BURLINGTON — A delayed start to the season had Humboldt High’s baseball squad getting antsy.
“It was nice to finally have the opportunity to play and compete against someone other than our own team,” Cub head coach Mike Miller said.
Humboldt wasted little time in assuming full control in its season opener Tuesday against Burlington, rolling to wins of 18-3 and 15-0.
So dominant was Humboldt that each batter had either a hit, run or RBI — in both games.
The Cubs exploded in the opener for five runs in the first inning, six in the second and fourth in the third to lead 15-1. Humboldt capped its scoring with three more in the top of the fifth.
There was only one trouble spot.
Starting pitcher Grayson Pearish only lasted one-third of an inning.
Miller inserted Nathan Whitcomb in relief because Pearish was experiencing pain in his shoulder.
“Nathan gave us a couple solid innings,” Miller said, and “Austin Beeman was able to finish it for us.”
Doing the damage offensively were Hunter Murrow, two hits, two runs and an RBI, Caleb D’Armond, three runs, Caleb Vanatta, a hit and three runs, Carpenter, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs, Whitcomb, who drove in four RBIs on three hits with three runs, Pearish, who drove in five RBIs with three hits and three runs, Alex Murrow, who had one hit, one RBI and one run, Beeman, who had two hits and an RBI and Kason Siemens, who had two hits, two RBIs and a run.
Whitcomb surrendered a hit in 1 2/3 innings with there strikeouts. Beeman gave up three hits and two walks in three innings. He also had three strikeouts.

ALEX MURROW got the start in the second game. He surrendered two hits and two walks in three scoreless innings.
“Alex had to pitch out of a couple jams, but gave us three really good innings before Nathan closed it for us,” Miller said.
Murrow racked up five strikeouts. Whitcomb struck out all three batters he faced in relief.
Carpenter had two hits, including a double, while Whitcomb singled twice. Hunter Murrow, D’Armond, Beeman, Vanatta, Pearish, Siemens and Corey Whitcomb each had singles.
The Cubs also took advantage of a combined 18 walks in the doubleheader.
“Offensively we really hit the ball hard all the way through our line up in both games,” Miller said. “We had some really good plate appearances to draw walks after falling behind in the count. We want to put as much pressure on the opposing teams as we can with our baserunners and I thought we did a great job of that tonight. Defensively, we had one error all night, which I was pleased with as well.”

TOPEKA — Two members of the Allen County Wrestling Club earned top-six finishes over the weekend to become the first ever members of the club to place at state.
Andrew Garber, sixth, and Trenton Jones, fifth, highlighted a successful weekend at the USA Wrestling Kansas Folkstyle State Championships Friday and Saturday.
Garber placed in the 14-and-under, 165-pound division. Jones took fifth in the 8-and-under, 110-pound group.
“We are so proud of the effort these kids showed this weekend,” coach John Taylor said. “Trenton is only in his second year as a wrestler. Andrew has wrestled for several years and has qualified for state twice.”
Two others shined in their respective competitions.
Seth Sanford brought home a top-12 finish in the 14-and-under, 235-pound division. Curt Shannon took a top-eight finish at 8-and-under, 40 pounds.
“Seth wrestled the best match I have ever seen him wrestle,” Taylor said. “He came up short, but he gave it everything he had.”
Taylor noted Shannon typically wrestled in the 6-and-under division.
“These kids have heart,” Taylor said. “They wanted to win. They gave it everything they could, and we walked out with our heads held high, ready to celebrate our success and learn from our defeat.”
Even with only four wrestlers at state, Allen County took home 112th out of 180 teams.
“We were competing against clubs that had more than 40 wrestlers at the state tournament,” Taylor said. “We are well on our way to becoming a strong force in the wrestling community.”

A rummage sale at the home of Val and Carolyn McLean will benefit efforts to upgrade the Allen Community College baseball team’s clubhouse.
The McLeans are offering up assorted knickknacks and household items starting tonight from 6 to 8 o’clock at 702 S. First St. The sale continues at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
All proceeds from the sale will help pay for recent upgrades to the clubhouse, which includes installing new lockers and benches, paint and carpeting, Carolyn McLean said.

