MANHATTAN – Friday was truly a moment 40 years in the making for Mulvane.  

Thanks to a four-run fifth inning and a big two-way performance by senior Manny Myers, the Wildcats captured the 4A title over Hayden 9-4, the school’s second state title and first since 1986.     

Mulvane head coach Steve Nelson did not downplay what the win means not only for the program, but also for the entire town.  

“You can probably look around in the crowd and what it meant for them and how many people we had travel even farther than they normally do for this,” Nelson said. “We just have a really close-knit town as it is, and I know everyone wanted this really bad. It means a ton.”  

In his final high school game, Myers did not disappoint. After only pitching five total innings all season, he entered in relief of starter Brody Clasen after he allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings, and was nails the rest of the game. He went the rest of the 4 1/3 innings, only allowing one hit and striking out two. 

 

And he came up just as big at the dish. His major moment came in the big fifth inning, where he hit a two-RBI single with the bases loaded. After heading into the inning with a 5-4 lead, Mulvane led 9-4 at the end of the inning and kept it that way to the end.  

Myers said he was just waiting for the big moments to come his way. And he was especially ready to break things open in the fifth when he came to the dish with the bases loaded.  

“That’s every kid’s dream; state championship, have the opportunity to make it a bigger lead,” Myers said. “I just stayed calm and was looking for a fastball and got one, hit it up the middle to score two.”  

“He’s done big things since the ninth grade,” Nelson said of Myers. “We knew that he could do that and that’s why we pitched it the way we did. And he’s always been like that. The moment has never been too big for that kid. He’s always stepped up.”  

Outside of Myers for Mulvane, Reed Hackleman added two RBIs and two walks despite not collecting a hit. Clasen and Hagen Warkins also added RBIs. 

 

For Hayden, Kade Mitchell ended the day with two hits and a team-leading two RBIs. Zayne Litchenauer and Everett Tourtillot also finished with RBIs. Max Becker finished his start with three innings pitched, allowing four runs and was credited with the defeat.  

Despite the defeat, Hayden head coach Bill Arnold said this group should have nothing but pride in their season.  

“It’s been a great group of kids to coach,” Arnold said. “This group of seniors is special, and we weren’t able to bring home a state championship today, but they have nothing to hang their heads about. They represented our school, our community very well.”  

The Wildcats were on the board first in the bottom of the first. They scratched two runs across thanks to early mistakes by Hayden pitcher Becker, including multiple hit batters and walks to give Mulvane a 2-0 lead early on.  

 

But Hayden responded in the top of the third. scoring four runs to take the lead. Mitchell tied things up with a two-RBI single before back-to-back RBI singles by Zayne Litchenauer and Everett Tourtillot made it 4-2 after the top half of the inning. But Mulvane answered swiftly with two runs in the bottom of the frame to tie it up at 4-4.   

The Wildcats also turned defense into offense the next inning. After throwing at a runner at home to end the top of the fourth, Mulvane took back the lead in the bottom half of the frame after an RBI single by Manny Myers to make it 5-4. That’s when the breakthrough fifth inning came around and the Wildcats added four insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by the two-RBI single with the bases loaded by Myers to make it 9-4.  

“We’ve got to throw strikes. In high school baseball, I’d venture to bet that 90 percent of the guys who walk or get hit by a pitch end up scoring,” Arnold said of Hayden in the fifth. “We put ourselves in a bad situation right there. Bottom line is that they hit the ball extremely well and i’m just proud of our guys for competing.”   

 

The Wildcats’ 28-1 campaign was also heavily fueled by how last season came to an end exactly a year earlier when Mulvane fell 3-1 to Rock Creek in the quarterfinals in 2025. To say it motivated Mulvane – especially this current group of seniors who wanted to grab a state title before they departed – would be an understatement.   

“It stung us,” Myers said. “Those seniors last year, they deserved something more than what they got. It was exactly 365 days since we lost to Rock Creek, and that just lit a fire under us to work even harder and get to where we ended up this year.”