CLASS 6A BASEBALL CAPSULES
 
At Hoglund Stadium, Lawrence
 

 
BLUE VALLEY
 
Coach: Tim Kennedy
 
Record: 19-9
 
Regional results: beat Gardner Edgerton, 3-0; beat Olathe East, 3-1.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Mill Valley (3: 22-5), 5:45 p.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Chris Aiello, sr., 1B; Skyler Bernbeck, so., 3B; Grant Westphal, so., OF; Patrick Dennis, sr., RF; Blake Howard, sr., LF; Lue Vaughan, sr., 2B; Grady Westphal, sr., P/DH; Matthew Gravitt, so., P; Nolan Bell, jr., P; Wyatt Davidson, sr., P; Ryan Pribula, sr., P
 
Worth noting: Tigers making 14th trip to state tournament. … Program has six state championships in its history, the last coming in 2021. … Kennedy was an assistant coach on four of those title teams before taking over as head coach of the program in 2023. … Other titles came in 1992, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2018 with the 1992 one in 5A and the others in Class 6A. … Tigers have won 10 Eastern Kansas League titles, including last year. … Blue Valley won the WOW Wood Bat Tournament in St. Joseph (Mo.) this year. … Tigers have wins this year over fellow 6A qualifier Washburn Rural and 5A qualifiers Blue Valley Southwest and Shawnee Heights. … Grady Westphal threw two no-hitters this year, including against Rural, while Gravitt had a no-hitter against Lee’s Summit West and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the regional final upset of Olathe East. … Westphal also set Blue Valley’s career strikeout record and has 82 this season while sporting a 6-1 record and 1.51 ERA. … Gravitt is 5-1 with a 1.55 ERA. … Bell got the save in the regional final and has 40 strikeouts. … Grant Westphal leads team with .408 average and shares team RBI lead with Aiello, each with 23. … Howard is hitting .391 while Bernbeck is hitting .375 with 16 RBI. … Patrick and Vaughan each had 14 RBI.
 

 
FREE STATE
 
Coach: Mike Hill
 
Record: 25-2
 
Regional results: beat Derby, 10-0; beat Wichita Heights, 11-1.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Washburn Rural (8: 15-11), 11 a.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Ben Graves, jr., SS/P; Blaine Larkin, sr., P; Zane Shaw, jr., P; Andrew Zimmerschied, sr., C; Ryker Mahnke, so., OF; Cole Wright, sr., OF; Finn Moore, so., 3B.
 
Worth noting: Firebirds have been fixture at 6A state tournament with this year’s berth their seventh straight. … Trip is 15th overall. … Free State finished third last year, its second straight third-place showing. … Firebirds won state titles in 2006 and 2015 and took second in 2004, 2016 and 2019. … Hill has 435-189-1 record in 28 seasons at Free State. … Free State handed Olathe West one of its two losses and also beat 6A qualifiers Mill Valley and Shawnee Mission West. … Only losses came to 5A qualifier St. Thomas Aquinas and Olathe East, the latter denying the Firebirds an undefeated Sunflower League season. … Free State still claimed league title, its 10th. … Firebirds have a team ERA of 1.69 and team batting average of .321. … Larkin is 80-1 with a 1.46 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 47.1 innings. … Shaw is 9-0 with a 0.39 ERA and 72 strikeouts as well. … Graves has 8 saves and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 18 innings, striking out 21 and also is hitting .364 with 33 RBI. … Zimmerschied is hitting .410 with 27 RBI. … Mahnke is hitting .422 with 21 RBI. … Moore has 25 RBI and a .343 average and Wright has 17 RBI and is hitting .350.
 

 
MAIZE
 
Coach: Rocky Helm
 
Record: 20-8
 
Regional results: beat Liberal, 11-1; beat Wichita West, 10-0.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Manhattan (4: 20-6), 1:15 p.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Sam Soderstrom, sr., C; Parker Meirowsky, jr., 1B; Quincy Koehn, so., P; Luke Ethridge, sr., P; Jacob Doty, sr., P/OF; Gavin Short, jr., P/OF; Drake Blasi, so., OF.
 
