Royal Valley only had four seniors on its baseball roster a year ago.

But Panther coach Kenny Swart has no doubts that their impact is still being felt, even if that didn't necessarily translate into a glossy win-loss record for the team in 2021.

"The building blocks were set," Swart said. "That group of seniors I had, they really set the foundation. They came into the season last year and made it clear to the younger guys that, 'Hey, you don't know when this is going to be over.' They lost their junior year (in 2020 to COVID), which is a huge year in high school sports, especially for young men. Their biggest gain in typically from their sophomore to junior year and those kids didn't get that opportunity.

"I had some kids last year who were good leaders who made it clear to the young guys that they had to get going, take advantage of the time you have."

Royal Valley's returning players seem to have taken that message to heart. After going 8-13 last season -- an improvement over much of the previous decade -- the Panthers have turned the 2022 season into a historic one.

After sweeping Jefferson West 5-4 and 10-0 last Thursday, Royal Valley is now 11-6 on the season. The victories also wrapped up the program's first-ever Big Seven League title with the Panthers sitting 8-2 with a league doubleheader against Holton still left to play.

"The carryover from last year to this year and just the belief," Swart said of keys to the breakthrough season. "I preached to the guys that we had a chance to do something really special this year. I just kept talking it into existence. I just kept telling them, 'This is a good team. We will get there, it just takes work and your own belief.'

"Obviously we've had some things go our way. This league is so tough top to bottom that any given day, any team can beat any team. The dominos fell in our favor. We had some good games with No. 1s facing each other and others where they fell our way with our pitching. The pendulum can swing real fast in the Big Seven because we can all beat up on each other."

Royal Valley opened league play with a sweep of perennial power Sabetha and Swart said that sweep set the ball in motion and strengthened the Panthers' self-belief. Royal Valley blasted the Bluejays 11-1 in the first game before pulling out a 3-2 win in the second.

"That was huge," Swart said. "That's when they kind of started believing. They beat up on us pretty good last year and tradition runs pretty deep in Sabetha. For us to come out and sweep them, it was like, 'OK, maybe coach is right and we can do something.' They were huge wins for us and just set the tone."

After splitting with Hiawatha (13-2 loss, 7-2) and suffering three straight non-league losses to 4A schools Wamego and Tonganoxie, the Panthers swept Perry-Lecompton (6-4, 10-0), split with Nemaha Central (6-2 win, 12-3 loss) and swept West.
 

Swart said an emphasis on playing offseason baseball has played a factor in the turnaround as well. So has the success experienced by the Royal Valley basketball team over the past four years. The Panthers won their third straight league title in basketball this winter and finished as Class 3A state runner-up, the best state finish in program history.

Three members of that team play baseball with four-year starter Brady Klotz -- a Northwest Missouri State signee -- leading the team with a .491 average and 18 RBI. Preston Golden has led the pitching staff with a 3-1 mark and save with 41 strikeouts and only six walks.

"I think a lot of the younger guys look to them coming off that run they've had in basketball the last couple years and the success they have," Swart said. "They see what their work ethic is and how they react to certain situations."

Royal Valley last went to the state tournament in 2016, losing in the Class 3A quarterfinals to Nemaha Central. The Panthers are currently only percentage points behind Sabetha (9-5) for the top seed in the 3A Marysville regional.

BASEBALL

-- Osage City's Garrett Fager threw a no-hitter in the Indians' 10-0 win over Central Heights on Tuesday. Fager struck out 15 as the Indians improved to 14-2 overall.

-- Southeast of Saline clinched at least a share of the North Central Activities Association title after splitting with Ellsworth on Tuesday. Ellsworth won the first game 5-0 behind a one-hit shutout from Dayton Davis, who struck out 17 in the game. The Trojans came back to win 8-5 in the nightcap behind a pair of RBI from Jayton Mathis and three hits from Evan Nickelson.

Southeast of Saline is now 13-3 overall and finished league play 8-2. Ellsworth is 14-2 overall -- seeded first in the 3A Russell regional -- and 6-2 in league play with a doubleheader left against Republic County. Sacred Heart is 4-2 in league play with doubleheaders left against Republic County and Beloit.

In Southeast's sweep of Minneapolis, Landen Allen drove in six runs in the first game while Hart Nurnberg had four hits. In the second game, Bryce Cooper hit his third home run of the season and Drew Richardson drove in three.

In Ellsworth's 18-1, 13-1 sweep of Lincoln/Sylvan-Lucas, Ben Hipp drove in six runs in the first game, while Davis had 4 RBI and Will Cravens and Wyatt Bohm each drove in three, Cravens and Davis both homering. Cole Webber drove in three in the second game and Davis homered again.

-- Maur Hill's Parrish Beagle was dominant in last Thursday's win over Pleasant Ridge, striking out 18 to push his season total to 48 in just 21 innings. Beagle, who threw a four-hitter, has given up just eight hits all season and walked just one.

The Ravens have won 9 of their last 10 and take on Valley Falls for the Northeast Kansas League title on Thursday. Maur Hill is 12-4 overall and 8-0 in league play while Valley Falls is 12-2 overall and also 8-0 in league play, riding a 12-game winning streak after sweeping Atchison County 13-1, 13-5 last Thursday.

-- Rock Creek has won eight straight to move to 12-1 overall, the lone loss 12-9 to Wamego in early April. The Mustangs' Zac Becker belted two home runs and drove in five in a 15-14 win over Riley County on April 26 and then added two more RBI in a 17-8 win in the second game. He is hitting .484 this season with 15 RBI.

-- Rossville swept Onaga 14-2, 16-1 as Torrey Horak went 5 for 6 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. Kaden Brown was 5 for 7 with 3 RBI and each threw a scoreless inning in the sweep.

After sweeping Wamego 8-7, 7-2 on Tuesday, the Bulldawgs have won 14 straight to improve to 15-1 overall. At 8-0 in league play, Rossville shares the league lead with Rock Creek (6-0 in league play) with the two squaring off next Tuesday in Rossville.

The Bulldawgs rallied from down six to tie Tuesday's opener with Wamego at 7-7 before winning it on a Brown single in the bottom of the eighth. McGwyre Leathers' grand slam tied the game. Brown finished the twinbill with five hits and Aiden Garcia threw a complete game in the second contest.

-- In wins over Osage City, St. Marys (sweep) and Lyndon (sweep), Mission Valley's Keaton Marcotte went 12 for 16 with a home run, 12 RBI and 13 runs scored. Marcotte is hitting .535 for the Vikings, who are 15-0 and have clinched at least a share of the Flint Hills League title at 12-0 in league play.

-- Lebo/Waverly claimed the Lyon County League title, sweeping previously undefeated Southern Lyon County last Monday. The Wolfdogs crushed the Eagles 24-2 in the first game before pulling out a 9-4 win in extra innings in the second game.

Dom Risner drove in five runs, Corey Reese drove in four and seven players had multiple RBI in the 24-2 win. Zach Oswald drove in three in the second game.

-- De Soto and Shawnee Heights finished as co-champions of the United Kansas Conference, splitting their games with each other on their way to 8-2 league marks. De Soto won the season opener 2-1 before Heights took the April 12 contest 10-9 in extra innings.

-- Topeka West's Zander Putthoff struck out 10 in a complete-game four-hit 8-1 win over Highland Park.