Sports
Anthony Cook/Sun photo St. Paul High School senior Kane Norris rounds third on the way to a score in the fourth inning against Valley Falls Saturday afternoon at Soden's Grove in Emporia. Norris pitched all seven innings to pick up the win over Valley Falls in the third-place game.
St. Paul earns third at state
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com EMPORIA — Moments after a 12-1 loss to Medicine Lodge ended its chance of winning state, the St. Paul High School baseball team was forced to play for third here Saturday at Soden’s Grove. The Indians had to do so in the 95-degree heat, without warm-ups and without their ace. It didn’t bother the Indians. St. Paul High School improved to 21-3 and captured third place in Class 2-1A Saturday afternoon with an...
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Lady Grizzlies remain undefeated
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com SALINA — The Lady Grizzlies stayed unbeaten. They won their first state playoff game ever. They moved into the final four. And they were as dominate as the other 23 times they’ve stepped on the field this season. Labette County High School improved to 24-0 with a 4-1 win over Mulvane Friday evening in Salina to advance to the Class 4A semifinals on Saturday. LCHS got a 15-strikeout performance by senior pit...
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Indians survive scare to move to semifinals
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com EMPORIA — It’s not every day that your starting pitcher is in line for the save. At one time, that outcome was in play. That alone should tell you what kind of wild ride it was in the first round of the Class 2-1A baseball tournament. After answering a valiant comeback by Eskridge-Mission Valley, St. Paul High School advanced to the semis of the tourney thanks to a 14-8 victory at Soden’s Grove here Friday ...
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Anthony Cook/Sun photo Labette County High School head softball coach Lori Green (right) introduces her players and managers to a crowd of around 200, who gathered and 5th and Huston in Altamont Thursday evening for a sendoff for the Lady Grizzlies. The LCHS softball team (23-0) is the No. 1 seed entering this weekend's Class 4A state softball tournament in Salina. The Lady Grizzlies left from LCHS early Friday and will play Mulvane at 5 p.m. today in Salina.
Lady Grizzly Send-Off

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SPHS baseball pitching staff stands out
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com It will take some good batting to get rid of the Indians. The St. Paul High School baseball team will enter its first Class 2-1A baseball tourney in just the program’s fifth year of existence Friday evening when it travels to Sodens Grove Baseball Field in Emporia. The Indians enter the state tourney with a 19-2 record and have not fallen since an April 17 sweep against Jayhawk-Linn. That sweep came after a...
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Babe Ruth play continues
The CST Storage Cardinals held on for a 6-5 victory over the LaForge & Budd Red Sox last week in 9-10-year-old Babe Ruth League action. The Cardinals opened the game with five runs in the top of the first inning before padding the lead with another run in the second to go ahead 6-5. However, the Red Sox scored four in the third and another in the fourth while shutting the Cards down to keep things interesting. For the Cards, Reece Thurman sing...
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Lady Hornets looking to cross last goal off list
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com For the Chetopa Hornets, this weekend is all about finishing off their checklist. The Class 2-1A region champs completed the third goal on their list with a 10-0 win over Sedan last week in the Arma-hosted regional finals. For their efforts, they’ve advanced to the state tournament and will be the No. 7 seed and begin play Friday in Emporia. First-year head coach Mike Ferraro says the team has focused on fo...
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LCHS preps for Mulvane, loaded Class 4A field
By Anthony Cook ACOOK@PARSONSSUN.COM When it comes to the state tournament, the best teams are rewarded by being placed as far away from each other as possible. That proved difficult when it came time for seeding in the Class 4A softball tournament this year. Eight teams will enter the Class 4A state tourney on Friday and one will be crowned champion Saturday afternoon. Of those eight, Labette County is the top seed thanks to a 23-0 record tha...
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LCHS, Parsons track and field qualify 17 for state
Seventeen local athletes qualified for state in 13 different events at the Girard-hosted Class 4A track and field regional Friday afternoon. Of the qualifiers, the distance runners in the boys and girls division stuck out. LCHS sophomore Michaela Ozier brought home a regional title in the 3200-meter run and positioned herself as the top runner in Class 4A entering Friday and Saturday's state track and field championships in Wichita. Ozier won ...
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LCHS coaches win COY awards
Two Labette County High School spring coaches have been named the Southeast Kansas League Coaches of the Year. LCHS softball coach, whose 23-0 softball team will travel to the Class 4A state tourney in Salina this weekend, was named the COY in softball. The Lady Grizzlies won their third SEK title in a row this spring and went undefeated in the SEK for the second-straight year. Coach Craig Hartman was named the SEK COY in boys' track and field...
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Parsons, St. Paul competes in state swimming
Four Parsons High School swimmers and three from the St. Paul High School swimming team competed in the Class 5-1A state swimming & diving championships in Topeka over the weekend. The Lady Vikings finished with four individual efforts in the top 25 individually in the 30-team field. Senior Reagan Argo competed in two freestyle events and placed 20th in the 200-yard free and 24th in the 50 free. Her teammate Shannon Dunlay also competed in the...
