Spring Sports Notes

BASEBALL GODDARD loses its three studs of a season ago - Logan Watkins, Dalton Banwart and Jordan Jennings - but this program reloads annually. Senior Taylor Douglass (.364 BA, 17 RBI, 24 runs) is one of several returning hitters who batted over .300 last season, as the Lions placed runner-up at Class 6A state. - Goddard stole 59 bases last season, including 10 by 2009 senior Nathan Hyson, 8 by Douglass and 8 by senior Kory Schroth. Hyson batted .318 and Schroth .321 in 2008. - Junior C Levi Meyer batted .328 and led the team in RBI with 22 last season as a sophomore. - Goddard loses the five pitchers who took the mound for 129.2 of the 147.2 innings the Lions played in 2009. Baseball Notes: - Runner-up at state in 2008 after placing third in 2007, KAPAUN returns a host of veteran players in the senior and junior classes to make a run at the 5A title. Senior 3B Brandon Esposito batted .333 with 7 doubles, 2 triples and 4 homeruns and led the team with 26 runs scored. Senior C/P Aaron Boswell committed only 1 error behind the plate in 2008 and had a 2.23 ERA, 34 strikeouts and 5 wins on the mound, while batting .303 with 5 doubles and 11 walks. Junior LF Christian Laubhan hit 7 doubles and batted in 19 runs. Senior SS Richard Simon batted .350. - ANDOVER CENTRAL held a 23-1 record going into the 2008 regional final against Rose Hill, which beat the Jaguars despite their own losing record. Senior P Ben French, who threw a no-hitter in 2008, returns after going 8-0 last season with a 0.74 ERA and 93 Ks in 47.1 innings pitched. French also batted .432 with 7 doubles and 2 homeruns, as Central tries its luck in 5A this season. - BISHOP CARROLL looks to bounce back into the 5A state tournament after a rare absence in 2008, but pitching is a question mark. The bats - not so much. Senior 1B Cody Mills hit 6 homeruns and 6 doubles last season and batted in 21 runs in 55 at bats. Senior OF Brandon Tangney batted .481 and drew13 walks. - After losing 2-1 to perennial champ Bishop Ward in the 4A state final last season, ANDALE-GARDEN PLAIN moves up to 5A. Andale coach and former Major Leaguer Brian Holman must develop new output in the batting lineup and on the mound after the team's top four players signed to play college baseball last spring. - Senior INDEPENDENT SS/P Ian Smith returns after a season of incredible production. Smith batted .447 and led the team with 44 runs scored, in addition to going 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA as a pitcher. Now in 4A, Independent lost in the 3A state title game last May after winning its first 25 games of the season. - After returning just 9 innings pitched from 2007 to 2008, TRINITY ACADEMY has all of its hurlers back this season. Senior SS/P Brian Kempin batted .400 with 23 RBI and struck out 50 in 32.2 innings pitched last season. Senior IF/P Jordan Slade batted .592 with 8 doubles and 6 triples and scored 38 runs with 20 stolen bases. SOFTBALL Senior C Kayla Sears leads the return of one of the state's most powerful batting lineups at AUGUSTA HIGH. In the heart of an order which hit a school record 20 homeruns last spring, Sears batted in 30 runs and hit 7 doubles, 4 triples and 5 homeruns. She had only 2 errors playing behind the plate for the Orioles, which are expected to contend for the Class 4A state title. - Senior 3B Cody Downs led the team in batting average (.455) and on-base percentage (.508) last season, scoring 21 runs and batting in 25. - Junior 1B Caitlin Ray, Augusta's catcher in waiting, hit 5 homeruns and batted in 22 runs. - Senior SS Taylor Reichard hit 3 homeruns, stole 10 bases and committed only 1 error. - Junior P Kaitlin Kennedy, who threw a no-hitter last season, had 69 strikeouts in 63 innings pitched, in addition to hitting 4 homeruns at the plate. Following a third-place finish at Class 5A state, the consistent success