By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural’s version of “small ball” overcame a home run barrage by Campus Thursday, propelling the Junior Blues to the Class 6A state softball tournament.
After handling Wichita East 15-0 in the semifinal round of the 6A regional at Rural, the Junior Blues held off Campus 8-6 to advance to state next week at the University of Kansas.
Washburn Rural celebrates its Class 6A regional softball championship after Thursday's 8-6 win over Campus. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
To get through the regional, the Junior Blues had to face Campus, a team Rural beat twice the previous week.
“We talked about this several times, beating a team three times in a row is one of the hardest feats to do in athletics,” said Washburn Rural coach Joy Marie Galliart. “We ended our regular season with them, so those games were fresh in their mind. We knew it was going to be a dogfight.”
While the Junior Blues pecked away with singles, walks, stolen bases and sacrifices, Campus swung for the fences. Four of the Colts’ six hits cleared the outfield wall.
“They swing the bat very well,” Galliart said. “We’ve been preparing that they were going to come in and swing the bat and they were going to get their runs. It was a matter of us making defensive plays when they gave us a chance to get them out.
“After they hit a couple of two-run home runs, I said, ‘We have to throw a punch right back.’ And every time they scored, we responded, and we were able to score again in the next half inning.”
Washburn Rural sophomore Olivia Koch hit a home run in Thursday's 8-6 Class 6A regional win over Campus. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Junior Blues rapped 11 hits in the second game, the only extra-base hit being a homer by sophomore Olivia Koch.
“I was super proud of the way we executed offensively and moved runners up into scoring position to give the next person the chance to drive them in,” Galliart said. “We hit some boring ground balls, but boring ground balls with runners on third score runs.”
Galliart went with junior pitcher Reagan Chapman in the first game, a 15-0 four-inning romp over Wichita East. For the second game, the coach put the ball in the hands of two senior pitchers with the trip to state on the line.
Addie Keys went three innings, surrendering two two-run homers in the third. The Colts led momentarily, 4-3, before the Junior Blues rallied for three runs to regain the lead.
“I was excited to get the opportunity, and I knew that if something went wrong, I had a team behind me and that I had a phenomenal pitcher behind me that could also help me out if I needed it,” Keys said. “We like to change it up, and especially once they started hitting a little bit, it helped us getting another pitcher in there.”
Fellow senior Madi Davison took over, promptly surrendering a homer to the first batter of the fourth inning. But Davison settled in and gave up just a solo shot in the top of the seventh.
“I get super anxious when I’m pitching,” Davison said. “Everybody had to tell me to keep breathing. We had played (Campus) before and they had home runs off of me. I just knew that I had a good defense behind me. Their only runs were off home runs, so I think that shows how good our defense did this game.”
Washburn Rural softball poses for a team picture after Thursday's 8-6 Class 6A regional win over Campus. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Junior Blues are in search of their first state title since 2014. They finished third in 2024, the first season under Galliart.
“This program has a really strong history of getting to the state tournament and having players that go on to play at the elite level,” Galliart said. “So, it’s important to me, and it’s important to our kids, that we continue that tradition. The expectation is that we get there, so that’s our goal from the very beginning.”
The senior pitching duo was a part of the team that finished third last year.
“It’s such a blessed opportunity for all of us and I think we’re also excited to get another chance at the championship,” Keys said.
“If we keep playing like we are, I think we’ll go pretty far,” Davison added. “We’ve done too good this season to not go far. So, I’m really excited for the opportunity.”
SEMIFINAL
WASHBURN RURAL 15, WICHITA EAST 0
Wichita East (6-17) 000 0 — 0 1 0
Washburn Rural (19-7) 334 5 — 15 11 1
Guebara and N. Davis. Chapman and Rapp. W — Chapman. L — Guebara. 2B — Washburn Rural: Collins. 3B — Washburn Rural: Koch.
CHAMPIONSHIP
WASHBURN RURAL 8, CAMPUS 6
Campus (11-17) 004 100 1 — 6 6 2
Washburn Rural (20-7) 213 101 — 8 11 0
Burling and Caudillo. Keys, Davison (4) and Rapp. W — Davison. L — Burling. HR — Campus: Clements, Caudillo, Burling, Cooper, Washburn Rural: Koch.
