Trojans win districts, look to seal place in history

It didn’t seem like the Class 4 District 16 championship game would ever finally get played after being delayed several days due to the weather, but it was well worth the wait for the Park Hill Trojans (16-5) as they defeated St. Joe Central 10-8 Saturday to advance to the sectional round of the state playoffs. The few days wait was nothing compared to the wait they had to endure for their first district title since 1997, a year before the opening of now district rival Park Hill South divided the district into two high schools.

A win Tuesday against Truman (15-6) would represent the first time a Park Hill baseball team has won a playoff game in five attempts. Advancing would likely mean a showdown with a talented Rockhurst squad on Thursday.

Coach Greg Reynolds gives credit to a strong senior class and things falling into place at the right time for their impressive run through one of the areas’ toughest districts.

“We’ve got 11 seniors with varying degrees of playing time and every one of them has had to overcome something. They deserve this,” Reynolds said. “We had our pitching staff the way we wanted it and everything set up to the point where we knew if we put the ball in play we’d have a good chance.”

Senior Clay Smith, a stronghold on the pitching mound throughout the season, led the Trojans past Park Hill South in the district opener before also notching the win in the title game.

“We knew we had a chance to be strong and it wasn’t because of the talent, it’s because we’re all friends and we could play together with that chemistry,” Smith said.

Reynolds believes the Trojans reached a turning point mid-season during a double-header against William Chrisman.

“We had a couple selfish acts during a stretch earlier in the season where we knew we wouldn’t be able to beat teams like Kearney and St. Joe Central,” Reynolds said. “We wouldn’t beat them unless we did it as a team and the kids really bought into it.”

It was a team effort in Saturday’s title game as an offensive battle ensued as Central scored two runs in the first inning. Park Hill came back in the second inning as Alec Kennedy batted Adam Vanderpool in followed by Daniel Jessen scoring on an error to tie it at 2-2. Central added a run in the third before a two-run homer from Park Hill’s J.D. Weyer made the score 4-3. Central then brought in ace Keaton Steele to quiet the Trojan bats, but they sealed their title in the fifth by taking advantage of a huge opportunity. With the Indians up 6-4, Park Hill had the bases loaded and no outs. James Vega scored on an interference call and an Alex Otto sac fly scored Weyer to tie the score at 6-6. Kennedy used the momentum to blast the Trojans ahead with a three run homer making the score 9-6. A Nick Hughes RBI later scored Weyer for the sixth run of the inning for the Trojans. Central added two more runs, but it wasn’t enough as Park Hill claimed the title with a 10-8 victory.

The team discussed what a district title would mean, but the immediate focus was on the next game.

“This is a group that is playing one more day for each other. It doesn’t matter who you play anymore, it just matters that you’re playing,” Reynolds said. “If you believe you can beat anybody, which we’re starting to get there, we’ll be alright.”

Spring Roundup: May 17 - May 22

Park Hill Girls Soccer
The Park Hill Girls Soccer season came to an end last week against Park Hill South in the semi-finals of the District 16 tournament. Sydney Hultz was the lone goal for the Trojans, but it wasn’t enough as Alyssa Weatherly contributed three scores along with Katy Lindsey and Katy Riojas’ one goal apiece. A down note for the Trojans was they lost leading goal scorer Emma Gossett mid-way through the second half with a severe knee injury. They end the season with a 9-11-1 record.

Park Hill Tennis
After sweeping through districts, the Park Hill Boys Tennis team started again this past weekend where they left off with a convincing victory against Lee’s Summit West in the state sectionals. Sam Barth (6-4, 6-2), Mike Merchant (6-1, 6-0), Michael Jones (6-0, 6-0), and Austin Caldwell (6-0, 6-1) won consecutive singles matches to beat the Titans 5-0. The same afternoon in the quarterfinals, Park Hill had quite an obstacle to overcome in defending state champ Rockhurst. Favored again this year, Rockhurst was too much for the Trojans as the Hawklets won five of the six singles matches to win 5-1. Brian Hillix had their sole victory by a score of 6-2, 6-4.

“I’m proud of them for their efforts. They’re conference and district champions, so it’s been a great season and they left it all on the court today,” Coach Ryan Kalis said.

Although the team season is now over, Sam Barth in singles along with the duo of Mike Merchant and Brian Hillix in doubles will continue on to the state tournament as individual entries based on their top finishes in the districts two weeks ago.

“If the draw looks alright and we’re playing well we could go far. They’ve been there before so they’re not nervous and it’s a big deal compared to being there for the first time. I know they’re excited about this week,” Kalis said.

Park Hill Boys Track
Jack Pearl in the discus and James Leach in 800 meter dash were the top performers at the Class 4 sectional this past weekend as they both took second in their respective events. Nick Smith placed third in the shot put while Adrien Esaw placed fourth in the 300 hurdles. The 4x800 relay team also placed fourth. All qualified for the state track meet next weekend by placing fourth or higher. The 4x100 relay barely missed qualifying after their fifth place finish. Park Hill scored 55 team points and finished sixth out of 21 teams participating.

Park Hill Girls Track
The Park Hill Girls Track team didn’t quite get the performance they were looking for this past weekend at the state sectional meet. They came just short of advancing a couple athletes to the state meet. A difference of .06 seconds made the difference between Helena Hudson qualifying in the 100 meter hurdles, she fell on the wrong side of the difference by finishing in fifth place. The 4x100 relay team also came up short with their fifth place finish. Other notables include Stephanie Atkinson’s seventh place finish in the pole vault and Betty Grauberger’s eighth place finish in the triple jump. Park Hill finished with 11.5 team points.