WHS golf team is ranked No. 2 in 4A; Oxford baseball team has huge aspirations as well…
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Five sporting things going around Sumner County this week…
1. Wellington golf team is ranked…
The season is only one week old for the Wellington High School golf team, but the accolades are already starting to roll in.
The 2018 Wellington High School golf team. (Photo courtesy of Steve Sturgis).
The WHS golf team recently placed second in its own tournament on Thursday in a 12-team tournament in which it finished just six strokes behind Andover Central, the No. 1 team in the state in Class 4A. Then on Sunday the Crusaders learned they are ranked No. 2 in the newest Kansas Golf Coaches Association poll.
The Class 4A rankings are as follows:
1. Andover Central.
2. Wellington
3. Hays
4. Burlington
5. Arkansas City
6. Augusta
7. Santa Fe Trail
8. Clearwater
9. Winfield
10. Nickerson.
Wellington also recently learned it will be hosting a Class 4A Regional on May 14. And it is a doozy. The teams competing along side the Crusaders will be: Arkansas City, Winfield, Mulvane, Clearwater, Rose Hill, Wichita Collegiate, Wichita Trinity, Augusta and Andover Central.
In Kansas high school golf in order for a team to qualify for state the top two teams from each regional will go. Wellington’s regional has the No. 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9 team playing in the same regional. That’s 60 percent of the top 10 teams!
The expectations are high for Wellington that qualified for the state tournament as a team in 2017 and brought about everyone back. But in 2017, Wellington traveled east and avoided the juggernaut golf programs in this part of the state. The Crusaders are not so lucky this year.
Wellington head golf coach James Ginter just shrugs his shoulders.
“You have to play those teams sometime,” Ginter said. “I think playing at home there is a natural tendency to think we have an advantage over the other teams.
“But then look who we are playing. It’s going to be a tournament we have to be at our best.”
Wellington has one of its best golf teams in years. Ty Wilson has already signed with Dodge City Community College, a power in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. He is currently ranked No. 2 in 4A behind Cooper Schultz of Andover Central and Tradgon McCrae of Hays.
Blake Bales, another senior, is signing Tuesday to play golf at Coffeyville Community College. He is currently ranked eighth.
This year’s team is loaded with most everyone back from the previous season and two outstanding freshmen mixed in the fold. Blake Saffell is already ranked sixth in 4A as a freshman and Jace Lawrence is placed 14th.
True DeJarnett, who is fighting eligibility issues, is currently fifth in the state. Jaylen Harris and Rylan Blasi are also key varsity players.
“I haven’t had a golf team in years in which I could count on third and fourth player posting a good score,” Ginter said. “Now I have six.”
———
As of Monday afternoon, Oxford’s baseball team was undefeated. (Courtesy photo) Click on photo for larger version.
2. Oxford baseball ranked as well…
The Oxford High School baseball is at it again. The Wildcats are two-time state qualifiers and have every desire to get right back to the state tournament for a third consecutive year. That may be a tough order this year, but more on that in a bit.
First the latest Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches poll came out and Oxford is ranked No. 3. The rankings for Class 2/1A are as follows:
1. Pittsburg Colgan.
2. Leon-Bluestem
3. Oxford
4. Troy
5. Sedan
6. Moscow
7. Salina Sacred Heart
8. Medicine Lodge
9. Ellis
10. Spearville.
That list has some familiar names to it. Colgan is a perennial powerhouse in state and Leon-Bluestem won the whole shebang in 2017 in Great Bend with Oxford as its first round opponent.
Kyle Green’s troops are off to a good start. The Cats have outscored their opponents 74-8 in the first six game en route to a 6-0 record. The only close game was against Cedar Vale/Dexter a 7-6 victory on cold afternoon in the home opener. The Wildcats broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the seventh when senior Camren Clements walloped a huge fly ball to left field that brought Cal Shimkus home from third base for the walk-off win.
In the second game of the double-header, Oxford demolished the Spartans 17-2.
Oxford has five seniors with a slew of post season accolades from 2017.
•Clements is the shortstop/pitcher and is an honorable mention all leaguer.
•Dakota Mitchell is a first team all leaguer, and second team all state.
•Cal Shimkus is a first team all leaguer, and first team all state.
•Dalton Silhan is a first team all leaguer and second team all state.
Mitchell, Shimkus, and Silhan play as many as three positions.
Oxford’s path to get back to state won’t be easy though. Leon-Bluestem, ranked No. 2, is in the same regional.
Tonight’s Flinthills game will be a good indicator of the competition it will see in the post season. Flinthills as of Monday afternoon is 4-3.
———
3. Regional assignments…
The KSHSAA has issued out its regional assignments. The Wellington baseball team is headed to Winfield for what looks like a very competitive regional. Aside from the two “W” schools, Arkansas City, Mulvane and Rose Hill will be battling for a chance to get to state.
On May 15, Wellington girls softball team will be traveling to Ark City to battle the host, Coffeyville and Winfield for a regional championship. That one could be tough regional.
“We will battle anyone in the dirt,” said Wellington head girls softball coach T.D. Buck today at Crusader Club.
Belle Plaine girls are headed to Douglass to battle Chaparral, Caney Valley, Cheney, Douglass, Eureka, Fredonia, and Elk Valley. The Belle Plaine boys baseball team is headed to Cheney where Chaparral, Halstead, Haven, Hesston and Sedgwick will be competing.
As mentioned, Oxford’s baseball team has state tournament aspirations but that pesky Leon-Bluestem team is standing in its way in the Udall regional. Flinthills and Central Burden are also competing there.
Both the Oxford girls and South Haven girls softball teams travel to Central-Burden for a regional. Cedar Vale-Dexter, Sedan, and Udall are also competing.
———
4. Tennis team news…
The Wellington High School boys tennis team has a new coach. Chad Whaley replaces Allen Keller, who retired from coaching tennis. So far the tennis team has played two tournaments so far, and has had two tournaments rescheduled. And the home Wellington Invitational wasn’t exactly warm and sunny.
Here’s the schedule for this week: Wichita Collegiate, today; Chaparral, Tuesday; Maize South, Wednesday.
Whew.
The Chaparral and Maize South tournaments are the make-up tournaments.
Tennis is never a long season and the regional is already just a month away on May 3-4. The boys will be playing at Wichita Collegiate against Andover Central, Augusta, Buhler, El Dorado, Pratt, Circle, Ulysses, Wichita Trinity and, of course, Collegiate.
It is way too early to know exactly what the Wellington lineup will be in the regional.
So far, Hunter Bryant and Kade Adams have played singles while Jaden Adams and James Hinman and Avery Rademacher and Jared Oathout have been playing doubles.
———
5. Ryleigh Buck watch…
Switching gears to college, and WHS graduate Buck continues to make her mark on the Wichita State Shocker team.
Ryleigh Buck
She is hitting .319 with six doubles and two home runs, up from a .175 batting average in 26 games last season. She started all 33 games, hitting throughout the lineup and moving to No. 5 over the previous six games. In last weekend’s sweep at UConn, she went 3 for 10 with two walks, a double, triple and home run.
This does not include her stats from this weekend.
There is a nice article written by Paul Suellentrop about Buck in “The Roundhouse” which talks about her and her family’s support. You can read it here.
