It is the little things that make the difference at the state tournament. Oskaloosa took advantage of a Monarch error in the fourth and then came through with a big hit in each the fifth and sixth inning for a 4-1 decision over TMP.
The Monarchs took their only lead of the game when Emilee Augustine scored on a throwing error by the Bears following a ground out in the second inning.
Highlights
TMP then loaded the Monarchs in the third inning with two outs but could not take advantage. Overall the Monarchs stranded seven runners on the bases. Three of the runners were left at third and another two at second.
Oskaloosa scored tied the game following TMP’s only error, took the lead on a two out triple in the fifth and scored two more on a double in the sixth.
Coach Melissa Schoepf
TMP ends the season at 18-6 after making the state tournament for a third consecutive year.
Hays High hosted a 4A-1 baseball on Wednesday with Buhler, McPherson and Ulysses all coming to town. McPherson entered as the number one seed taking on Ulysses. Buhler came in as the two seed playing Hays High.
A pitching dual between Hays High’s Cole Murphy and Buhler’s Dawson Dreher was interrupted by one run. The one run came off the bat of the Crusader’s Lawson Schultz on a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, his first home run of the season.
Buhler’s 1-0 win sent them to the championship of the regional tournament against McPherson. Cole Murphy allowed just three hits over six innings of work. He struck out three and walked none throwing just 67 pitches. Dawson Dreher also allowed just three hits, walking none, striking out one and throwing only 86 pitches over seven innings.
Coach Frank Leo
The Hays High Indian’s season ends at 12-9. Buhler improves to 14-7.
Hays High softball was in Buhler on Tuesday for one of eight KSHSAA regional tournaments. Hays was listed as the one seed at 9-9 on the year following last Wednesday’s seeding. The Indians entered the tournament at 10-10 after splitting with Andover Central on Thursday. The Indians took on 0-20 Buhler in game one. The other semifinal featured 6-14 Abilene and 4-16 McPherson.
Semifinal 1
Hays 11 – Buhler 7
Buhler took advantage of two Indian errors in the first and two more in the second for a 7-0 lead after an inning and a half. The Indians scratched their first run across in the bottom of the second inning on a Mackenzie sacrifice fly scoring Reanna Harman.
Hays finally broke through on offense in the third scoring seven runs on seven hits. The Indians sent eleven to th-e plate with the first eight reaching safely. Brooke Denning hit the Indian’s fourth double of the inning to give Hays their first lead of 8-7. Hays scored eleven consecutive runs for a 11-7 victory.
Jaysa Wicher took the victory in relief of Kaitlyn Brown.
Higlights
Semifinal 2
Abilene 9 – McPherson 0
Abilene struck first in the home half of the third inning scoring two runs on a two out throwing error. The Cowgirls added a third unearned run to take a 3-0 lead.
McPherson was turned away in the fifth thanks to a double play by the Cowgirls and a ground out to strand two runners.
Abilene added four more runs in the fifth following two more McPherson errors for a 7-0 lead.
McPherson again stranded two in the sixth inning ahead of Abilene plating two more runs for a 9-0 advantage and victory.
Championship
Abilene 12 – Hays 6
Hays struck first in the championship game against Abilene. The first three Indians reached before Reanna Harman drove in a run on a ground out to the right side. One pitch later Jaysa Wichers laced a single up the middle for a 3-0 lead.
Abilene answered right back scoring four runs. The Cowgirls scored one of the runs on a wild pitch and another on a fielding error, those two runs tied the game and then gave Abilene the 4-3 lead.
Errors nearly cost Hays the semifinal game. The errors showed again in the top of the fifth. Hays committed five errors, walked two batters and gave up three hits in an eight run Abilene inning to give the Cowgirls a 12-3 lead.
Highlights
Hays jumped back on the scoreboard with two outs in the sixth inning scoring three runs. Brooke Denning drove in two on a double and Cassidy Prough knocked in a run to cut the deficit down to 12-6.
Hays went in order in the seventh falling 12-6.
Coach Erin Wagner
Hays ends the year at 11-11. Abilene improves to 8-14 and qualifies for state for the second time in program history.
Hays High hosted Andover Central on Thursday to close out their regular season schedules. Both teams entered the day 9-9 and both already knew their fate in next week’s regional tournament. The Lady Indians found out the day before they earned the top seed of the four team tournament that will be held in Buhler on Tuesday.
Game 1
Andover Central 13 – Hays 4
The Indians took an early 1-0 lead after an error on the Jaguars in the bottom of the first inning. Andover Central answered back with three in the second, including a two run home run, and two more runs in the third.
Hays couldn’t take advantage of runners on the base path in the second and third inning while Andover Central added another three runs in the fourth. Kalei Cline, who homered in the second inning, added another in the fourth to open a second three run inning that pushed the advantage for the Jaguars to 8-1.
