Road to Kansas Class 6A softball state title definitely went through Olathe
After battling for the top spot in the Sunflower League throughout the regular season, it only seemed natural to Olathe South High School softball coach Mike Allen that his Falcons would have to face their school district foes on the road to the Kansas Class 6A state title.
Sure enough, Olathe South topped Olathe East in a state tournament quarterfinal, then defeated Olathe North in a state semifinal to advance to the state title game. There, the Falcons defeated Olathe Northwest 7-3 to capture the program’s first state title since 1996 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence.
“I thought we had the hardest three games to face all three Olathe schools, because you could argue that they are all in the top five or six teams in the state,” Allen said. “It was extremely, extremely satisfying and the girls really played well.”
Olathe South finished the season 23-2, with a winning record of 10-1 in the Sunflower League. Olathe Northwest followed in second in the league standings, Olathe North was third and Olathe East was fourth.
In the process, Allen said his Olathe South squad was also able to move past last season’s heartbreaking loss to Olathe East in the state semifinals.
“We lost that game on a bloop hit and we were young, playing a lot of sophomores, so I think that is something that stuck. I think the other thing that drove them was wanting to win the league (title), since we hadn’t done it since 1996,” Allen said. “Once both of those things happened, I think they had a good feeling about going down there (to state).”
Olathe South’s state title was the ninth in 12 years for the Olathe School District. Olathe East has won six times and Olathe Northwest twice.
Olathe Northwest finished this season 22-3, Olathe North finished 19-5 and Olathe East was 14-9. The only non-Sunflower League team from the 913 area to advance to the Kansas Class 6A state tournament was Gardner Edgerton.
This story was originally published June 2, 2015 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Road to Kansas Class 6A softball state title definitely went through Olathe."