The Elkhart baseball team didn’t have much trouble picking out a team mantra for this season. 

A state championship contender last year, Elkhart saw a 19-win season end in heartbreaking fashion in the 2-1A state quarterfinal when Little River rallied late to take a 7-5 win over the Wildcats on its way to a runner-up finish. 

Elkhart coach David Aranda said the loss has been a driving force for the senior-laden Wildcats.

“We like to adopt a mentality or a mantra to start the year. This year we’re going with ‘Three Away,’ ” Aranda said. “It’s a simple term, and all it represents is: three outs away, that’s where we were when we had Little River down in the seventh inning. All we needed was three outs.

“To other people it might not seem like much, but to us, ‘Three Away’ signifies what could have been last year, because ultimately Little River ended up going to the championship game. We felt like that’s where we belonged.”

Elkhart is well equipped for a run at redemption this year, returning three 2-1A All-State selections in Cesar Gomez, Kage Ralstin and Austin Rich to lead a strong senior class. Gomez is the reigning 2-1A Player of the Year while Ralstin is the Wildcats’ ace and Rich is a standout catcher. 

A 4-0 start has done nothing to temper expectations. The Wildcats have earned a pair of doubleheader sweeps over Bucklin (15-0 and 11-1) and Hugoton (11-0 and 14-2). 

“We’re hitting the ball, top to bottom, it seems like a lot better than last year,” Aranda said. “I kind of stressed in the offseason to the guys – we’ve got a couple guys who are really good at the top, and it was kind of offsetting our overall team batting average, but we’ve got to have guys in the bottom half of the lineup stepping up if we’re going to win. 

“They’ve really embraced that role and they have really been dedicated to become better hitters as a team. It’s really showing. We’re being aggressive early in the count. It’s good to see.”

Elkhart has enjoyed sustained success under 10th-year coach Aranda, who has guided the Wildcats to an overall 123-48 record. 

The Wildcats captured a 2-1A state championship in 2019. 

“I constantly tell our guys that I think it’s easier to reach the top than it is to maintain being at the top,” Aranda said. “We’ve reached the top, the pinnacle, and now we’re on everybody’s radar, so night in and night out, we’re going to see everybody’s ace, we’re going to see everybody’s best game because it means something when they beat Elkhart.

“I tell our guys we’ve got to be able to focus and realize what’s at stake this year and what we’re capable of accomplishing.”

Gomez, an infielder and pitcher, turned in a tremendous junior campaign last year, hitting .729 with 8 home runs, 35 runs driven in and 58 runs scored. 

“One of the things that separates Cesar from a lot of kids is his work ethic,” Aranda said. “The kid is constantly the first person down at the field, and then either me or one of the assistant coaches are staying after with him because there’s something he wanted to work on a little bit more.

“The kids just lives baseball, and it shows. He’s really dedicated to the sport. Sometimes you get kids that are really talented like that, and sometimes the work ethic doesn’t match the talent level, but Cesar has worked his tail off.”

Ralstin fashioned an 0.55 ERA and 6-1 record last year with 109 strikeouts. At the plate, he hit .437 with three homers, 34 runs driven in and 42 runs scored. 

Aranda said the Butler Community College commit “would be the ace on just about any team.”

“He’s always ready to go any time we need him,” Aranda said. “His work ethic matches that of Cesar’s. He puts in countless hours in down at the field with his dad and coaches.”

Rich was just cleared to play this week after suffering multiple torn ligaments in his knee during the first game of football season. The injury robbed Rich of the rest of his football and basketball seasons. 

He’s been a key cog in the lineup for the Wildcats, hitting .472 last year with 24 RBIs, two home runs and 30 runs scored. 

“To be honest, I feel like he’s the most underrated in that senior group,” Aranda said. “He can hang with any of them. He probably gets overshadowed quite a bit because of how Kage and Cesar perform, but he’s a good player for us too, and we’re excited to get him back.”

Aranda said senior infielder Wes Hall has made big strides at the plate this year after working to retool his swing in the offseason.

“He was on board with it 100 percent,” Aranda said of Hall tweaking his swing. “His swing is starting to come around. He’s hitting the ball hard in the cleanup spot. He’s really looking sharp early. That’s encouraging.”

