops the chance to ring a bell and clutch a simple, but very meaningful, certificate.
"I've filled out certificates every year of my career and I sign them and I just go through the motions, but I get this one and I get to ring the bell and you just feel warm,'' said Bloomquist, who led Topeka West to a 21-3 record and a second-place finish in Class 5A this past season. "It's just the gratification and a different kind of high.''
That gratification has very little to do with the bell or the certificate, but is all about what Bloomquist went through to get to that point after some eight months of initial uncertainty about his health followed by eight weeks of intense treatment after being diagnosed in February with Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma in his lymph nodes and neck.
Ringing the bell and being presented with a certificate traditionally marks the end of chemotherapy and radiation treatments at many hospitals around the world, and for the 66-year-old Bloomquist the celebration came after he tested cancer free.
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Washburn Rural senior Olivia Bruno was voted Centennial League softball player of the year by league coaches after helping lead the Junior Blues to a 20-3 record and a Class 6A state tournament berth. [File photo/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Undefeated Class 6A state champion Topeka High and 6A quarterfinalist Washburn Rural combined for seven of 12 first-team berths on the All-Centennial League softball team while sweeping the league's three individual honors.
Topeka High, which went 25-0 on the season en route to league, regional and state championships, is represented on the first team by seniors Zoe Caryl and Mia Kelly, junior NiJaree Canady and sophomore Adisyn Caryl while 20-3 Rural put senior Olivia Bruno, junior Campbell Bagshaw and sophomore Emmerson Cope on the first team.
Rural' star pitcher and first baseman Bruno was selected by league coaches as the Centennial League player of the year while Topeka High's Adisyn Caryl, the Trojans' shortstop, was named the newcomer of the year and High coach Shane Miles selected as the league's coach of the year.
Topeka High sophomore shortstop Adisyn Caryl has been named the Centennial League newcomer of the year after helping lead the Trojans to the Class 6A state championship. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka High softball coach Shane Miles congrates Zoe Caryl after a home run earlier this season. Miles was named the Centennial League coach of the year while Caryl was a first-team all-league pick. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Lauren Cook and junior Carly Stuke both earned all-league first-team berths for Hayden, while Seaman put senior Raigan Kramer and junior Kynlea Heydenreich on the first team and Manhattan is represented by sophomore Takara Kolterman.
Topeka High earned its first-ever Centennial League and 6A titles in 2021 while Rural advanced to the state tournament for the third straight season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Topeka Golden Giants are scheduled to open their 2021 season with a home exhibition game at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the Centennial League All-Stars before opening their regular season on Wednesday at home againt the Kansas Cannons (7 p.m.).
The Golden Giants will play their 2021 home games at Rossville's historic Joe Campbell Stadium.
Jacob Kirmer, who played at Hayden and Benedictine College and is an assistant coach at Seaman, returns for his second season as the Golden Giants' head coach while former Giant and Holton native Justin Rieschick will serve as assistant coach.
The Golden Giants' roster is built around a nucleus of Topeka products as well as current and future Washburn University players.
Former Seaman standout Kolby Dougan, a right-handed pitcher, posted an 8-5 record this past season for Cloud County Community College, compiling an earned run average of 3.86 with 100 strikeouts in 70 innings.
Former Hayden and current Washburn University player Andrew Schmidtlein will play for the Topeka Golden Giants this summer. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Hayden product Andrew Schmidlein, a third baseman and pitcher, hit .357 in spot duty for Washburn this past season as a freshman, with two home runs and six runs batted in.
Washburn Rural graduate Shawn Marquis, an outfielder, hit .273 with 33 RBI for Barton County Community College.
The Golden Giants' 35-player roster includes 14 Topekans and seven players with Washburn ties.
TOPEKA GOLDEN GIANTS 2021 ROSTER
