State champions on the ball diamonds are SM East, Aquinas, Olathe South and Spring Hill
Four Johnson County area high schools were crowned Kansas state champions last weekend in baseball and softball, as teams battled rainy weather conditions to conclude state tournaments.
Here’s a look back at four teams that earned a state championship trophy.
Class 6A baseball
Freshman Philip Cole, who played for the SM East “C” team and only pinch runs on the varsity level, scored from second base on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday, giving the Lancers a 4-3 win over Lawrence Free State in the Kansas 6A state title game.
“When I was crossing home it was crazy,” Cole said. “I didn’t even know what to think. All I knew was we did it. It’s a long season, but we got it done.”
After Henry Churchill singled down the left-field line to open the ninth, Cole entered the game as a pinch runner. He moved to second on Spencer Mustoe’s sacrifice bunt, then easily scored the next at-bat on the errant throw.
SM East senior Joey Wentz smacked an RBI single in the first inning, then produced a sacrifice fly in the third that he drove so deep to left-center, that it allowed Luke Anderson to score from second.
Colby Gordon,
Special to The Star
Class 5A baseball
Riley Pint’s shot to the warning track, which sent in two runs in the top of the fifth inning, rallied the Saints from a deficit and sparked them a 14-9 victory over Shawnee Heights on Saturday in the Kansas 5A state championship game.
Pint, an LSU commit, was the sparkplug for Aquinas for much of the season — specifically his powerful right arm.
“He hits the ball, he fields the ball, he just does everything for us,” Aquinas coach Lorne Parks said. “You get a guy like that, and all the kids focus around that — they’ll all play at that level, too.”
Aquinas headed into the bottom of the third inning in good position, up 7-2. But Shawnee Heights rallied for seven runs in the third to take a 9-7 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, Pint — who plays second base when he’s not pitching — stepped to the plate and blasted a ball to the center-field warning track for a double. James Cosentino and Blake Lillis peeled around the bases, Lillis jumping on the plate dramatically to re-take the lead for Aquinas.
The Saints piled on four more runs and left no doubt.
Ashley Scoby,
The Kansas City Star
Class 6A softball
Olathe South notched a 10-3 victory over Washburn Rural in the Kansas 6A softball state title game at Blue Valley West. It was the second straight state championship for the Falcons, who finished the season 23-2.
Olathe South took control of the game with four runs in the first inning.
Senior shortstop Abigail Weber opened the game with a double down the right-field line. She scored two runs, drove in two and hit the ball to the right side all four times at the plate.
Senior pitcher Lexi Storrer pitched a strong game. She allowed eight hits, walking just three and striking out eight. Senior catcher Kala Holder added two hits and two RBIs.
“Our key was teamwork,” Holder said. “Everyone did their job. I’m proud of everyone.”
Charles Redfield,
Special to The Star
Class 4A Division I softball
Spring Hill took down Piper 1-0 in 10 innings and won the Kansas Class 4A Division I state title on Saturday.
Spring Hill, 21-3, got its only run on a double by Danielle Townley in the 10th inning that scored Elizabeth Hays.
“I hadn’t been doing much in the games before that, so it was nice to deliver when we needed it,” Townley said. “I changed my swing a little bit right before that and when it finally connected, it was awesome.”
Sarah Brown pitched all 25 innings for Spring Hill in the state tournament, including two extra-inning wins on Saturday.
Tony Adame,
Special to The Star
This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 6:19 PM with the headline "State champions on the ball diamonds are SM East, Aquinas, Olathe South and Spring Hill."