The fall sports season is off to one of the most successful seasons in school history. All the programs are winning and have early indications for a strong regular season finish.
“Fall sports is off to a good start,” athletic director Gary Stevanus said, “soccer is off to the best start in school history, volleyball took third at their pre-season tournament, tennis is playing well, and cross country ran well.”
Girls tennis officially started the fall sports season. Baldwin first traveled to Topeka-Hayden for the first meet against Hayden, Hiawatha, Gardner-Edgerton and DeSoto. Senior Heather Evilsizor went undefeated, winning all four games in singles. Senior Cate Gwin and sophomore Elley McDaniels went 3-1 on the day, while seniors Jenny Robbs & Morgan Smith had similar results with a 3-1 record on the day. Senior Kaitlin Jorgensen also faired well and went 2-2 on the day.
“We had a good start at the Topeka-Hayden meet,” sophomore Elley McDaniels said, “and I’m excited too see how the rest of the season goes.”
Volleyball also faired well in their first contest. The Bulldogs got third at the Frontier League Invitational, an excellent result considering the Bulldogs came in the tournament seeded eighth. The Bulldogs first lost to Desoto in three sets, rebounded to beat Basehor-Linwood in three sets, and toppled Ottawa in two sets.
“So far were about .500,” sophomore Corey Valentine said. “We have a lot of high expectations.”
Valentine was also pleased with the squad’s performance at the Baldwin Invitational Tournament last the weekend.
“The BIT was saturday and we got fifth,” Valentine said. “We played really well there, and we played close to Gardner and it was really good since they were a 6A school.”
The Gardner-Edgerton Blazers are the #1 ranked team in 6A volleyball, the Bulldogs fell in two close sets.
The volleyball team lost to Paola at 6:30 p.m. Sep 11. in three straight sets at BJHS gym, the team is back in action at home Sep. 18 at 6:30 p.m. against Ottawa.
Boys soccer is 4-1 this season, making this fall the best start in program history. The Bulldogs have also come from behind in three of their contest, beating Tonganoxie and Paola 2-1, before beating Spring Hill 5-4 in a thrilling overtime contest. Freshman Brendan Owings scored his first varsity goal in overtime to beat the Broncos.
“I was very excited,” said Owings. “I know the juniors and seniors wanted to win, and I guess I did that for them.”
The Bulldogs lost to DeSoto 1-0 last week for their first loss of the season, but rebounded back for a crucial 1-0 win against Basehor-Linwood. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs crushed Eudora 9-0.
The football team is 2-0 this season, with wins against Wellsville and Paola. The Bulldogs are lead by seniors Tyler Cawley, Johnny Lederer, Austin Chavez, Dayton Valentine, Mark Harman, and Bryce Shoemaker.
“We’ve had a solid season so far,” Shoemaker said. “Hopefully, we keep rolling and win 14 games to state.”
The Bulldogs also recognized that they simply must stay healthy.
“We’ve got to stay healthy,” Chavez said.
The Bulldogs are honorable mentioned in the latest Capital-Journal online ranking for 4A.
Next up the Bulldogs play at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 14, against St. James Academy at St. Thomas Aquinas. There will be a spirit bus going to STA for friday’s game.
Boys cross country won their first varsity race at Anderson County. Junior Ethan Hartzell won the race, while four of the seven runners for the Bulldogs finished in the top ten. This included freshman Dakota Helm coming in at third, and sophomore Joe Pierce in 9th. The Bulldogs finished fifth last weekend at the Wamego Invitational and were led by junior Ethan Hartzell.
Girls cross country dominated in Anderson County, with all seven varsity runners placing in the top fifteen. Senior Kaitlyn Barnes led the team coming in third and junior Katie Jones finished behind Barnes in fourth. The girls cross country team easily won the Wamego Invitational last weekend when they had all six runners finish in the top 21 runners. Senior Kaitlyn Barnes led BHS finishing in second.
Currently, Baldwin boys cross country is ranked fifth in the state behind Wamego, Desoto, Hugoton and Mulvane. The girls cross country team is ranked first, ahead of Topeka-Hayden, Maize South, Paola, St. James Academy and DeSoto.