Hays scored a second run on a throwing error in fifth inning for an 8-2 score. Andover Central tacked on five more runs in the top of the seventh inning to end any thoughts of a comeback in game one. The Indians scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh for the 13-4 final.
Kaitlyn Brown took the loss in game one.
Game 2
Hays 12 – Andover Central 9
Highlights
Each team recorded three hits and an error in the first inning of game two. The result was a 3-2 lead for Andover Central. The Jaguars increased the lead to three once again with two runs in the top half of the second. Down 5-2, Hays used four hits and three hit batters to score five runs in the bottom of the second to take their first lead of game two.
The Indians increased their lead to three following a two run third with all the runs scoring with two outs. Hays led 9-6 entering the fourth but Andover Central pushed three across the plate to tie things up at nine a piece.
Hays again answered and did so with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Cassidy Prough singled home a run to regain the lead and then Kaitlyn Brown doubled in two runs for a 12-9 lead.
Each team went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings for the first zeroes posted in game two. Before the fifth Andover Central changed pitchers to their game one winner Audrey Orlowski. While Orlowski held Hays scoreless for the fifth and sixth, Jaysa Wichers did the same to the Jaguars in the fifth, sixth and seventh for a Hays High 12-9 victory.
Both Hays and Andover Central finish the regular season at 10-10.
Coach Erin Wagner
Hays moves on to the regional tournament in Buhler next Tuesday. The Indians are the one seed and will face 0-20 Buhler at 3:00. 6-14 Abilene will play 4-16 McPherson at 4:30. The winners will play for a spot at the state tournament at around 6:00.
It wasn’t the final games at Hays High School for baseball team seniors. The Indians will be hosting the state qualifying tournament next Wednesday. Still, Tuesday marked an evening to honor six seniors for the commitment to Hays High baseball. Between games Dawson Harmon, Cole Murphy, Hunter Brown, Nick Fisher, Dago Cano and Trey VanPelt were recognized along with their parents.
Game 1
Andover Central 9 – Hays 7
Highlights
A tight game through three innings was blown open in the top of fourth by five Andover Central runs. Trey VanPelt had just brought the Indians back within a run at 4-3 following a two run double in the bottom of the third. The Jaguars scored a run on a throwing error and then followed that with three singles, two walks and a sacrifice bunt for a hit to take an 8-3 run.
Nick Fisher entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out and promptly got out of the inning with a double play ground ball and an infield single. Trailing 9-3, the Indians tallied three runs on no hits in the fifth and one more in the seventh but fall 9-7. Hays had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh but a sinking line drive was caught on the run in center field to end the game.
Palmer Hutchison took the loss for the Indians in game one.
Hunter Brown and Trey VanPelt each recorded two hit games. VanPelt drove in three runs. The third coming on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch.
Game 2
Andover Central 15 – Hays 7
Highlights
It was once again the fourth inning that cost Hays in the second game. Trey Riggs opened the third inning with a solo home run to tie the game at 3-3. In the top of the fourth the Jaguars scored eight runs on four hits, four walks, a hit batter and an Indian error. The runs would be too much for Hays to over come.
The Indians added four more runs before the end of the game which included a three run home run from Cody Petersen in the sixth.
Hunter Brown, Cody Petersen and Dom Bainter each recorded two games in the loss.
Coach Frank Leo
Hays falls to 11-7 after the double header. Andover Central improves to 13-5. Cody Petersen took the loss in game two.
Scott City native Alex Hutchins has been named the new Hays High girls basketball coach with board approval this past Monday. A 2014 Kansas State University gruduate, Hutchins was the head coach of Elizabeth High School in Elizabeth, Colorado this past season. He was an assistant in his hometown of Scott City for two seasons and head coach at Minneapolis prior.
Hutchins will also be an assistant football coach and teach Adaptive Physical Education as well as Strength and Conditioning.
He hopes to meet with the Hays High girls basketball team next week.
Hays High needed a sweep on Monday night to claim at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference baseball crown. The Indians though split with the Great Bend Panthers and will have wait on the outcome of Liberal versus Garden City. Liberal currently sits at 5-1 in conference play and Hays is finished at 6-2.
Game 1
Great Bend pitching held Hays High scoreless in handing the Indians a 2-0 loss. Trey Riggs pitched a complete game four hitter throwing just 87 pitches.
The Panthers struck for two runs following an error in the fifth inning for deciding margin. Townsend Kurth and Calan Haberman each drove home a run for Great Bend in the inning.
Highlights
The Indians were turned back in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Great Bend’s shortstop Alex Schremmer made a sliding stop on a ground ball deep up the middle that started an inning ending double play. Schremmer then grabbed the save on a perfect ninth inning on the mound.
