‘A dream of ours’: Five seniors send Campus softball back to state tournament
The losses have always stuck with Gabrielle Stauffer and the five seniors on the Campus softball team.
Their class was asked to carry the load right away and they took their lumps in the process, a four-win season in 2022 that improved to a mediocre season last spring.
Armed with an infusion of young talent, the five seniors are now the cornerstone of a Campus softball team set to play in the Class 6A state tournament for the first time since 2017. The fifth-seeded Colts (16-6) play fourth-seeded Lawrence Free State (19-6) at 5 p.m. Thursday at Arrocha Ball Park in Lawrence.
“This has always been a dream of ours,” Stauffer said. “We waited four years for this, so going to state is the best senior year gift ever.”
Stauffer, a Hutchinson Community College signee, has been the biggest bat in the lineup for Campus all four years. After a slow start to this season, Stauffer has been suburb in the last month of the season and is hitting .479 with 12 extra-base hits, 21 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
All five seniors are essentially four-year starters and have played major roles for the state-bound team, as Ava Baker (7-4) and Londyn Ysidro (6-2) are the team’s go-to pitchers, Abigail Araiza is a steady catcher and Kylah Parson is a presence in the outfield.
“This senior class has worked extremely hard,” Campus coach Douglas Stanley said. “That four-win season didn’t show how good they were athletically and softball skill, it was just their youth going up against 18-year-old girls. They’ve gotten better and better every season and really worked hard to get us to where we are today.”
A pair of junior outfielders in Kamdyn Minnick (.407, 19 RBIs, 22 runs) and Ava Strohm (.426, 14 RBIs, 18 runs) are both hitting over .400, while the team has gone to another level this season with the introduction of a trio of freshmen.
Lillian Clements, Emerleigh Cooper and Alexis Butler all start in the infield and have combined for 13 home runs, 72 RBIs and 64 runs scored this season for the Colts.
“We have grown so much as a team this season and the freshmen have helped us tremendously,” Stauffer said. “We feel like this is our year where everything is going the way we wanted it to go. Now we have to finish.”
Kansas high school state softball tournament schedule
Class 6A (Arrocha Ball Park in Lawrence)
No. 2 Olathe Northwest (20-4) vs. No. 7 Blue Valley (17-11), 11 a.m.
No. 3 Blue Valley West (22-6) vs. No. 6 Washburn Rural (18-7), 1 p.m.
No. 1 Derby (24-4) vs. No. 8 Olathe South (14-14), 3
No. 4 Lawrence Free State (19-6) vs. No. 5 Campus (16-6), 5
Class 5A (Wilkins Stadium in Wichita)
No. 1 Spring Hill (26-2) vs. No. 8 Great Bend (22-6), 11 a.m.
No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas (23-4) vs. No. 5 Kansas City Piper (20-5), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Maize South (25-3) vs. No. 7 Topeka Seaman (22-6), 3
No. 3 Bishop Carroll (24-4) vs. No. 6 Basehor-Linwood (20-5), 5
Class 4A (Salina South)
No. 1 Scott City (19-3) vs. No. 8 Andale-Garden Plain (17-9), 11 a.m.
No. 4 Circle (23-5) vs. No. 5 Fort Scott (20-5), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Wamego (22-4) vs. No. 7 Clearwater (20-7), 3
No. 3 Eudora (22-4) vs. No. 6 Rock Creek (19-5), 5
Class 3A (Envista Softball Complex in Topeka)
No. 1 Holcomb (25-0) vs. No. 8 Marysville (16-11), 11 a.m.
No. 4 Silver Lake (22-2) vs. No. 5 Cheney (19-2), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Osage City (20-1) vs. No. 7 Trinity Academy (20-4), 3
No. 3 Frontenac (25-2) vs. No. 6 Southeast of Saline (22-3), 5
Class 2-1A (Green Sports Complex in Pratt)
No. 1 McLouth (25-2) vs. No. 8 Pratt Skyline (10-13), 11 a.m.No. 4 Inman (17-4) vs. No. 5 Thomas More Prep (21-8), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Cedar Vale-Dexter (22-3) vs. No. 7 Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan (15-9), 3
No. 3 Onaga (19-4) vs. No. 6 Central Heights (16-9), 5
