Even though he started playing travel baseball when he was in first grade, Hayden Kearney wouldn’t exactly say the sport has always been a hit with him.
 
“I actually used to hate baseball when I was younger,” he said. “They used to have to kind of drag me to all those tournaments I played in.”
 
Whether it was a hit or not with him, the Valley Falls senior has always been a hit when it comes to baseball. Make that, hitter.
 
A keen batting eye honed by years and years of working in the batting cage his father, John, constructed in an out-building on their property, Kearney has always swung a strong stick for whatever team he’s played on.
 
And now he has a state record to show for it.
 
In Valley Falls’ 10-0, 11-0 sweep of Jackson Heights on April 28, Kearney went 3 for 4 in each game, pushing his career hits total to 140. That broke the state record for hits in a career of 139, previously set by Bishop Ward’s David Janes from 1996-99.
 
“It means everything to me,” Kearney said of the record. “I’ve also put in a lot of hard work and it just shows that the hard work is paying off.”
 
Even when baseball wasn’t really his favorite sport, Kearney kept working and by the time he hit middle school, his mindset had changed and his love for the game took over. He began working even harder and his prowess at the plate preceded his arrival in the Dragon program as a freshman.
 
“I’d known him for years with our families being friends,” said Valley Falls coach Luke Burns, a Dragon alum who played from 2011-14. “So I knew what was coming. His hand-eye coordination, just watching him put the bat on the ball, you can just tell it’s unreal. It something everybody wishes they had.”
 
Burns first year as head coach of the Dragon program coincided with Kearney’s freshman year. And even as talented as Kearney was, Burns knew a tough decision was on his plate.
 
Valley Falls returned a senior-dominant team in 2022 with nine on the roster overall, including eventual first-team All-Northeast Kansas League selections Avery Gatzemeyer, Denten Elias and Brennen Miller. Throw in returning underclassmen Dylan Cervantez and Zac Evans, who also were first-team all-league picks, and cracking the varsity lineup seemed like a bit of a longshot for Kearney.
 
But Burns went with his gut and inserted Kearney as Valley Falls’ starting shortstop that season.
 
“It was a tough decision but Hayden made it really easy,” Burns said. “I didn’t know how many people I’d make mad or anything like that. But at this point, I think everybody knows I made the right decision.”
 
Valley Falls finished the season with a third-place showing at the Class 2-1A state tournament with Kearney a big part of it. He hit .433 his freshman season – fourth-best on the team – while also scoring 39 runs and driving in 233.
 
He upped his average to .443 as a sophomore and then hit .548 last year as a junior. Kearney broke a pair of school records his junior season with his 43 runs topping the old mark of 41 shared by both Burns and Cervantez and his 15 doubles five more than Gatzemeyer’s old record of 10.
 
This season, he’s hitting .522 and has picked off one school record after another. Going into the postseason, Kearney is Valley Falls’ career record holder for games played (92), career hits (142), career OBP (.596), career walks/hit by pitch (78), runs (151) and doubles (33). A handful of other school records are also within reach depending on the Dragons’ success in the postseason.
 
In breaking those records, Kearney has surpassed some of the program’s player that he grew up idolizing, like Burns, Gatzemeyer, Cervantez, Gates Glassel, Billy Coleman and Gage Burdiek.
 
“I really looked up to those guys,” Kearney said. “It’s super crazy. I knew I would accomplish something in my career, but I didn’t know that I’d get all these school records. It means a lot to me.”
 
Now Kearney will be the standard for future Dragons to strive for and Burns has commended his senior standout for investing in the future of the program as well.
 
“We get done with high school practice and he gives hitting lessons to several different elementary school, middle school kids here in Valley Falls,” Burns said. “Obviously he’s making a pretty big impact in the younger generation as well. For him to have the impact he’s had on our program has been truly amazing to watch.”
 