Worth noting: Eagles making 21st state tournament appearance. … Program has four state titles, five runner-up finishes and also has two thirds and two fourths. … State titles came in 2017, 2011, 2005 and 2003. … Helm is one win from 460 in his 27-year coaching career. … Eagles split with 5A qualifier Valley Center. … Meirowsky leads team with .396 average and has scored 24 runs. … Soderstrom is tops on team in RBI with 23. … Koehn is 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA and has 63 strikeouts in 53.2 innings. … Ethridge is 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA and 43 Ks. … Short is 5-3 with a 1.46 ERA and 55 strikeouts. … Porter Newell has 5 saves. … Team ERA is 1.94.
 

 
MANHATTAN
 
Coach: Don Hess
 
Record: 20-6
 
Regional results: beat Dodge City, 7-1; beat Wichita Northwest, 2-1.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Maize (5: 20-8), 1:15 p.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Lucas Aslin, sr., OF; Sam Spiegel, sr., P/IF; Sawyer Newton, jr., SS; Brayson Gnirk, jr., 3B.
 
Worth noting: Indians are making fourth state appearance in the past five years, missing out last year. … Indians have two state titles in program history, 1992 and 1998, and have finished runner-up four times. … Two losses came to 5A qualifier Great Bend and two more came to Centennial League rival Hayden, which went undefeated in the regular season. … Indians split with fellow 6A qualifier Washburn Rural and also beat 5A qualifier Hays. … Tanner Lang got the walk-off hit and was the winning pitcher in the Indians’ 10-inning regional championship win over Wichita Northwest. … Aslin is hitting .443 and has 31 stolen bases, which set a school single-season record. … Spiegel is 6-1 with 53 strikeouts. … Newton is hitting .387 with 16 stolen bases. … Gnirk is hitting .378.
 

 
MILL VALLEY
 
Coach: Jason Strickland
 
Record: 22-5
 
Regional results: beat Olathe Northwest, 10-0; beat Shawnee Mission East, 4-3.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Blue Valley (6: 19-9), 5:45 p.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Carson Cooke, so., P; Easton Engelhart, so., DH; Owen Gietzen, sr., C; Ryan Gleason, jr., P; Blake Jay, jr., MI; Isaac Lightcap, sr., P; Beau Peterson, jr., SS/P; Hudson Powers, sr., OF; Drew Yockey, jr., 3B.
 
Worth noting: Jaguars return to state for the first time since 2019. … State appearance is seventh overall for the program. … Jaguars finished third in 2019 for best state showing and also took fourth in 2013. … Strickland won his 250th game at Mill Valley this season. … Jaguars handed A qualifier St. Thomas Aquinas one of its four losses and also beat 6A qualifier Blue Valley. … Jaguars topped Shawnee Mission East in nine innings in regional championship game, tying game in bottom of seventh and then getting a two-run home run in the eighth from Engelhart to tie it 3-3 before Gietzen hit a walk-off single in the ninth. … Win avenged 2-0 loss to Lancers in regular season and handed East ace Michael Winter his first loss. … Jaguars have won 13 of last 14 games after a 9-4 start. … Team ERA is 1.05 and Jaguar pitchers have combined for 228 strikeouts. … Cooke is 4-0 with 0.38 ERA. … Engelhart is hitting .377 with 2 homers and 24 RBI. … Gleason is closer who has 23 strikeouts and allowed 2 hits in 12.2 innings. … Lightcap has 0.65 ERA and threw 2-hit shutout in regional semifinals. … Peterson is hitting .463 with 4 home runs and 22 RBI. … Powers is hitting .422. … Yockey has 21 RBI and is top-notch defensively.
 