Senior outfielder Clayton Cole is leading the team in batting average, hitting .700 through the first four games. 

“He throws left and bats right,” Aranda said. “He really dedicated this summer to working on his swing. He spent countless hours with Cesar through the summer and early part of the season to try and get his swing perfected. It’s been encouraging to see him stepping up.”

Aranda credited junior Donavyn Rhodes for stepping in at catcher for the Wildcats as Rich works his way back from the knee injury. 

“He’s done really well for us,” Aranda said. 

Elkhart has plenty of pitching depth behind Ralstin, who has worked nine scoreless innings so far. Gomez went 5-0 on the mound with a 1.56 ERA last year while Hall, Rich and Cole are also among the Wildcats’ other solid pitching options.

“When they made the (limit) change to pitch counts instead of innings, I kind of adopted the mentality that everybody is a pitcher,” Aranda said. “Pretty much anybody that’s in that varsity lineup is going to see some action for us at some point this year.”

The Wildcats have seven players hitting over .400 through the first four games with Cole (.700), Gomez (.625), junior Julian Duran (.500), Rhodes (.462), sophomore Nathan Knelsen (.455), Ralstin (.429) and sophomore Calvin Shackelford (.400). 

“It’s really encouraging seeing everybody in their roles stepping up and doing what the team needs them to do,” Aranda said. 

BASEBALL 

• Hays' Gage Porter homered twice in a 9-8 win over Liberal on March 31. His three-run shot tied the game at 7. Porter also tripled in Hays' 5-3 win over Liberal in Game 2. 
• Holcomb's Keegan Johnson is hitting .643 with six runs driven in and a home run for the 4-0 Longhorns. 
• Colby's Shane Puckett is hitting .636 with 14 hits including a home run and a double. 

SOFTBALL 

• Korryn Johnson has helped lead Holcomb to a 4-0 start. Johnson is 4-0 with a 1.22 ERA in the circle and is hitting .643 at the plate. 
• Scott City's Cheyenne Cramer tossed a complete-game one-hit shutout and struck out 16 in a 6-0 win over Ulysses on March 28. 
• Bucklin's Sydnie Jones is hitting a whopping .833 at the plate (15 of 18) with 11 RBIs, 3 triples and a double. Teammate Halie Feikert owns a .643 average with 15 runs driven in, 3 homers, 2 triples and 2 doubles. The Red Aces are 5-1. 
• TMP-Marian's Brooke Koenigsman enjoyed a big week at the plate last week, going 3-for-3 and 2-for-2 against Russell and 4-for-4 against Goodland. On Monday, freshman Addison Watson had 3 triples for the Monarchs during a doubleheader sweep over Colby. Jaci VonLintel, Nicole Schumacher and Halle Dreiling all homered for TMP last week against Holcomb.

 

GIRLS SOCCER
 

• After a record-breaking freshman season, Dodge City sophomore Jazmine Ruiz is off to blazing start for the Red Demons, notching nine goals over the Red Demons first five games. She’s already notched four-goal and three-goal games, and scored both goals in Dodge City’s 2-1 overtime win over Hays. Dodge City is 3-2 heading into Thursday night’s home game against Wichita South. 
• Hays sophomore Dani Willeford is also off to a big start, recording six goals and seven assists in five games. She scored four goals and dished out seven assists in the McPherson Invitational, scoring or assisting on 11 of Hays’ 13 total goals in the tournament. She opened the tournament with two goals and five assists in a 9-1 win against Augusta. 

 

BOYS GOLF 

• Ellinwood's Drew Heinz shot a 76 at the Nickerson Invitational on Monday, winning the tournament in a sudden-death playoff on the first hole.
• Norton's Eli Jones won the Smith Center Invitational on Tuesday with an 84. The Blue Jays also claimed the team title. 

GIRLS SWIMMING 

• Hays sophomore Isabel Schmidt has three top-10 times in Class 5A, sitting ninth in the 100 butterfly (1:03.01), eighth in the 200 freestyle (2:30.90) and eighth in the 50 freestyle (25.53).