McPHERSON, Kan. – 26 games have been played and won in McPherson High School Varsity Softball’s regular season. The 26 wins are the most in a regular season in Kansas High School Softball history.
The Bullpups closed it off with a doubleheader sweep of Buhler Tuesday, May 13. The team won game one 12-1 in five innings thanks to a strong offensive start for McPherson. Haely Hagemann and Carmin Pavlovich both went 3-3 on the game with Hagemann driving home three runs as well. Addison Chapman had a strong day in the circle, throwing all five innings and striking out nine batters.
Game two saw more of the same. Chapman went 3-3 with an RBI, two stolen bases, and two runs. Hagemann went 2-3 and drove home three runs again. This time however, Addie Herrera was in the circle, throwing all seven innings and striking out four batters.
The day also honored four senior softball players: Haely Hagemann, Cora Pavlovich, Addison Chapman, and Addie Herrera, who all have had their fingerprints on the incredible season thus far.
The Bullpups will be the #1 seed as they are the only undefeated team in 4A heading into the postseason. They join 5A’s Maize South and 2-1A’s McLouth as the only undefeated softball teams in Kansas.
The 26 wins are the most in a regular season in Kansas Softball history, however it is just second season where a softball team in Kansas can play up to 26 games in a regular season. Frontenac and McLouth each have the record for the most wins in season including a postseason after they both won state titles in 2024, finishing 28-2. However, McPherson has a chance of being the first undefeated State Title team under the new format.
The season has been one for the record books and will be remembered for a long time. The team, under first year head coach Daryl Hoelting, didn’t pop off of the books with their offense, even though it was impressive with a .370 batting average, 20 home runs, and averaging almost 10 runs per game. Instead, it was the pitching and defense that got it done with a team Earned Run Average of 0.824, allowing 1.4 runs per game, and having a fielding percentage of .952.
The team has seen tough competition during the season and had some grinded out victories, which included a 7th-inning comeback against Andale on April 7 and a marathon 18-inning 3-2 victory over Wamego on April 25.
The team will head host Regionals Tuesday, May 20 and will look to return to Salina for the the 4A State Tournament as they continue their quest for the first State Softball Title in school history. The last time they were in the tournament, they fell to Wamego in the 2023 State Championship game.
