Check out how area baseball teams fared during the week of March 26-April 1.
Greater Wichita Athletic League
Wichita East is off to a 4-0 start after wins against Wichita Northwest, Derby and Manhattan. The Aces pulled out 5-4 and 6-3 victories over Northwest despite trailing by three in both games. In the 5-4 contest, East forced extra innings by scoring two in the fifth inning and one in the sixth. Then the Aces plated a run in the 10th inning to prevail. East faced third-inning deficits against both Derby and Manhattan before winning 6-4 against the Panthers and 9-6 over the Indians.
Earlier in the week, Northwest jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Blue Valley Stilwell, but the Grizzlies couldn’t hold the lead and lost 3-2. Wichita North no-hit Wichita Southeast during a 15-0 victory. Tanner Raiburn earned the win for the Redskins. Southeast put up a better fight at the GWAL Baseball Classic, but North was able to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge the Buffaloes 8-7. Bishop Carroll notched two shutouts, including a no-hitter during the Baseball Classic, against Wichita South. Behind the pitching of Brandon Mercer and Jordan Plank, Wichita Heights allowed only one run to Garden City in a 7-1, 3-0 sweep. Heights was tested against Kapaun Mt. Carmel at the Baseball Classic, but the Falcons managed to prevail 3-2 in nine innings. Both teams scored a run in the seventh inning.
Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League I-II
Maize, the defending Class 6A champion, broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Blue Valley Stilwell. D.J. McClure and A.J. Shaw hit home runs for the Eagles, who defeated Goddard Eisenhower 12-2 later in the week. Maize jumped out to a 7-1 lead after the first inning against Eisenhower. Campus rolled past Wichita South, earning 18-3 and 16-1 victories. Andover earned a split in its doubleheader with Winfield. Seven was the magic number as the Trojans took the opener 7-6 in nine innings and the Vikings won the nightcap 7-2. Hutchinson edged Dodge City twice -- 4-3 and 9-7 -- to earn a doubleheader sweep. Salina South took two from McPherson thanks to a 27-run effort.
Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League III-IV
Wichita Collegiate and El Dorado each picked up a victory in their season-opening doubleheader as the Spartans took the first game 10-1 and the Wildcats won the nightcap 16-5. Maize South and Mulvane also split a pair to start the year. The Mavericks won the opener 8-4 behind a five-run fifth inning that broke a 2-2 tie. The Wildcats plated a run in the seventh inning of Game 2 to pull out a 4-3 victory. Rose Hill earned a sweep at Wellington, but just barely. After an 8-6 win to start the day, the Rockets needed nine innings to get past the Crusaders in the nightcap.
Central Plains League
Wichita Trinity traveled to Clearwater to begin the season and split a doubleheader. The Knights lost the first game 8-3 before dominating the second game 12-1. Trinity improved its record to 3-1 with a 32-run performance against Rose Hill. One of the Knights’ victories over the Rockets was by the score of 20-6. Wichita Independent scored 32 runs in its sweep of Lyons, winning 14-4 and 18-15. The Panthers led 14-2 in the nightcap before holding off the Lions. Independent’s offensive production tapered off a bit against Halstead and the Panthers left with a split, winning 8-0 and falling 8-7. Bluestem outscored visiting Belle Plaine 24-3 and allowed the Dragons only five hits total in the twinbill.
Central Kansas League
Kingman outscored Douglass 22-6 to earn a sweep at home. The Eagles won Game 1 by the score of 12-1 before doubling up the Bulldogs in Game 2. Hillsboro had a rough doubleheader against Little River, falling 7-5 and 14-1. Haven also didn’t fare well in its twinbill with Word of Life, losing 19-7 and 17-5. Two days later, Haven bounced back with a 13-3, 9-3 sweep of Smoky Valley.
Western Athletic Conference
Hays started the year with 7-3 and 3-0 wins over GWAL member Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Liberal split its doubleheader against Ulysses, losing 8-1 in the opener before winning 10-5. The Redskins came back from a 5-0 deficit in the second inning to take Game 2. Liberal ended the week with its second setback this season to an Oklahoma school, losing 8-7 to Guymon. The Redskins fell 15-6 to Woodward on March 17.
