The Chieftains won an instant classic Tuesday in a Class 4A regional on their home field. THS, the No. 1 seed in the East Bracket, dropped No. 16 Holton, 10-0, and then rallied against defending state champion Bishop Miege in the regional final.

No. 8 Bishop Miege (12-9) jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the second inning, but the Stags wouldn’t record another hit. Tonganoxie settled down and cut into the lead in the fifth with the Chieftains scored twice with back-to-back walks with the bases loaded.

A Sam Kleidosty three-run homer in the sixth helped THS take the lead. An insurance run made it 6-4, but Tonganoxie need another run. THS struck out the side in the top of the seventh. Owen Welsh neared his pitch count maximum of 105 pitches after striking out the first batter. He got behind 3-1, but then threw two more strikes.

Gehrig Goldbeck then came in for THS in relief and made quick work of the next two batters. Goldbeck threw six pitches — all strikes — and finished off the defending state champs.

Tonganoxie now sets its sights on a state title.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association hadn’t released official pairings or game times for the state tournaments May 26-27, but all regionals are complete and Tonganoxie looks to be the No. 2 seed when the tourney starts next week at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina.

Clay Center and Iola have the same record, so one likely will be the No. 3 seed and the other the No. 4 seed. Entering regionals, Clay Center was allowing 3.61 runs per game and Iola 3.7, so based on those numbers, The Mirror projects CCHS No. 3 and Iola No. 4.

Here’s the anticipated pairings:

No. 1 McPherson (20-2) vs. No. 8 El Dorado (10-12)

No. 4 Iola (16-4) vs. No. 5 Ottawa (15-6)

No. 3 Clay Center (16-4) vs. No. 6 Paola (14-7)

No. 2 Tonganoxie (18-3) vs. No. 7 Abilene (13-8)

Quarterfinals will be played May 26, with semifinals, consolation game and the state championship to be played May 27.

Heavy rainfall during the 2019 state tournament caused numerous postponements, with the tournament eventually being moved from Salina to the Wichita area at Maize High’s field, which has artificial turf.

Dean Evans Stadium now has artificial turf.

Loomis gets victory No. 100

THS coach Mitch Loomis got a water cooler shower from his players after THS defeated Miege, a customary action in sports after winning such a big game.

But it also was a notable game because the victory marked Loomis 100th as THS head baseball coach.

Loomis was hired in 2010 at the age of 24 and started at the helm with the 2011 THS baseball season. In 11 seasons, he’s guided Tonganoxie to four state berths. Before taking over the program, he spent four seasons as an assistant to his father, Phil, who spent five years as THS head coach after a decorated career at Seaman. Mitch played at Seaman and then in the college ranks at Dodge City Community College and Northwest Missouri State.

FRONTIER LEAGUE WELL-REPRESENTED

Tonganoxie is one of three Frontier League teams to earn state berths this season, as Paola and Ottawa also will be in Salina. THS went 1-1 against Ottawa and 1-0 against Paola this season.

The North Central Kansas League has two teams in this year’s state field (Clay Center and Abilene), as does the Ark Valley Chisolm Trail III and IV (McPherson and El Dorado).

The Pioneer League also is represented, as Iola is a member.

BANNER YEAR IN TONGANOXIE

This might be the most successful sports year overall for THS athletics.

Chieftain baseball became the fifth Tonganoxie team in the 2021-22 school year to earn a state berth. Girls golf placed fourth (Hayden York wins individual title) and boys soccer placed third in the fall, THS boys wrestling won a state team title (Gabe Bailey individual title) in the winter and now THS boys golf and THS baseball have earned state berths in the spring.