Chieftain players responded in an exciting back-and-forth game against the Broncos.

THS jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but SHHS answered with 3 runs of its own in the top of the third.

Tonganoxie jumped back in front in the bottom half of the inning, only to have the Broncos respond with another run of their own in the top of the fourth.

Thanks to timely hitting and taking advantage of walks and a Spring Hill miscue, THS was able to jump back ahead after each Spring Hill answer.

THS built a 6-4 lead in the fifth and made it 8-4 in the sixth before getting one final rally from the Broncos in the top of the seventh.

Spring Hill connected on a couple of doubles in the process of scoring three runs. The Broncos threatened to tack on more runs as SHHS forced THS junior pitcher Owen Welsh out of the game. Welsh pitched 6 1/3 innings and contained the Broncos pretty well heading into that seventh inning.

Gehrig Goldbeck worked the final 2/3 of the seventh. THS was able to shut the door on the Spring Hill rally with those final two outs and clinch its fourth straight victory. The Chieftains moved to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in Frontier League play. Spring Hill fell to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in Frontier League play.

Spring Hill was just coming off a big 6-5 victory against Paola, as the Broncos handed the Panthers their first loss of the season (11-1 and 4-1).

Tonganoxie falls at Butch Foster Tournament

THS played in a midseason tournament Monday, but after routing Bonner Springs and then getting a big victory against Spring Hill, the Chieftains had rematches against both at the Butch Foster Tournament in Parkville, Mo.

Bonner Springs bounced back and outlasted THS, 13-11, in the first game Monday before Spring Hill blanked THS, 15-0, in the second game.

Tonganoxie played St. James Academy on Tuesday after The Mirror’s print deadline.

Paola top seed in East Regional

Paola currently is the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A East Regional.

At 7-5 after Monday’s games, Tonganoxie is the No. 7 seed in the regional, while Spring Hill is the No. 5 seed in 5A.

If the postseason started today, THS would open regionals against No. 10 Louisburg (6-5), with the winner of that game playing the winner of No. 2 Atchison (6-2) and No. 15 El Dorado (3-7) in the regional finals.

THS 8, Spring Hill 7

Spring Hill 003 100 3 — 7

Tonganoxie 301 022 x — 8