BY CAYDEN SANDERS
As another high school spring season approaches its end, the TMP Marian Monarchs look toward another state baseball appearance this afternoon. TMP Head Coach Aaron Breit is excited for his team as they get to play on the campus of Kansas State University as the tournament’s 5th seed.
“We have great kids in this program who love working hard and getting their hands dirty. This season, these kids have put in the work to get us to where we are today to play for a state title, and we will be ready to play,” Breit said.
TMP (14-5) is slated to play the #4 seed Girard High School Trojans (20-3). The Monarchs will look to rely on their regular-season schedule to help them during the state tournament.
“Our team has played stiffer competition during the regular season. We had doubleheaders with 6A Garden City and 5A Great Bend and came out 1-4 in those games but gained valuable experience,” Breit said. “I hope the tougher competition has exposed my team to what the talent will be at state.”
While many teams rely on the senior class to bring their leadership skills to the team, the underclassmen have risen to the challenge of keeping the Monarchs’ season alive. One of those underclassmen is sophomore Cayden Morgan.
Morgan has pitched for the Monarchs all season long; however, his best performance was in the regional final against Beloit. He started the game by striking out the side and while the TMP bats were asleep, Morgan cruised through the Beloit lineup. Morgan pitched his first high school complete game in the contest.
Morgan’s pitching wasn’t the only noticeable stat in the game, as he produced runs on the offensive side as he hit a sacrifice fly-ball to score a run in the second inning. Morgan finished the day by getting the final out of the game via strikeout to give the Monarchs a state playoff berth and earn his 4-0 record as a starter this season.
“The goal this entire year was to get to state, and with getting the start against Beloit, I knew that I would have to do my part to get us there,” Morgan said. “Pitching the entire game was something that I knew I could do for my team, as it would give us a chance.”
While Morgan is one of the key players for TMP, he is not the only player on this team carrying the weight of this team. Breit feels that his team is loaded throughout all facets of the game.
“I feel confident in our team; our pitching rotation is stacked with arms we can trust to get the job done. We have seen our lineup top to bottom show that we can produce runs during the season, and even the guys on the bench can be entered into the game and give us what we need,” Breit said. “It has been fun to watch our team play their game and definitely will be a site to see come Thursday.”
First pitch for TMP and Girard is set for 1:15 p.m. today at Tointon Family Stadium.