Late May is a busy season in high school sports, with state playoffs taking place simultaneously in baseball, softball and girls’ soccer. All three sports will finish their season with state championships on May 27 and 28.
Here’s how local teams have fared in the playoffs so far.
Baseball
Bishop Ward defeated Easton-Pleasant Ridge in the 3A regional quarter-final 4-3. The Cyclones will play Perry-Lecompton in the Wellsville regional semi-final. The game has been postponed from Wednesday to Thursday due to expected inclement weather. The game will follow the other semi-final and start at approximately 4 p.m.
Bonner Springs defeated Sumner Academy 6-5 in a regional semi-final played at Legends Field. The Braves lost the final to Shawnee Heights 3-0.
In other regional action:
Mill Valley 3, Piper 1 Olathe West 14, Wyandotte 0 Pittsburg 13, Turner 4 Blue Valley Southwest 15, Washington 0
Softball
Piper defeated Leavenworth 14-9 in the 5A regional semi-final at Basehor, but lost to the Basehor-Linwood Lady Bobcats 7-5 in the final.
Bishop Ward defeated Osage City 1-0 in the 3A regional quarter-final, but lost to Wellsville 10-6.
In other regional action:
Spring Hill 15, Turner 0 Saint Thomas Aquinas 7, Bonner Springs 3
Girls’ soccer
Sumner Academy defeated Bonner Springs 8-2 in the 5A regional semi-final. The Sabres will play Spring Hill in the final on Thursday, starting at 6 p.m. at Schlagle stadium.
In other regional action:
Spring Hill 11, Turner 0 Seaman 6, Piper 2 Bishop Miege 10, Bishop Ward 0 Pittsburg 6, Washington 0 (play-in) Highland Park 1, Schlagle 0 (play-in)
The Sumner Lady Sabres gave up early 1-0 and 2-1 leads to the Bonner Springs Lady Braves in their first-round playoff match, but a full-team effort brought Sumner back to an 8-2 lead at the final whistle.
Speedy Bonner forward Jenna Knight caused the Sumner defense problems early, and runs from Knight led to both Bonner goals. In the 9th minute, she took an open shot that ricocheted off the post, but the rebound fell to teammate Jaelyn Romo to put away for the early lead.
Sumner got the equalizer less than two minutes later, when the ball squirted out of a goalmouth scrum to Brenda Guevara-Alatorre who knocked it in from 15 yards out.
In the 22nd minute, Knight got onto the end of a pass from Mercedes Madlock and raced to fire it in to re-establish a one goal lead.
Sumner took less than a minute to come back to tie the score at 2-2, with Joselyn Clark racing unchecked up the middle. Bonner goalkeeper Alyssa King parried the shot, but the rebound fell back to Clark, who put it away.
Sumner made defensive adjustments to prevent Knight from getting open with running room, and the Lady Sabres started to pull away before halftime, scoring three unanswered goals. The most notable was Ashley Terrazas heading in a cross in the 35th minute.
Sumner added on three more goals in the second half, the last two off Terrazas free kicks. In the 66th minute, Terrazas picked out Clark, who knocked the ball in from the near post. In the 67th minute, Terrazas scored on a direct kick from 40 yards out, over the goalkeeper’s hands.
Clark scored three goals in the match. Terrazas and Guevara-Alatorre both notched two, and Gabriella Lopez scored one.
After the match, head coach Jon Borger talked about his team’s victory.
“We got some nice passing patterns, really played team ball,” the coach said. “We usually look to Joselyn Clark, our number 8, but we were able to put together some great team goals tonight. That’s what I was really proud of.”
The Lady Sabres advance to meet the Spring Hill Lady Broncos in the regional final on Thursday, starting at 6 p.m. The match will be played at Schlagle stadium. The winner of that game will advance to the 5A state tournament in Wichita on May 27 and 28.
The Bonner Springs Lady Braves finish their season with a 4-12 record. With 8 freshmen and 6 sophomores on the varsity roster, many of them playing significant minutes, the team is poised for a lot of growth in the next two years.
Piper High School celebrated senior night for girls’ soccer with a 10-0 shutout of Bonner Springs, but it was the junior class that did the damage.
Sierra Montez scored five goals, knifing through Bonner defenders with quick lateral and diagonal moves. Ryann Clark added four more, showing her talent for keeping possession in traffic. Kyndell Letcher, an indispensible part of the Lady Pirates’ high press, scored a goal as well.
In Piper’s offense-heavy performance, three goals stood out. The first happened in the 16th minute when Montez, playing in the defensive line, won the ball in a duel and started an end-to-end run.
She played a smooth give-and-go to Letcher near midfield, got the ball back and broke downfield, flat-footing defenders and finishing with a clean shot on goal.
The next highlight play was Clark’s fourth goal of the match, 10 minutes into the second half. Positioned squarely in front of goal, she timed her jump on a corner kick and headed it into the net.
Also drawing attention was a 57th minute score from Montez. Finding herself unmarked outside the 18-yard box, she unleashed a blast into the upper right of the goal to put her team up by eight.
The win breaks a three-game losing streak for the Lady Pirates. They finish the regular season at 9-5.
The Lady Braves end their regular season with a 4-12 record. Both teams will await the 5A playoff brackets to be announced on May 14, with regional playoffs to start on May 16.