A capsule look at the city's high school spring sports teams

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Mar 28, 2000 by Capital-Journal

--- File photographs

BASEBALL

Hayden

(No information provided.)

SCHEDULE

April --- 1 Overland Park Aquinas; 4 at Washburn Rural; 6 at Emporia; 14 Jefferson West; 18 Topeka West; 24 at Topeka High; 27 at Highland Park.

May --- 2 Shawnee Heights; 5 Seaman; 9 at Maur Hill Prep.

Highland Park

Coach --- Steve Lincoln

Key returnees --- Chad Boling, jr., Brett Fraser, sr., Grant Gould, so., Chris Escalante, jr., Chad Thompson, sr., Brandon Mitchell, jr., Joey Bowen, jr., Mike Roberts, jr.

Top newcomers --- Troy Hofer, fr., Daniel Schiefelbein, fr., Joe Baker, fr., Jamal Ford, so., Ryan Fraser, fr.

Outlook --- Hi Park went 5-16 last year in Lincoln's debut as coach. Lincoln was impressed with the Scots' progress in '99 but says more work is needed. "We have a lot of young men returning with some quality freshmen," he said. "But we're still young and still learning to play at 101 percent all the time."

SCHEDULE

(All home games at Billard)

March --- 27 at Wamego; 31 KC-Schlagle.

April --- 5 at Shawnee Heights; 7 at Topeka High; 11 Seaman; 18 at Emporia; 21 at Topeka West; 27 Hayden.

May --- 5 Washburn Rural; 12 Junction City.

Seaman

Coach --- Steve Bushnell

Key returnees --- Larry Kelly, sr., Jeff Kurdziel, sr., Travis Northup, sr., Chris Carlson, so., Adam Schroeder, so.

Top newcomers --- Derek Child, jr., Nick LaBin, jr., Charlie Dillon, jr.

Outlook --- The Vikings must replace eight seniors from '99, when the team went 10-7. Returning letter winners include Kelly, a second- team all-city infielder, and Schroeder, a pitcher who received honorable mention. "Five returning lettermen provide varsity experience and a talented group of underclassmen will be expected to make immediate contributions at the varsity level," Bushnell said.

SCHEDULE

March --- 30 Ottawa.

April --- 4 at Topeka High; 11 at Highland Park; 14 Washburn Rural; 18 at Junction City; 25 Topeka West; 27 Emporia.

May --- 2 Manhattan; 5 at Hayden; 9 Shawnee Heights.

Shawnee Heights

Coach --- Ryan Schmidt.

Key returnees --- Ryan Finan, sr., Steven Dykes, sr., Mark Ward, sr., Isaiah Tetuan, sr.

Top newcomers --- Rudy Lopez, jr., Matt Brown, jr., Jesse Schmidt, jr., Rusty Crites, jr.

Outlook --- The 1999 Class 5A state champs will line up under a new head coach in Schmidt, an assistant under former coach Craig Cox for several years. A core of letter winners from last year's team returns.

SCHEDULE

(All home games at SCABA)

March --- 28 at Blue Valley; 30 at Topeka High.

April --- 5 Highland Park; 11 Washburn Rural; 14 at Blue Valley Northwest; 20 Emporia; 28 Topeka West.

May --- 2 at Hayden; 5 KC-Harmon; 9 at Seaman.

Topeka High

Coach --- Curt "Gunner" Kelley

Key returnees --- Bryan Briggs, sr., Micah Graber, sr., James Martin, sr., Brian McNeil, sr., Jeremy Oakes, sr., Dustin Snook, jr., Raub Kirkwood, so., Lawrence Watson, jr.

Outlook --- After leading the Topeka High swimming team to a fifth- place finish in Class 6A, Kelley takes over the Trojan baseball team. Eight starters return from last season's 1-19 club.

SCHEDULE

(All home games at Billard)

March --- 30 Shawnee Heights.

April --- 4 Seaman; 7 Highland Park; 14 at Topeka West; 18 at Manhattan; 20 at Washburn Rural; 24 Hayden; 28 at Salina South.

May --- 2 at Junction City; 9 Salina Central.

Topeka West

Coach --- Brett Cowdin.

Key returnees --- Chris Clinton, sr., Chad Nigh, sr., B.J. Snell, jr., Chris Shepard, sr., Josh Watson, jr., Danny Gleason, jr., Rob Sachs, jr., Ryan Sipes, jr., Brian Hiller, sr.

Top newcomers --- Daniael Heflin, fr., Josh Janosik, fr., Dan Armstrong, fr., Tyler Frazec, Ty Cowdin, fr., Michael Williams.

Outlook --- Seven seniors graduated from a talented '99 team that won the I-70 League and fell to state champ Shawnee Heights in regionals. The Chargers face a brutal schedule, with 12 games against state champions or runners-up. "The key for us this year will be how much we grow together as a team and how much patience we must have," said Cowdin, who takes over at West from Warren Seitz after serving as Hayden's coach for five seasons. "We will have to learn to play as a team early in the season."

SCHEDULE

(All home games at McDonald Field)

April --- 4 at Manhattan; 6 Washburn Rural; 11 at Salina Central; 14 Topeka High; 18 at Hayden; 21 Highland Park; 25 at Seaman; 28 at Shawnee Heights.

May --- 2 Salina South; 9 Junction City.

Washburn Rural

Coach --- Doug Holmes.

Key returnees --- Sean Murray, sr., Ryan Fickel, sr., Russ Emerick, sr., Jered Biesmeyer, sr., Rodney Armstrong, sr.

Outlook --- The Blues finished as Centennial League co-champs in '99 and return 13 seniors. "If their work ethic is any indication, we should be in for a pretty solid outing," Holmes said. "Add in a mixture of quality underclassmen and we should be competitive game in and game out."

SCHEDULE

(All home games at Ken Berry)

March --- 31 Blue Valley North.

April --- 4 Hayden; 6 at Topeka West; 11 at Shawnee Heights; 14 at Seaman; 20 Topeka High; 27 at Blue Valley-Stilwell.