 
OLATHE WEST
 
Coach: Mike Zegunis
 
Record: 25-2
 
Regional results: beat Lawrence, 3-0; beat Blue Valley North, 1-0.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Shawnee Mission West (7: 17-11), 3:30 p.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Treyton DesLauriers, sr., P; Max Hamilton, jr., P; Luke Sahrmann, sr., OF; Jordan Posgai, jr., 2B.
 
Worth noting: West making fourth state appearance in school’s seventh year of existence. … Owls were co-Sunflower League champions with Free State, which handed them their only league loss. … Only other loss came to Lee’s Summit (Mo.) in extra innings. … Zegunis in first year as program’s head coach after being an assistant the first six years. … He was head coach at Olathe East from 2002-05. … West lost in quarterfinals last year to eventual champion Olathe South. … Owls beat Edmond (Okla.) Memorial at River City Tournament. … DesLauriers is 6-9 with a 0.5 ERA and has struck out 64 and walked just 7 in 48.2 innings. … Hamilton is 7-0 with a 1.35 ERA and has 81 strikeouts. … Sahrmann is leading hitter with .391 average and has driven in 13. … Posgai has a .386 average. … West is 52-4 over the past two seasons.
 

 
SHAWNEE MISSION WEST
 
Coach: Todd Reed
 
Record: 17-11
 
Regional results: beat Blue Valley West, 5-3; beat Blue Valley Northwest, 2-1.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Olathe West (2: 25-2), 3:30 p.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Ben Goodwin, jr., CF/P; Brayden Everett, sr., P; Cooper Stein, sr., LF/P; Graham VanArsdale, sr., RF.
 
Worth noting: West ending long state tournament drought with last appearance coming in 2011. … Vikings have six state trips under Reed, who is in 25th season. … Best showing under Reed is a runner-up finish in 2009 and a third in 2008. … West previously won state titles in 1977, 1987 and 1988 and took second in 1976. … Vikings have had 11 games decided by one run this season and are 5-6 in those games. … Reed won his 275th game early in season. … Team ERA is 1.34. … Everett got the win in the regional semifinal and save in the regional title game in relief of Goodwin, who struck out 7 in the finals against Blue Valley Northwest. … Sophomore Connor Witt had both RBI in the regional championship. … Goodwin has 64 strikeouts and a 1.36 ERA this season. … Everett has a 1.16 ERA. … Stein is hitting .376 with 17 RBI. … VanArsdale is hitting .293. … Vikings were under .500 each of last two seasons before turnaround this spring.
 

 
WASHBURN RURAL
 
Coach: Jay Mastin
 
Record: 15-11
 
Regional results: beat Wichita North, 4-2; beat Campus, 1-0.
 
State tournament quarterfinal: vs. Free State (1: 25-2), 11 a.m. Thursday
 
Key Players: Austin Ditch, jr., SS; Nate Selm, jr., 2B; Drew Moore, jr., 1B; Isaac Ansley, jr., P; Tyler Edmiston, so., P; Gavin Payne, jr., P.
 
Worth noting: Junior Blues knocked off 6A West No. 3 seed Campus to earn first state berth since 2022, but seventh since 2014. … Rural finished third in 2022, 2019 and 2016 under Mastin, who is one win from 175 as head coach of the Junior Blues and 200 overall in his career. … Rural has 12 state appearances overall, winning state titles in 1950 and 1952 and taking second in 1947. … Junior Blues split with fellow 6A qualifier Manhattan and 5A qualifier Shawnee Heights. … Tough schedule included games with 2024 state champions in 6A (Olathe South), 5A (St. Thomas Aquinas) and 3A (Hayden) and seven of last 11 games came against teams that qualified for state. … Ditch leads team with .337 average and has 2 home runs and 28 runs scored. … Selm is hitting .324 and has driven in 15. … Moore has 13 RBI and 22 runs scored. … Ansley has a 2.41 ERA and is 4-4. … Edmiston has a 1.24 ERA and 4 saves. … Payne has 2.94 ERA.