of ARKANSAS CITY softball continues in 2009 behind a loaded junior class. Junior C Taylor Hatfield didn't allow a baserunner to steal second base all last season, committing 1 error and putting out 38. She hit 11 doubles and 4 triples. - Junior Laken Parker ended last season with an .891 slugging percentage. Parker batted .527 in the clean-up spot, with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homeruns and 28 RBI. She struck out only twice. - Junior Liz Grizzle, a first-team all-league shortstop as a freshman, batted .442 and committed only 4 errors as a sophomore while recovering from a broken finger on her throwing hand. - Senior LF Paden Parker batted .452 last season. She was a member of Ark City's 2006 and 2007 state title teams. - Sophomore 2B Taylor Graham had an .878 slugging percentage as a freshman, hitting 3 homeruns and committing 1 error. Softball Notes: - NORTHWEST returns the core of their 2008 team, including senior P Jojo Odell, after losing by one run in the opening round of the Class 6A state tournament for the second consecutive season. Odell had a 0.65 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 13 games last season, giving up only 6 earned runs, 7 extra-base hits and 7 walks. She also had 20 RBI and 5 extra-base hits at the plate. Leading batter, senior OF Courtney Harp, hit .433 last season and scored 29 runs. Sophomore 1B Kelsey Berlin batted .412 with 25 RBI as a freshman. - MAIZE HIGH returns four of its top five hitters, including senior RF Jessica Viramontez (.469 BA, 25 RBI, 7 doubles), from the 2008 season, which ended in disappointment with a 2-1 sub-state final loss to Northwest. Junior Cara Mattson had 19 hits, including 9 for extra bases, in just 37 at bats as a sophomore. - Coming off its sixth consecutive trip to state, Udall is currently the most successful softball program in the area. Class 2-1A state champs in 2006, third in '07 and runner-up last May, Udall loses only three starters. Five first-team all-class selections return. Junior P Chanea Sawyer threw 4 no-hitters and 11 shutouts with 163 Ks. Junior 3B Bekah Benvin batted .524, senior CF Felecia Franklin batted .339 with only one strikeout and junior P Whitney Kistler returns from injury. - Ahead of the curve with the return of Karley Schmelzer's 214 strikeouts in 141 innings from last season, ANDALE-GARDEN PLAIN will find offense from Schmelzer and juniors SS Kelsey Fisher (.420 BA) and 1B Erin Carney, who batted an astounding .565 as a sophomore. - Before finishing runner-up in Class 5A last spring, CARROLL ended Ark City's two-year reign by beating them 1-0 in nine innings in the semifinals. Senior P Katie Armagost, signed with Wichita State, struck out 101 batters and batted. .483 last season. Trisha Holzman batted .433 with 5 triples and 19 stolen bases, and Kendra Crippen batted .412 with a .984 fielding percentage. - After winning one of the state's most diffcult regionals, ANDOVER CENTRAL could only be stopped at state by Andale-Garden Plain, 1-0, before placing third in 4A. Senior P Nikki Armagost, one of the state's best, struck out 191 batters in 2008 and batted .495. Vic Wilson (.493 BA) and Sarah Huelskamp (.462) also led a team which batted .328 overall. - On their way to the Class 3A state title game, INDEPENDENT batted .507 as a team last season. Coach Corey Lyon, who built the program from scratch, has moved on to Paris Junior College (Texas), but junior SS Haley McGregor returns. Batting .554, McGregor hit 6 homeruns and 12 doubles last season. Senior OF Cheyenne Stewart batted .638 with 18 doubles and 5 triples. Senior IF Mattie Mae Milligan batted .623. - After losing nearly their entire starting lineup to graduation, GODDARD, third at 6A state last May, turns to an already experienced sophmore class, led by Shelby Davis (.404 BA), Jessica Sturm (.333) and Cori O'Donoghue (.286). TRACK AND