 
Valley Falls has posted a 75-20 record in Kearney’s four-year career, including the 19-4 record the Dragons have recorded this season – all four losses coming to Class 3A programs. That mark includes an 18-0 run through the Northeast Kansas League, which the Dragons completed with a 24-0, 10-0 sweep of Horton on May 1.
 
In league play, the Dragons have outscored their opponents 213-23 with the only close games a 9-5 win over Riverside and 9-8 win over rival Oskaloosa.
 
“A couple games got close on us, trying to save some pitchers and that’s the risk you have to take with pitch-count limits,” Burns said. “That’s how regionals and state work, so you have to get ready for that. We got tested and got what we wanted out of it. We know our job’s not done and it’s not going to come easy (in the postseason).
 
In addition to Kearney’s record-setting season, Valley Falls has gotten some big seasons from other players as well.
 
Trenten VanHoutan threw a perfect game against Jackson Heights, striking out eight and has thrown three no-hitters in his last three outings. On the season, he’s 9-1 with a 0.76 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 45.2 innings.
 
Collin Kearney, meanwhile, is 9-0 with a 0.54 ERA and has 70 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. He’s also backed Hayden at the plate, hitting .522 with 3 home runs and 35 RBI.
 

NCKL TITLE, MILESTONES ICING ON ROCK CREEK’S SWEEP OF CLAY CENTER
 
Even if nothing had been on the line or wrapped up in Rock Creek’s sweep of Clay Center on April 2, Mustang coach Shane Sieben wouldn’t have relished his team’s 6-1, 4-1 victories any less.
 
“Any time you can beat Clay Center once, let alone twice, it’s a great night,” Sieben said.
 
But given everything that came with Rock Creek’s sweep, the night simply was one that nothing short of special.
 
For starters, the victories gave Rock Creek the outright North Central Kansas League title in the Mustangs’ first year in the league after having previously been a member of the Mid-East League. Winners of the last two Mid-East titles as well, the league crown was the third straight for the program and given the strength of both leagues, it’s an accomplishment Sieben doesn’t regard lightly.
 
“We knew what we were getting into,” Sieben said. “The Mid-East League prepared us for that move to the NCKL. It’s a great league and we were fortunate to win it the two years on the way out and then the NCKL in the first year. It’s been a great challenge for us and something we were looking forward to.”
 
Even though Rock Creek had played many of the NCKL schools over the past several years, taking those opponents on as league members had a different feel. And the Mustangs, coming off the program’s third state championship last spring, got off to a somewhat slow start.
 
Having to replace six seniors off last year’s 28-1 title team and entering the season without four-year starting catcher Drew Becker, the Mustangs spent the first quarter of the season finding out how the pieces fit together. Rock Creek got off to a 6-4 start with two of those losses coming to new league rivals Abilene and Concordia.
 
“Outside of four, five seniors, we’re really young,” Sieben said, noting the Mustangs start three sophomores and a freshman.  “We weren’t quite sure how ready they would be. It took them a while to get their feet wet and get going.
 
“Early we kind of got caught with having two league doubleheaders in a week and with the pitching rotation, it kind of stretched us thin. We had a couple games where we didn’t make a couple plays defensively that we needed to. We were in both games and both of those were games we felt we gave away. Frankly, we weren’t a very good baseball team early on. To our kids’ credit, they didn’t hit the panic button and we’ve found our way and have played good baseball as of late.”
 
Since dropping the first game of a league doubleheader with Concordia, the Mustangs have indeed been on a roll. Becker returned for the April 15 series with Chapman and Rock Creek has now won 10 of its last 11 games with the only loss coming to Class 6A Junction City.
 
Sweeps of Chapman and Marysville during that stretch got Rock Creek back into position where it controlled its own destiny for the league championship with the final league doubleheader with Clay Center having plenty of significance.
 
A split with the Tigers would leave the door open for them to earn a share of the league title if they swept Concordia this week. Two losses to the Tigers brought that even more into play.
 
