Hayden baseball claims 'ultimate goal' in Class 3A State Championship
TOPEKA — The pitching staff for Hayden was on fire across the Class 3A State Tournament. Different players stepped up at different stages and on Friday night, it was Liam Annand’s turn.
The righty threw down a performance worthy of a trophy. Annand’s masterclass helped Hayden taken down Trinity Academy 5-3 to win the State Championship on Friday. Annand pitched 6⅔ innings and allowed three runs and four hits. The junior also struck out eight batters.
The pitching streak started on Thursday night when Cooper Grace struck out 13 batters in Hayden’s quarterfinal victory against Hesston.
Early Friday, Easton Blosser pitched 5⅓ innings and allowed just five hits in Hayden’s semifinal win. Conor Hanika closed out the semifinal with three strikeouts in 1⅔ innings to send the Wildcats to the state championship. All of this to say, Hayden’s pitching came into form at the right moment.
“Liam has been a rock. He has been the reason that we get to where we go. He was the main piece of this whole thing,” Grace said. “That’s what our pitching staff was full of, we got ton of outs. We didn’t strike everybody out, but we forced weak contact. That was the key.”
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While Annand’s pitching was fooling Trinity Academy, the bats came alive in the first inning. Evan Lenherr hit a RBI single to left field to start the scoring. With two outs, Kade Mitchell hit huge double to right field. His shot scored three runs putting Hayden ahead 3-0 early.
“I’ve been kind of feeling it all playoffs. I got my confidence back a couple of games earlier,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been able to trust myself and go up with confidence to the plate. Once we got to the state championship game, I was going to do anything that I could to win that game.”
Mitchell would hit another RBI in the third inning. His production at the plate was crucial from the seventh spot on the lineup. He led the team in RBIs.
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Annand exited the game with one out remaining. Aiden Roberts came into relief and forced a ground out to end the game and put this Hayden team into history.
Grace and Mitchell both shared that they knew winning a state championship was possibly from the beginning. It was the hard work from the offseason that set this team up for success early.
“Internally, we always knew that ultimate goal was the state championship,” Grace said. “This is what we have dreamed about for as long as we have played baseball.”
The state title caps off an incredible year of sports on the boys side for Hayden. The football team reached the state title game and the basketball squad also reached the state tournament, neither were able to get the job done. That’s what motivated Mitchell, a member of both football and basketball, all game on Friday.
“I was not ready to lose another state championship game,” Mitchell said. “I was actually telling myself that all game. It is great to finally come out on top.”
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Hayden High baseball team wins Class 3A state title
