Manhattan -- Kansas State baseball’s home Tointon Family Stadium, hosted another Wildcat victory Friday night.
 
Only this time, it was the Hayden Wildcats doing the honors, winning a 5-3 battle against Wichita Trinity Academy 5-3 to claim Class 3A state championship – the program’s first state title since 2015.
 
Hayden’s title-game performance was highlighted by starting pitcher Liam Annand.
 
“He [Annand] really kept them off balance, he was around the strike zone all day long,” head coach Bill Arnold said after winning his first title in nine years. “The thing that Liam does best is he lets his teammates work for him.”
 
Annand pitched 6.2 innings before shortstop Aiden Roberts came in relief for the final out. In taking out 20 batters, Annand struck out eight while allowing just four hits and three runs.
 
“I just tried to focus on my breathing,” Annand said. “And to just trust my training and all the work me and my teammates have put in this season.”
 
Annand’s night included commanding the mound while never facing a deficit. While a three-run triple from Knight shortstop Josiah Sems in the third inning put three runs on the board, the Wildcats still ended the inning up 4-3. Three of those Hayden runs came before Annand threw a single pitch.
 
“It’s very comforting to pitch with a three-run lead,” Annand said. “I just love to feed off our dugout’s energy.”
 
One of the leaders at the plate for Hayden was right fielder Kade Mitchell. Mitchell began the night with a two-RBI double in the first inning and added another RBI on a single in the third inning.
 
“It’s just a confidence factor, it’s been like that all playoffs,” Mitchell said.
 
Mitchell’s start began a few games earlier, grabbing an RBI in the quarterfinal and one in the 12-5 semifinal win against Hoisington.
 
“It gives him (Annand) the confidence that he didn’t have to go out there and be perfect and strike people out,” Arnold said about having a strong offensive performance for his pitcher.
 

 
While Annand commanded the defense, Mitchell and the offense outhit the Knights 9-4, collecting as many hits in the first inning as Wichita Trinity gained all night. 
Defensively, the Wildcats also won the battle, ending with zero errors compared to the Knights’ one.
 
Trinity Academy found success after the first inning, holding Hayden to just single runs in the third and fourth inning after going down 3-0. The offense struggled throughout after defeating Frontenac 10-3 in the semifinals.
 
While Frontenac responded with a 5-4 third place game win with a walk-off, Trinity head coach Josh Robertson said that alongside struggles at the plate, his squad left more out on the field away from just the bats.
 
“Take away two of those errors — I think one was a double play (marked as a hit) at second and a dropped fly ball at first base and we win that game 3-2,” Robertson said.
 
Despite that, Robertson said Hayden was a great team.
 
“I don’t care what they were seeded, I don’t care what their record is…. they played the best. … We knew it was gonna be a battle,” Robertson said.
 
Robertson said that he was proud of his team, specifically his group of seniors who started their first two seasons at 19-24 before going 42-8 in their final two years.
 
“There are a lot of battles that makes it tough to let it go,” Robertson said.
 
With a different roster age-wise compared to Trinity, Hayden brought home the title with a younger squad.
 
“You look across our roster, we don’t have many seniors, almost everyone is coming back,” Arnold said. “It means a lot just for the growth they made throughout the year. I’m very proud of them.”