FIELD CUNNINGHAM, the defending Class 1A boys track and field champion, returns all four sprinters to its state titlist 4x100-meter relay team. Seniors James Patton (pictured), the anchor, Jarrett Ziegler, Grant Kerschen and sophomore Kyle Kerschen ran the relay in 44.5 seconds last May. Patton (McPherson) and Kerschen (Hutch CC), stars in the Cunningham backfield last fall, have signed to play college football next year. Two-time defending Class 6A 400-meter champ Mike Flores (:48.71) leads the return of the MAIZE HIGH 4x400-relay team. With all four runners back, including junior Miles Ukaoma who placed third in the individual 400 (:49.09), Maize is the favorite to win the title a year after placing second at state. Tiffany Bias, still just a junior, returns to lead the ANDOVER CENTRAL 4x400-relay team which placed second at Class 4A state last spring (4:00.29). Now in 5A, Bias, juniors Kelsey Banwart and Bailey Stallbaumer and senior Stephanie Ginther all return. Bias, the individual champ in the 400 (:57.39) and 200 (:25.79), helped account for 34 points at the 2008 state track meet. Track and Field Notes: - BUHLER senior Tanya Friesen was a point machine at Class 4A state last spring - helping to account for 26 points. The state champ in the long jump (18'3"), Friesen also placed fourth in the high jump and triple jump and ran the first leg of Buhler's second-place 4x100-meter relay team. - Class 4A distance virtuoso Tom O'Connell of ANDOVER HIGH defends his 3,200-meter state title (9:39.66) after winning the cross country title this past fall. O'Connell also placed second in the 1600 last spring (4:27.79) - WELLINGTON senior J'Lynn Ledesma scored 18 points in two events at 4A state last spring, winning the high jump (5'6") and placing second in the triple jump (36'9.5"). Also a state qualifier last season in the long jump, Ledesma could score more than 20 points at state this spring. - ANDALE junior Ben Horsch surprised the field in the Class 4A state pole vault as a sophomore (14'6"), boosting the Indians to the boys team title. - CHENEY senior Tanner Hageman wraps up a stellar three-sport career this spring after placing third in the 4A state 110-hurdles (:15.03) and fifth in the 300-hurdles (:41.23) last May. - Traditional distance running power EL DORADO branched out into the pole vault at state last spring. Freshman Jamie House vaulted 11'6" to win the 4A state title. - Senior Matt Byers of EAST HIGH placed second in the javelin at junior nationals (218'2") last summer after placing second at 6A state (219'8"). Byers, signed with Iowa track for next year, awaits a state rematch against defending champ Johannes Swanepoel of Shawnee Mission South. - DERBY sophomore Meshach Kennedy placed sixth at state in the 110-hurdles (:15.10) last season as a freshman and is leading returner in the event. - Senior Jake Wike of DERBY shaved 20 seconds off his seeding time in the 3,200-meter to win the 6A state title (9:35.42) last season. - HEIGHTS HIGH three-sport star Austin Bahner edged out Maize's Flores to win the 6A triple jump state title last May (45'4.25"). - The VALLEY CENTER distance duo of Brooke Vining and Page Miller continues its streak through Class 5A. Perennial placers in the 3,200-meter and 1,600-meter runs and state cross country, the juniors each placed in the top 7 in both races at state track last spring. - A state qualifier in four events at the state track meet last spring, senior Sarina Proctor of WINFIELD placed second in the 100-meter dash (:12.56) and sixth in the 200 (:26.95). - CARROLL sophomore Nathan Arnold placed third in the Class 5A state pole vault (14'6") as a freshman. - Seniors Grant Loescher (:22.46, 200; :10.82, 100) and Nathaniel Martens (:23.03), both placers individually in the 200-meter dash, return to the Newton 4x100-relay team (:42.30), which placed second at 5A state last spring.