The Manhattan baseball team advanced to the State tournament after dominating wins over Wichita North 11-1 and Wichita Heights 10-0. 

In the first game the bats were on fire for the Indians as they scored six runs in the first. On the mound for game one was junior Jake Wolcott who threw five innings for MHS while allowing only one run. Going into the bottom of the third Manhattan was up 6-0 when senior Jaxon Vikander hit a two-run homerun to extend the lead to 8. In the fourth WN was able to earn a run, but the runs kept coming for the Indians as they scored three more runs in the fourth making the lead 11-1. The Indians finished the game with a one-two-three inning and moved on to the second round of regionals.

“I’m really proud of this team. They’ve played excellent all year and they worked really hard to get here,” Coach Don Hess said.

In the second round MHS played WH and kept the hot streak going. In the first the Indians scored four runs to take an early lead. On the mound for Manhattan was senior Kyler Horsman who threw five shut-out innings with six strikeouts. In the second and third innings MHS scored one run a piece extending their lead to six over Heights. In the bottom of the fourth MHS scored four more runs taking a 10-0 lead with only one more inning to play. In the top of the fifth Horsman shutdown Heights as the Manhattan Indians moved on to State for the second straight year.

“Both games everyone played really well like we’ve been doing all year, now we have to translate it going into State,” Horsman said.