OSAWATOMIE — It’s not much of a sample size yet, but Iola High’s baseball squad has found a familiar — and successful — path to victory.
Just like their season opener nearly three weeks prior, the Mustangs came from behind to capture a hard-fought win in the opening game of their doubleheader against Osawatomie. And just like before, the Mustangs cruised to a sweep in the second game, trouncing the Trojans in the nightcap.
Iola’s 7-6 and 11-2 wins give the Mustangs a 4-0 record following an extended layoff due to spring break followed by persistent bad weather.
“We’ve got some things to work on, but it was good just to get out there and play,” Mustang coach Mark Percy said. “We had some guys hit the ball well, and we got some good pitching performances.”
After assorted rainouts has kept the team from playing or practicing much in recent weeks, the schedule will pick up. Iola has back-to-back doubleheaders scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, which will test the Mustangs’ pitching staff, Percy noted.
“We’ll have to count on some guys who haven’t had a chance to get out and pitch yet,” he said.
Tuesday’s wins shows some are already in mid-season form.
Iola forged ahead 3-0 in the opener. Aaron Barclay singled in a run in the first before Mason Coons pounded an RBI double, then came in to score on Barclay’s single in the third.
Osawatomie responded with four runs in the third to take the lead.
Undaunted, the Mustangs responded with two in the top of the fourth, with a two-run double by Coons, followed by two more in the top of the fifth on Eric Heffern’s single.
Osawatomie scored again in the fifth, then plated one in the seventh before Levi Ashmore induced a pop-out to end the game with the tying run on first.
Coons went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored to lead the way.
Ashmore went 2-for-4 with two runs. Derrick Weir singled, while Barclay had two hits, as did Cole Morrison. Heffern had a single.
Coons picked up the win, giving up four hits and three walks over four innings with five strikeouts. Barclay added two hitless innings of relief. Ashmore got the save, giving up a hit in his inning of work.

THERE WAS no such drama in the nightcap. Iola scored six in the top of the first. Weir’s three-run double was key, as was Barclay’s RBI single that followed.
Weir reached on a walk in the top of the second and scored on Barclay’s double in the second. Weir’s double was prominent in Iola’s three-run third inning, pushing the Mustangs’ lead to 10-1.
Heffern capped the scoring when he reached on an error in the fourth and scored on Trent Latta’s sacrifice fly.
Latta got the win, giving up three hits and two walks in five innings, while racking up 10 strikeouts. Drew Faulhaber pitched two perfect innings in relief, with two more strikeouts.
Barclay went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Weir pounded out two doubles with three runs and three RBIs. Latta went 2-for-3 with a double.
The Mustangs travel to Anderson County for two games Monday and Prairie View for two more Tuesday.

RICHMOND — A pair of gold-medal performances led the way for Humboldt High’s track and field teams Monday.
The Cubs opened the 2013 season amid cold and windy conditions Monday at the Central Heights Invitational.
Among the highlights:
Humboldt’s Tanner McNutt was a four-time medalist, including taking gold in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 1 1/4 inches. McNutt also captured second place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 6 seconds, and fourth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:34. He teamed with Bryce Isaac, Hayden Boring and Ethan Bartlett to finish fourth in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:51.
Sam Aguirre took home gold and silver in hurdles. He won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.5 seconds. He finished second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.6 seconds.
Also earning second was Ethan Bartlett in the 400 with a time of 55.3 seconds.
Nick Keazer won two individual medals, taking third in the 200-meter dash (24.7 seconds) and fifth in the 400 (57.4).
Ronnie Jarred took sixth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:34.1. Isaac was sixth in the long jump with a distance of 17’10 1/2”.
A pair of relay squads took bronze.
Nick Keazer, Andrew Keazer, Bartlett and Rayden Goltry teamed to take third in the 4×800-meter relay with a time of 9:38. Aguirre, Hayden Boring, Andrew Keazer and Isaac finished third in the 4×100-meter dash at 48.8 seconds.
“I was pleased with some of the performances,” Humboldt coach Eric Carlson said. “We had cold, windy conditions, and some of the kids have very little outdoor practices, due to weather. As we get more practices in, we will certainly improve. We haven’t had the chance to work on the 4×100 handoffs, jumps or many of the throws. But the kids went all out and competed hard, and the coaches are proud of them for that.”
On the girls side, the 4×800 relay team of Brook Boatwright, Lakota Wilson, Haylie Yost and Kolbyn Allen teamed to take fifth with a time of 13:02.
The 4×100 relay team of Shayli Ellis, Rachael Taylor, Wilson and Boatwright finished sixth at 1:01.6.

YATES CENTER — Yates Center High took advantage of Marmaton Valley’s inexperience in picking up a pair of wins Tuesday.
The host Wildcats defeated Marmaton Valley 15-0 and 10-0.
Marmaton Valley coach Brenda Mills said her squad was hurt by lack of practice time.
“We’ve only been able to play on the dirt once this year,” she said, noting weather has prohibited much preparation.
Makenzie Harrison pitched for Marmaton Valley in her high school debut. She walked nine and hit a batter, while giving up three hits.
“We were hurt by errors,” Mills said.
Marmaton Valley was a bit more productive in the second game, but still couldn’t string together any runs.
Tabitha Ford, Emily Boyd, MaRyiah Cavender and Shauna Knight had singles. Cavender pitched, giving up five hits and four walks.
“We’ve improved quite a bit,” Mills said. “I thought the girls pitched well for their first time out.”