Game 2
Great Bend struck for four runs in the first inning against starter Cole Murphy. The Panthers send nine to the plate gathering four hits while the Indians committed two errors.
Murphy settled into a groove after that and along with Cody Petersen, who pitched the final two innings, held Great Bend scoreless next six innings.
Hays left runners stranded in every inning until the fourth when freshman Dom Bainter singled in his first varsity at-bat to score Trey VanPelt closing the score down to 4-1.
Highlights
Hays once again left runners on the base path in the fifth and sixth.
The Indians finally found their offense in the seventh facing Schremmer who was in for the close for a second consecutive game. Trey Riggs led the inning off with a double followed by a Cole Murphy walk and Cody Petersen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Trey VanPelt just missed a grand slam homerun to win the game but the did score two runs on the long single to close the Indian’s gap down to 4-3.
Willie Sennett then walked to load the bases once again in the inning. Bainter came through with his second RBI single of the game to tie the game at 4-4. Mason Prescott, running for VanPelt, scored the winning run on a ball put in play by Hunter Brown to win 5-4.
Cody Petersen took the win in relief. It is his first career varsity victory.
Coach Frank Leo
Hays is now 8-4 on the year with the game two victory snapping a four game skid. The Indians are currently on a 16 day stretch where they will play 14 of their 20 regular season games.
Hays High will host the Western Plains Diamond Classic this Thursday through Saturday.
Lane Clark, Tennessee State UniversityFormer Hays High Indian Lane Clark has options to consider for his future. After finishing up at Tennessee State University, one of those options could be kicking professionally for a football team. Clark stopped by the Mix 103 Morning Show Thursday:
Hays High School will have a new assistant principal and athletic director as of July 1. Lance Krannawitter has accepted an offer to take that role. He currently is the Communications Director for USD 315 Colby and serves as the school’s athletics director. Prior to his current position, Krannawitter had been a principal or assistant principal from 2008 through 2016 in the Colby school district at the grade school, middle school and high school levels.
In June, Krannawitter will move to Hays with his wife and son, a freshman. His daughter is a senior who will graduate in May and head to college at the University of Kansas.
Interview with Lance Krannawitter
His move to the Hays school district gets Krannawitter closer to his parents in Russell and allows the opportunity to further an education career that has spent time in three different countries. As a United States Peace Corps volunteer, he spent two years in Tanzania, East Africa teaching English and agriculture to high school students. Krannawitter also spent a year in South Korea teaching English as a Second Language.
Krannawitter is a Hoxie high school graduate and earned two degrees from Fort Hays State University. He also completed two leadership programs at FHSU.
For a fourth consecutive year, the #9 Hays High Indians opened up sub-state play with the #10 Buhler Crusaders. For a fourth consecutive year they met up as the two and three seeds, this year in McPherson.
Hays never led in the first half against the Crusaders. Hays trailed 7-5 and had one crack at taking the lead on a three pointer but missed. The Crusaders went on a 8-0 run following the miss to take their first double digit lead at 15-5. Buhler led 19-9 after the first quarter and pushed the lead to twelve a minute into the second quarter.
Hays finally found a rhythm on offense going on a 10-2 run to close the deficit down to 25-21. The two teams trade baskets over the final two minutes. The final basket came from Tradgon McCrae some seven feet from behind the arc as the quarter ended to bring Hays back within two at 28-26.
Highlights
Peyton Kieffer drilled back to back threes to open up the third quarter to take their first lead of the game at 32-28. The Indians and Buhler traded baskets for the remainder of the third quarter with Buhler keeping their two point lead from halftime at 41-39. Hays never led in the fourth quarter but did tie the score twice. The last was at 45 each with 4:16 remaining. Buhler scored the next seven points taking a 52-45 advantage. Hays closed the gap down to four with thirty seconds left. Buhler made just three of their final eight free throws allowing the Indians to have a chance. Hays though could not score on their final two possession and fall 57-52.
Coach Rick Keltner
Tradgon McCrae scored a game high 19. Peyton Kieffer added 15. The Indians season closes at 14-7. Buhler improves to 13-7. Hays made 229 three pointers on the season falling just short of a state record 237 makes.
Hays led just once in the first quarter after scoring on their first offensive possession. Ulysses led the remainder of the first eight minutes at one point taking a seven point lead at 13-6. Tasiah Nunnery scored the last eight points of the quarter to bring the Lady Indians back within two at 16-14.
Hays regained the lead by scoring the first four points of the second quarter and led again at 20-19 two minutes into the quarter. Ulysses then got hot behind the three point line. An 18-4 run by the Lady Tigers capped the first half and put the Lady Indians down 37-24 heading into the locker room.