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Free physicals
Labette County High School will offer two sessions of free physicals this year. The first round of physicals will be on Friday for athletes interested in getting the physicals early for the 2012-13 school year. A July 27 session also is scheduled. The physicals will be administered from 6 to 8 p.m. in the LCHS cafeteria on both dates.
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Babe Ruth begins
The CST Storage Cardinals defeated the D&Z Royals Monday evening in 9- and 10-year-old Babe Ruth League action. The Cards scored three runs in the first inning and led 6-0 after 2 1/2 on the way to a 9-2 victory. Justin Sexton tripled and homered for the Cardinals while Dante Sexton added a triple. Landon Carson and Titus Feagan each singled. The Royals were led by Aiden Marks, Anthony Pousher and Logan Duroni, who all singled. The Cardinals s...
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Hornets earn trip to state
The Chetopa Hornets (17-5) qualified for their second state softball tournament in three years Wednesday with a 10-0 victory over Sedan in the Arma Class 2-1A regional finals. The Hornets will enter the Class 2-1A state tourney as the No. 7 seed and will take on No. 2 seed Brookville Ell-Saline (22-1) at 5 p.m. Friday in Emporia. The Hornets join Labette County High School softball and St. Paul High School baseball as the three local teams to ...
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Courtesy photo Labette County High School senior Kelsie Goins signs her letter of intent to play softball for Labette Community College. Goins is joined on the front row by mother and father Donna and Deland Goins. LCHS head coach Lori Green is shown on the back row and the Lady Grizzlies' 2012 Class 4A regional trophy is on display on the table. Goins is a four-year member of the Lady Grizzlies who have won three Southeast Kansas League titles in a row. Goins is a three-year starter for the team and was an all-SEK first team selection in 2011 at first base. This season, Goins is hitting .447 and has an on-base percentage of .517 and slugging percentage of .629. She also leads the team in steals with 13. Goins is also a member of the National Honor Society and was a Kansas Governor Scholar this year. The LCHS Lady Grizzlies enter this year's state softball tourney as the No. 1 seed with their 23-0 record. They'll take on Mulvane at 5 p.m. on Friday in Salina.
Goins signs with LCC Thursday

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Kelly named to 2012 Shrine Bowl
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com For the second year in a row, a Parsons Viking will be on hand at the annual Shrine Bowl. A big week got even bigger for Parsons High School senior Ivory Kelly when he found out Monday that he’d be jumping from an alternate to the 2012 Kansas Shrine Bowl to the East squad. “Coach (David) Pitts called me to his room Monday morning and said they’d sent an e-mail asking if I was interested,” said Kelly. The an...
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Area swimmers qualify for state
Swimmers from Parsons and St. Paul high schools will be going to the state tournaments, which start today. Two Parsons High School swimmers qualified for individual events at the state swimming tournament. Reagan Argo will swim in the 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle, and Shannon Dunlay will compete in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle. The team has also qualified in three relay events, but will compete in two. Argo, Dunlay, Sydney Markley and...
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Anthony Cook/Sun photo The 2012 Labette County High School softball team poses for a picture after winning its first region title since 2000 Wednesday evening in Girard. Labette County defeated rival Parsons 10-0 in the semis before taking out defending region champion and host Girard 6-0 in the finals. LCHS will compete in the Class 4A state tournament in Salina on Friday, May 25.
Labette County wins way to region, advances to state
By Anthony Cook acook@parsonssun.com GIRARD — The Lady Grizzlies got redemption. Twice. Labette County High School softball improved to 23-0 and exorcised demons from the 2010 and 2011 regional tournaments with two shutout victories Wednesday evening here. The victories put the finishing touches on an unbeaten regular season and regional to improve the Lady Grizzlies to 23-0 overall and more importantly give them a spot in the eight-team Class...
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Darkis qualifies for second state golf tournament
CHANUTE — Parsons High School golfer Gilvon Darkis qualified for the state tournament for the second time thanks to his sixth-place finish at the Class 4A golf regional hosted by Chanute Monday afternoon. Darkis shot a 42-41 — 83 to place sixth overall, eight strokes behind Kaden Macha of Iola, who won the event, and three strokes behind Conner Murrell of Coffeyville, who rounded out the top five. Darkis was the only local qualifier at the eve...
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Vikings fall 10-0 in regional opener
PITTSBURG — The Vikings’ season came to an end Monday afternoon as the Parsons High School baseball team fell to Baxter Springs 10-0 in six innings in the first round of Class 4A region play at the Pittsburg State University baseball diamond in Pittsburg. “Offensively, we just couldn’t get that hit we needed to get rolling. Defensively, we had a few miscues that led to big innings and that has been our Achille’s the entire season,” said PHS he...
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