March 2024

One year removed from having its season end in heartbreaking fashion, the McPherson High School girls soccer team is back with unfinished business as they recorded a dominant 10-0 victory over Salina Central to begin the season last Thursday.McPherson’s 2023 season came to a heartbreaking end after falling 2-1 in double overtime against Topeka-Hayden in the class 4A-1A state quarterfinals, but large returning group from last year’s team has the Lady Pups in prime position to make a return trip to the state quarterfinals and perhaps take it a couple steps further.The start to that goal came last Thursday when McPherson hosted Salina Central for its season-opening match, as the Lady Pups ran the Mustangs off the field with a 10-0 shutout performance where seven different McPherson players found the back of the net.“When I look at this team, it’s almost like we’re picking up right where we left off last year because of how many girls are returning,” McPherson head soccer coach Chris Adrian said following McPherson’s win over Salina Central to begin the season.

Two separate deficits in the third and fourth innings put the McPherson High School baseball team in danger of dropping its first game of the young 2024 season, but a five-run bottom of the fourth paved the way for an undefeated 3-0 start for the Bullpups as they defeated Buhler 8-5 Thursday night.McPherson started its run at a third-straight state title on Tuesday, March 19 when they traveled to Chanute for a doubleheader in a rematch of last season’s class 4A state championship game.

Two days after scoring 29 runs in a doubleheader against Chanute, McPherson rode a dominant pitching performance by freshman Carmin Pavlovich to a 4-0 win over rival Buhler on Thursday, March 19 to start the season 3-0.McPherson is coming off a state runner-up finish in class 4A in 2023 and returned all but three players to its roster in 2024.

The winter sports season officially came to a close two Saturday’s ago with the McPherson High School boys basketball team claiming a state title, but two more Bullpup squads are in search of the same achievement as baseball and softball kick-started their seasons with a jamboree on Saturday.McPherson Baseball:Fresh off back-to-back class 4A state titles in 2022 and 2023 after never winning one in program history, the McPherson High School baseball team attempts to reload and go for a three-peat in 2024 as they started their spring season off with victories over Ark City and Newton in jamboree on Saturday.McPherson comes into the 2024 season having lost eight seniors from last year’s state championship team, but key returnees such as Ian Razak, Owen Fetsch, Brock Richardson, Carter Allen and more have the Bullpups in position at another regional title run.To start the season, McPherson faced and defeated both Ark City and Newton in a pair of six-inning scrimmage games held at Grant Sports Complex, which started with an 8-5 win over the Bulldogs.Logan Beede got the start and the win on the mound for McPherson against Ark City as the Bullpups rode an eight-run fourth inning to victory before staving off a late rally by the Bulldogs.After Ark City scored the game’s first run off an RBI walk in the third inning, McPherson responded with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.