But the Mustangs left nothing to chance. Brock Lubbers scattered five hits and struck out eight in the opening game with Clay Center, holding the Tigers off the scoreboard until the seventh. By that time, the Mustangs were in complete control on their way to a 6-1 win.
 
The victory also was the 200th of Sieben’s head coaching career.
 
“It means I’ve done this a long time,” Sieben said of the milestone, which actually has come in just 10 seasons, giving him an average of 20 wins per season. “We’ve had some really good players and I’ve got some great assistant coaches. You’re only as good as your assistants and I’ve been blessed. Patrick Bramhall has been with me pretty much from the start and has done a phenomenal job. Jackson Goodmiller has been with me, played for me and won a title in 2015. Jordan Floyd is our pitching coach and played at Kansas State and was drafted by the Royals. And lately Brian Scott.
 
“I’ve got really good people around me and we’ve had really good players.”
 
One of those numerous standouts for the Mustangs throughout Sieben’s career is current senior Ryker Zoeller. A starting pitcher for the program since his freshman year, Zoeller hit a milestone of his own in the nightcap with Clay Center.
 
Working 6.2 innings, Zoeller allowed just four hits and struck out eight in a 4-1 victory that clinched the league title. It also was the 20th win of Zoeller’s career, breaking the school record of 19 career victories set by former teammate Daegan Vinduska just last season.
 
“He stepped in as a freshman and was huge part of our success,” Sieben said. “Not many freshmen get to play at Rock Creek and he was our No. 2 behind Daegan. You think about it, I’ve got 200 wins and he’s accounted for 20 of them, so a tenth. He’s had a tremendous impact not only on the mound but in centerfield. He was very vital at state last year. Every time we needed a big hit at state last year, he got it. He’s been a huge part of our success.”
 
Now 16-5 on the season, Rock Creek has seemingly hit its stride as the postseason nears with the Mustangs looking to defend their state title from a year ago. The Mustangs still have tests to come in the regular season, traveling to Andover on Friday for games with the host Trojans and Andover Central. They close out the regular season against fellow 4A power Tonganoxie.
 
With wins in late April over ranked Iola and McPherson, the Mustangs have played a daunting schedule that als included early-season games with 5A power Hays and 2024 3A champion Hayden, which is back up to 4A this season and currently is undefeated.
 
“This group has really come together and played some great ball,” Sieben said. “(The league title is) a little feather in the cap and something to be proud of but we’re not going to be beating our chest. We got a lot of baseball ahead of us and a tough schedule to finish.”
 
OTHER BASEBALL STANDOUTS

• In a 20-0 win over Northern Heights, Lebo-Waverly’s Ashton Lattimer went 2 for 3 with a grand slam and finished the game with 8 RBI.

 
SOFTBALL STANDOUTS

• McLouth’s Dani Lee added another state record to her collection. Homering twice in last Thursday’s sweep of Pleasant Ridge and adding another in Tuesday’s 13-3 rout of Central Heights, Lee pushed her career total to 47, tying Olathe Northwest’s Kendall Yarnell for the most in a career in state history. McLouth finished the regular season 26-0.
• Nemaha Central’s Reagan Gerety picked up career strikeout 400 in Monday’s sweep of Hiawatha. The sweep extended the Thunder’s winning streak to 10 before suffering a 10-0 loss to Silver Lake on Tuesday. Nemaha Central is 19-3 overall.
• Lansing’s Gracelyn Collins surpassed 200 career strikeouts on Monday with an 11-strikeout performance against Bonner Springs. 
• On Senior Night, Santa Fe Trail’s Peyton Ganger hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh with two outs to give the Chargers a 9-8 win over Wellsville. It capped a big game for Ganger who went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. It also was the second walk-off win of the week for the Chargers, who beat Rock Creek 5-4 in a 9-inning win on Gretchen Huizenga’s walk-off hit. Trail is 19-3 and has won 14 of its last 15 games.