Even with a state-ranked opponent doing the damage, what unfolded Monday afternoon for Mulvane senior Hagen Warkins had potential to be a bit unsettling.
Warkins, last year’s Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail I Pitcher of the Year at Campus, lost command of his off-speed pitches in the second inning of a doubleheader opener at Wichita Collegiate. The Spartans, down three runs at the time, quickly picked up on it.
Collegiate’s Gavin Klausmeyer and Devin Ritchie led off the inning with solo home runs. Mason Bond later ripped a double down the left-field line and, after an intentional walk, Maddox Drumright hammered a three-run shot to left.
“It was a rough second inning, but part of the game is pitching and finding ways to get over those,” Warkins said. “Being able to get past that is something I hadn’t experienced yet, but I think it’ll be something that is good for me.”
By game’s end, Warkins’ struggle looked like an aberration. Silencing Collegiate over the next four innings to finish with 10 strikeouts, the Wildcat right-hander gave his team a chance to rally, which it did in a 6-5 victory that preceded a 14-0 win in the nightcap and a sweep of Class 3A’s top-ranked team.
Hagen Warkins, a senior transfer from Campus, has boosted Mulvane's pitching staff and offense this season.
Mulvane, No. 1 in the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches’ Class 4A rankings, hasn’t encountered much turbulence at all this season, thanks in large part to a pitching staff that comes at opponents in waves. After a pair of five-inning shutout victories over Winfield on Thursday that clinched the AVCTL III title, Mulvane’s 21-1 squad has 13 shutouts and a 1.40 team ERA.
Warkins, a Johnson County Community signee, earned his fourth victory of the season Monday despite allowing five of the eight earned runs he’s yielded this spring. Parker Clubb, a Louisville signee, shook off the effects of an illness to earn the save for Warkins.
In the nightcap, right-hander Grey Sanders, a University of Kansas signee, continued a dominant senior season, striking out 16 in a two-hitter that ended by run rule after six innings.
Clubb returned to the mound Thursday to pitch a no-hitter against Winfield. Junior Brody Clasen and sophomore Kole Schwanke combined on a five-hit shutout in the nightcap.
“That’s where I’m blessed is I don’t have to figure out pitching numbers and getting kids in other places,” Mulvane coach Steve Nelson said. “They make it real easy for us to roll them out each week, and it makes it easy for me to write a name in a lineup.”
A year after Mulvane pitchers set a state record for strikeouts in a season with 307, the Wildcats are at it again. Sanders has emerged as an exceptional force this spring. After throwing a complete-game no-hitter with 17 strikeouts to salvage a doubleheader split with McPherson on April 17, Sanders nearly matched the strikeout total in one less inning against Collegiate.
He struck out the side four times on Monday, giving him 71 strikeouts against 109 batters this season. Sanders improved to 6-0 with an 0.00 ERA in 30.1 innings.
Mulvane senior Parker Clubb is 5-0 with a 1.53 ERA after his no-hitter against Winfield on Thursday.
Sanders said he found motivation for his latest start from the close call the Wildcats encountered against Collegiate in the opener.
“After a game like that, there’s a bit of a chip on our shoulder,” Sanders said. “Not crazy, but just enough to where I get out there and I’m feeling it a little bit. But more than anything, it’s just trusting what I’ve done and try to go out there and do the same thing.”
Sanders yielded a few hard-hit balls to the Spartans. But by spotting a blazing fastball and paralyzing curve, Sanders caught half of his 16 strikeout victims looking.
“He’s excellent at everything he does,” Nelson said. “He knows how to pitch. He knows more about pitching than I ever thought about knowing. He knows what he can do and he takes care of his arm so well.
“Obviously he’s got the fastball that God blessed him with, but he also can command his other pitches, which makes him almost unhittable at times.”
Clubb improved to 5-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 32 innings after Mulvane’s 10-0 victory over Winfield on Thursday, while Clasen moved to 5-0 with a 1.52 ERA. The Wildcat staff has formed solid camaraderie through the success.
“Having Parker as my catcher and him being a great pitcher is nice because we’ll be in the dugout and he’ll say, ‘Hey, you’re pulling off on your curve ball a little bit or your fastball is having some weird movement, your arm slot is getting out,’” Sanders said. “We’ll talk about it and then I’ll go out and all the sudden it’s back.
“And then Hagen will come over from first base and say, ‘Hey, the fastball is pretty live. I’d go to it to get them out.’ It’s super nice to have guys who know what they’re talking about.”
Junior Grady Myers has a team-leading 15 stolen bases for Mulvane.
The Wildcats, who conclude the regular season Tuesday with a doubleheader at Ottawa, have complemented their pitching with a highly productive offense. Mulvane averaged 11.5 runs per game with a .389 team batting average.
Warkins, who belted his first home run of the season in the nightcap against Collegiate, is batting .525 with a team-leading 41 RBIs. Clubb has a .451 average with 35 RBIs. Junior outfielder Hays Ensley leads the team in runs scored (42) and hits (33), while junior Grady Myers and senior Manny Myers have combined for 29 stolen bases.
“We’re just trying to stay with what works and not trying to do too much and not trying to be complacent,” Clubb said. “That’s something we’re pretty good at. We all put in a lot of hard work in the offseason so we’re just trying to let that show up on the field day in and day out no matter what.”
Wichita Collegiate's Maddox Drumright
OTHER BASEBALL STANDOUTS
- Cheney wrapped up the Central Plains League title with an 8-5 and 12-1 home sweep over the Conway Springs-Argonia Reds on Thursday. Hunter Cox went 2 for 3 with three RBIs in the three-run win and added four RBIs in the five-inning, run-rule victory. Reece Tolar yielded just two hits and one earned run in five innings as the Cardinals improved to 17-9.
- Wichita Collegiate junior Maddox Drumright helped the Spartans bounce back from their doubleheader loss to Mulvane by going 6 for 7 with five RBIs in Collegiate’s 12-0 and 9-4 twinbill sweep of Clearwater on Thursday. Drumright went 4 for 4 with four RBIs in the Spartans’ shutout victory, including a two-run triple.
- Hutchinson Trinity senior Drew Dechant pitched four scoreless innings in the Celtics’ 10-3 victory at Ell-Saline on Tuesday, part of Trinity’s Heart of America League doubleheader sweep. Dechant lowered his season ERA to 0.99 and has 94 strikeouts in 42.1 innings after recording nine against the Cardinals.
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS SOFTBALL STANDOUTS
- Clearwater senior Trista Welty pitched a five-inning no-hitter with 10 strikeouts Monday in the Indians’ 10-0 victory over Augusta. Welty, who surpassed 400 career strikeouts this season, helped Clearwater earn its third consecutive Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail IV championship.
- McPherson pitchers Ashlyn Schroeder and Carmin Pavlovich shut down Pratt in a doubleheader sweep on April 28. Schroeder allowed five hits and struck out nine in a 6-1 victory, while Pavlovich limited the Greenbacks to three hits and struck out seven in a 10-1 victory.
- Inman junior Lyla Levin recorded her 400th career strikeout Tuesday during the Teutons’ 9-0 and 12-2 sweep over visiting Sterling. Levin improved to 11-1 this season with 113 strikeouts and a 0.95 ERA.