
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High's baseball team faces a tough challenge to become a contender in the Centennial League, which has produced multiple state championship teams.
But Cody Miller's team got the 2021 season off to a good start on Monday at Hummer Sports Park. In fact, it was a perfect start for the Trojans, with three Topeka High pitchers combining for a three-inning perfect game in the Trojans' 15-0 non-league win over Kansas City-Washington.
Senior Lukas Brennan was the starting pitcher for Topeka, followed by junior Dillon Mitchell and junior Max Colombo, with Brennan and Mitchell both striking out three hitters and Colombo two.

- Details
Sophomore Emmerson Cope was the winning pitcher and hit a three-run homer in the second game of Washburn Rural's doubleheader sweep Tuesday at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's softball team had a lot of new faces in its opening day lineup Tuesday at Hayden, but the result was what the Junior Blues have grown accustomed to, with Rural rolling to a 11-1, 12-1 sweep over their Centennial League rivals.
The Junior Blues broke open a close first game with an eight-run fifth inning and took command of the nightcap with a five-run first.
Washburn Rural had 21 hits on the day (11 in the opener), including six extra-base hits and a pair of home runs.
Senior Olivia Bruno and sophomore Emmerson Cope starred at the plate and on the pitching mound for the Junior Blues.
Bruno, a Kansas signee, twirled a two-hitter in the opener and went 4 for 4 with a home run, a double and a single.
Washburn Rural senior Olivia Bruno pitched a two-hitter in the first game and hit a home run as the Junior Blues opened their season with 11-1 and 12-1 wins at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

- Details
Seaman sophomore Brooklyn Yingling (14) races Cair Paravel junior Esther Childs for the ball in Tuesday's 1-0 Viking win over the Lions. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There was a long list of things that Seaman girls soccer coach Tim Nussbaum saw Tuesday out of his team that need improvement.
But there was also a huge positive -- the Vikings' first victory of the 2021 season.
Freshman Marin Schuler found the back of the net midway through the opening half against Cair Paravel Latin and the Vikings made that goal stand up the rest of the way, posting a 1-0 road win over the Lions at the Sunflower Soccer Complex.
Senior Emma Meinholdt and freshman Makena Schuler combined for the shutout in goal for Seaman, which improved to 1-1 on the season.
"The first win is good for our team, but we have a lot to learn,'' Nussbaum said. "We need to make the game simpler. We're making it complicated, but we'll take the first W however it comes.''
First-year Seaman girls soccer coach Tim Nussbaum talks with Viking players during Tuesday's 1-0 win over Cair Paravel. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
ANDREW BECKLER, Washburn University
Beckler, a Washburn Rural graduate, tied the Topeka Country Club amateur record with a 64 last Monday and the senior went on to win the individual championship in the Washburn Invitational by 13 strokes with a 13-under-par 54-hole score of 200 as the Ichabod golf team won the team title by nine strokes.
JAYCEE GINTER, Washburn University
A freshman, the former Shawnee Heights softball star pitched a no-hitter in the Ichabods' 2-0 MIAA win over Fort Hays State last Friday and Ginter also picked up the pitching win in Sunday's 7-6 win over Nebraska-Kearney while going 3 for 5 at the plate and knocking in the winning run.

- Details
Topeka High junior NiJaree Canady has been named All-6A first team by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High star NiJaree Canady, a 6-foot junior, has been named an All-Class 6A first-team selection by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association after leading the Trojans to a 23-2 record and a second-place finish in the 6A state tournament.
Trojan sophomore Kiki Smith (5-8) was also honored by the KBCA, earning second-team All-6A recognition.
Washburn Rural sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye (6-2) and junior Emma Krueger (5-11) both received All-6A honorable mention.