Manhattan baseball returns to state with regional championship | Sports

Manhattan High baseball is headed back to state after winning its home regional Wednesday at CiCo Park, knocking off rival Junction City and Wichita West.

“It always feels good,” head coach Don Hess said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and we’ve had some great teams that haven’t been fortunate enough to make it to state. For us to be able to make it to state, it’s amazing every year.”

The No. 3-seeded Indians improved to 21-4, earning back-to-back state trips and the program’s fifth appearance since 2021 after finishing fourth at state last season.

“After last year, ever since then, we’ve just wanted to get back to state,” senior Carter Goodpasture said. “It was a great day. I’m really proud of my guys. Getting fourth place was a good accomplishment, but we want to go beyond that.”

The opener saw Junction City outhit Manhattan 6-5, but timely hitting and a complete-game effort from senior Brayson Gnirk led the Indians to a 3-1 win over their foe down the interstate.

“We just kept grinding,” Hess said. “We did a great job getting guys on base. We did a horrible job driving them in, but we did enough. To me, the story of the day was the pitching and the incredible defense.”

In the regional final, pitching was the name of the game again as Goodpasture and Easton Duff led Manhattan in a shutout past No. 6 seed Wichita West 5-0.

“I think that’s the reason we’re in so many of these games,” Goodpasture said. “Without Brayson, Easton and myself, we don’t have much of a shot to win games. Our pitching is a very important thing.”

After a scoreless first inning against the No. 14-seeded Blue Jays, Manhattan took a 2-0 lead in the second. Mclain Aslin singled, followed by a pair of walks, before Liam Nider reached on an error that scored Aslin. Greyson Wassenberg plated the Indians’ second run on an RBI groundout.

Nider added to Manhattan’s lead in the fourth, slugging an RBI single into left field. As the Indians built a 4-0 lead, Gnirk was dominant on the mound. The right-hander allowed just one hit through the first 15 batters he faced.

Junction City forced a little work from Gnirk in the fifth and sixth innings, but he escaped jams each time, including an unassisted double play turned by Sawyer Newton in the sixth. The Blue Jays eventually broke through for their lone run in the seventh, but the damage stopped there.

Gnirk allowed six hits and one run across seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks. Offensively, Nider led the way with two RBI as five different Indians recorded hits.

“Come around graduation, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get,” Hess said. “People are tired, people are excited — it’s a stressful time. For us to be able to compete at the level we’ve been able to speaks volumes about these kids.”

Goodpasture took the mound for the regional final, and the Indians supplied him with an early 2-0 lead as Jackson Goos hit an RBI double before Aslin brought him home on a sacrifice fly.

Wichita West had advanced to the championship game with a 3-2 win over No. 11 seed Garden City earlier in the day. Another low-scoring game followed, as Goodpasture tossed five hitless innings to start his outing, aided by multiple defensive gems behind him.

“There were defensive web gems all over the place,” Hess said. “Sawyer Newton makes the play in the hole and throws the guy out at first? That’s just a carbon copy of Bobby Witt Jr. I hate to make that comparison, but that’s his type of play.

“Zach Conley made two spectacular plays in right field, Mclain Aslin had a diving catch, and Greyson Wassenberg made a very heads-up baseball IQ play behind the plate,” Hess continued. “We had some guys respond at the right time.”

Manhattan started to pull away in the fifth, loading the bases with no outs. Riland Boyer drew a walk before Conley and Asher Newton added RBI singles.

“At the beginning of the season, we were still a good ball club, but we weren’t connected like we are now,” Goodpasture said. “Baseball is such a mental game, so having fun and knowing we’re a team working toward the same goal is very important. I’d say that’s the most important part of our team.”

The Indians led 5-0 entering the sixth when the Pioneers recorded their first hit of the game and eventually loaded the bases to end Goodpasture’s day. The senior recorded 5 1/3 shutout innings, allowing one hit with six walks and four strikeouts.

“I feel very safe up on the mound with Sawyer, Asher, Goos, Brayson and Liam behind me,” Goodpasture said. “Any of those guys can make a great play at any point in the game.”

Easton Duff entered in relief, inheriting the bases-loaded jam and getting Manhattan out of trouble with two quick outs, including a running catch in right field by Conley that saved a potential two runs and preserved Manhattan’s 5-0 lead.

“They can struggle at times, but then they pick themselves up,” Hess said. “They get right back in the battle, and that’s what this group has done so well.”

Duff slammed the door with two strikeouts in the seventh, capping a dominant day on the mound for Manhattan.

“This was a tough day because of the wind conditions — it was not an offensive day,” Hess said. “You have to have pitching that limits walks and hits because the score is going to be low. The pitchers stepped up for us.”

Manhattan now turns its attention to state quarterfinals, which will be played at one of three sites — Salina, Emporia or Overland Park. The 6A state semifinals and finals will take place at Wichita State’s Eck Stadium.

“We always go into a state tournament with our goal to win it,” Hess said. “That’s never going to change. It’s a clean slate. You have to crank it back up and push ahead.”