A handful of former local high school baseball and softball stars will be finishing off their college seasons under the big spotlight.
Senior A.J. Archambo and freshman Jakob Hall will try to be at their razor-sharp best for Oral Roberts University’s baseball team as it hosts Summit League postseason tourney play starting Wednesday.
In Oxford, Ala., meanwhile, the Murray State Lady Aggie softball team — whose slate of starters includes freshman Chesnie Hewitt from Oklahoma Union High — opened junior college world series play Tuesday.
Wichita State’s baseball team journeyed earlier this week to Clearwater, Fla., to open play in The American Athletic Conference tournament. Former Caney Valley (Kan.) High star pitcher Jace Kaminska is part of the Shockers hurling corps.
The Golden Eagles are seeded No. 2 out of four teams at the Summit showdown in Tulsa. They open tourney play at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday against No. 3 South Dakota State.
In the other semifinal, No. 1 North Dakota State takes on No. 4 Omaha at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Play is set to continue through Saturday.
ORU surges into the tourney by winning 11 of its last 15 games.
In the regular season’s final series, ORU beat South Dakota State two out of three.
In a 12-11 game one victory, Hall threw 1.1 innings of relief, allowed two hits and three runs, walked none and struck out three of the eight batters he faced.
ORU also won the second game of the series — hosted by South Dakota State — in a rout, 13-5.
Archambo came off the bench as pinch-hitter.
Game number three — and the regular season finale — of the series saw South Dakota State eke out a 7-3 victory.
Archambo went 0-for-3 at the plate, but turned in a sizzling relief performance — 1.1 innings, one hit allowed, no runs and one walk.
ORU finished 5-1 during the season against South Dakota State, 3-3 against Omaha and 1-2 against North Dakota State.
This will be the 40th Summit League baseball championship tourney.
ORU racked up a 35-18 (17-7) regular season record.
Golden Eagle standouts in the 13-5 win against South Dakota State included pitcher Ledgend Smith (7-4) who threw five innings of one-hit, one-run relief. He walked two and K’d seven.
Jackson Loftin delivered a two-run dinger; Joshua Cox belted three doubles and drove in two runs; Holden Breeze slammed two doubles; and Caleb Denny produced a double, single, sacrifice fly and RBI.
Ryan Folmar coaches the Golden Eagles.
The Lady Aggies roll into the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series on the momentum of a 13-game winning streak, 10 shutouts thrown since April 13 and a 45-9 record.
A year ago, the Lady Aggies finished 1-2 in World Series, including two one-run losses.
They opened this year’s spectacle by facing Danielle Area (Ill.) College at 2 p.m. The game was completed after the newspaper’s deadline.
Murray State is seed No. 3 in the series.
Hewitt brings powerful statistics into the postseason. During the regular campaign she batted .367, lashed seven homers, drove in 35 runs, scored 63 tallies and stole 16 bases.
She ranks 15th in the nation in runs scored and 37th in walks (26).
She is only one weapon in an arsenal of formidable offensive weapons for the Lady Aggies.
K.J. Morgan is batting .491, with 14 doubles and 50 RBI’s; Abby Beck boasts a .422 average, with 21 doubles and eight homers; Shallen Mershon owns 11 homers, 11 doubles and 51 RBIs; Sabetha Sands is among the nation’s leaders in RBI’s (58); and Kinsey Nix is hitting 333, with 53 runs scored and 34-of-34 stolen bases.
Kaminska has been hit hard by the sophomore jinx.
Following an amazing freshman season on the mound in 2021, he has grinded through rugged adversity this spring.
In an 8-3 late-season loss against South Florida, Kaminska absorbed the losing decision while throwing three innings of four-hit, four-run ball and fell to 3-8.
Wichita State finished the regular season at 21-34 (9-15). Wichita State opened conference tourney by facing No. 3 Houston in a Tuesday showdown that wasn’t completed until after the newspaper deadline.