Highlights
Ulysses continued to build their lead through the third quarter and led by eighteen at 51-33 going to the final eight minutes. The Lady Indians opened the fourth quarter on a 8-0 run to get within ten after just three minutes. Hays though scored just four points rest of the way and fall 58-45 to Ulysses.
Coach Kirk Maska
Hays was out rebounded in the game 46-20. The Lady Tigers grabbed 28 offensive rebounds for 18 second chance points. Tasiah Nunnery scored a game high 16 points.
#8 Hays finishes the season at 13-8. #7 Ulysses moves into the sub-state championship at 14-7.
It took many miles traveled for Zach Wagner to decide he was going to stay in Hays, KS. The Hays High senior signed his National Letter of Intent to play soccer at Fort Hays State University on Wednesday morning.
Along with thanking his Hays High teammates and coaches, Wagner passed along a big thank you to his parents and family as well. Wagner plays club soccer out of Kansas City which requires large amounts of windshield time. He mentioned the hours spent as a family in the car, even though he spent trips home catching up on sleep.
Zach Wagner
The all-time assist leader in program history, Wagner visited several school before deciding on Fort Hays State. He helped lead the Indians to a state quarterfinal berth this past season, just the second such appearance in school history.
Picked as a captain for the 2017 season, Coach Silas Hibbs said it is a rare combination to have one of your most skilled players also be the vocal leader and a high character kid that the team can rally around.
Coach Silas Hibbs
Wagner led the team in assists this past season with 16 and also contributed 17 goals which ranked second. He finished his career with 47 total assists. Nearly double the second spot on the career list which his held by fellow senior and career goal record holder Ethan Nunnery. Wagner finished tied for third in number of goals scored in a career at 40, just one behind current Indian head coach Silas Hibbs.
Wagner and Nunnery set a record pace for the Indians. Nunnery finished as the career goal record holder at 57. Wagner tied for third with 40. The two also stand atop of the career points column. Nunnery at 139 and Wagner at 127, both passing their Coach Hibbs this past season. The two combined for more career points than any duo in Hays High soccer history.
Wagner is an All-Conference Western Athletic Conference selection and a First Team 4A State selection as well.
Friday night’s regular season finale in Great Bend did not start well for Hays. The Lady Indians made just one of their first ten shots and just one of six free throws. The Lady Panthers led 12-3 after one quarter and then scored the first four points of the second quarter for a 16-3 lead. Hays scored five straight to get the lead down to eight and stole the inbound pass but couldn’t score. Great Bend pulled back ahead by 14 on a pair of three pointers before Hays scored the final three points of the half to trail 22-11 at half time.
Highlights
Great Bend took a 13 point lead on the first basket of the third quarter at 24-11. The Lady Indians slowly started chipping into that lead through the remainder of the quarter. Over seven minutes Hays outscored the Panthers 19-7 to get back within a point at 31-30. Great Bend scored the final two points of the third quarter and then the first two of the fourth quarter to establish their biggest fourth quarter lead at 35-30. The Lady Indians tied the game for the first time all night at 35 with 6:10 remaining on a Kallie Leiker field goal.
The first lead for Hays came with 3:45 left in the game. A three pointer from Tasiah Nunnery put Hays up 40-38. The lead changed hands six more times over the next two and a half minutes. The final lead change coming on a Isabel Robben’s fourth three pointer as 1:00 showed on the clock. Great Bend had three final possessions where they turned the ball over each time. Hays hit two of four free throws to take a 50-47 win.
Coach Kirk Maska
Hays was led by the 17 from Isabel Robben. Kallie Leiker tied a career high with 13. After going 3-25 from the field in the first half, the Lady Indians were 13-25 in the second half and made 7 of their 13 three point shots.
#8 Hays finishes the year at 13-7 and second in the Western Athletic Conference at 6-2. Great Bend falls to 3-17 and 1-7.
Boys
Hays 60 – Great Bend 36
A 17-0 run by Hays in the first quarter put little doubt into the evening in Great Bend. The Indians had already wrapped up the the WAC title on Tuesday night and showed no let down on Friday. After the game was tied at three through the first minute, Cole Murphy hit a three pointer and sparked the 17-0 run. Hays led by 16 after one quarter and by half time led 38-13, finishing the half on a 9-0 run.
Highlights
Hays continued their first half 9-0 by scoring the first nine points of the second half and taking a commanding 47-13 lead. The Indians entered the fourth quarter with a 56-24 lead to enforce the continuous clock fourth quarter. Great Bend ended the game on a 9-0 run to close the final margin down to 60-36.
Coach Rick Keltner
The Indians were led by Kyler Koenke with 13 points. Three more players scored nine points and another added eight in the victory. Hays improves to 14-6 on the season and finishes the Western Athletic Conference at 8-0. Great Bend falls to 4-16 and 2-6.
The Indians will play Buhler in the first round of sub-state next week as the number two seen in McPherson.
