Daughter of Shocker baseball legend helps Bishop Carroll win 5A softball championship
There’s some inherent pressure when you grow up in Wichita and your father is a Wichita State baseball legend and former MLB player.
But instead of worry about trying to live up to a legacy, Bishop Carroll junior Kendall Forbes has used the wealth of experience and knowledge from her father, P.J. Forbes, to become of the top high school softball players in Kansas.
“I have always felt like it has been more of a blessing, rather than trying to live up to some kind of expectation,” Kendall Forbes said. “I feel like if he could, then I can too.”
Kendall is quickly carving out her own path in softball, as she was the starting second baseman for an undefeated Bishop Carroll team that won the program’s 14th state championship and first since 2015 on Friday.
Carroll completed a 23-0 season by capturing the Class 5A title with a 4-3 victory over Basehor-Linwood at Wichita State’s Wilkins Stadium.
“I’ve been blessed that she’s willing to reach out to me and ask questions,” said P.J. Forbes, who helped WSU win the 1989 College World Series. “It’s never easy when your parent is coaching you, but the fact that she puts that kind of trust in me means a lot. We have a special kind of father-daughter bond through the game.”
That bond began to strengthen in 2015 when P.J. retired from baseball following a 12-year playing career, which included brief stops in the majors, and then another decade in the game as a minor league manager.
After being gone for nine months out of the year for so long, P.J. wanted to spend more time with his family. It was right around that time when Kendall, who was 11 at the time, started playing competitive softball.
“I remember the first year I was home, her team won a tournament at 1 o’clock in the morning in Kansas City,” P.J. said. “That’s when I found out about her passion for the game.”
Ever since then, P.J. has worked closely in softball with Kendall, who is also a standout basketball player at Carroll.
“Everything that I know is from my dad,” Kendall said. “He can fix anything.”
There are of course differences between how baseball and softball are played, but P.J. tried to instill the same mentality he brought to the plate for the Shockers in his daughter.
Kendall’s batting averaged fluctuated over .700 at points this season and her speed was a weapon on the basepaths for Carroll, as she led the team in runs scored and triples and was third on the team in runs batted in.
“The game is played above your neck,” P.J. said. “It’s being able to read what’s going to happen before it happens. Being in the right position, that’s no different than baseball. You have to be athletic in the box and take your barrel to the ball.”
But the biggest thing P.J. tried to teach his daughter was to be a great teammate first and foremost, which came in handy when Kendall endured a hitting slump at the state tournament.
“She doesn’t like to lose. She’s like me in that aspect,” P.J. said. “She had a tough tournament swinging the bat, but that didn’t bother her. All that mattered to her was at the end of the day she was hoisting that trophy.”
On Saturday, Carroll showed its depth in the championship performance.
Emma Green, the No. 9 hitter, reached on an error, then wreaked havoc on the basepaths to score the opening run of the game in the third inning. She started a four-run rally for Carroll, which continued with RBI hits from Kadence Brewster and Anna Stephen.
Despite being out-hit, 7-2, Carroll held on thanks to clutch pitching from Brewster and an impressive snag in left field by Haley Doffing in the seventh inning. Brewster stranded Basehor-Linwood runners at second and third base in the sixth inning, then stranded the game-tying run on third base in the seventh inning when the final out was recorded on an offensive interference play when a ground ball hit a Basehor-Linwood runner headed for second base.
“That was one of the weirdest games I’ve ever been involved with,” Carroll coach Steve Harshberger said. “The end like that, I’m glad it ended that way. They played a great game and they had us on the ropes and we hung on at the end.”
“It feels great to be a state champion,” Kendall said. “I love my teammates and I love my coaches. I’m so proud of all of us right now.”
Both semifinal games were well-played, as Carroll topped Eisenhower, 3-1, thanks to a 2-run home run by Kiley Brewster, who drove in all three runs, and Basehor-Linwood beat Goddard, 1-0, as Goddard starter Kendal LeGrand threw a complete game without allowing an earned run and struck out 11 hitters.
In the third-place game, Eisenhower’s Karlee Ford stole home for the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and Eisenhower hung on for a 4-3 win over its rival Goddard. Alexis Mastin had a RBI hit for Eisenhower, while LeGrand and Khloe Perkins both hit home runs for Goddard. Eisenhower’s Allyson Montgomery earned the win and struck out 11 hitters, while LeGrand struck out 10 in the loss.
Cheney wins 3A for first state title in program history
Cheney entered the week having never won a game at the state tournament. The Cardinals left with their first state championship.
Cheney won the Class 3A title in a thrilling 1-0 victory over Silver Lake in the championship game in Manhattan on Friday. The Cardinals finished the season with a 25-1 record.
“It just all clicked for us,” Cheney coach Matt Johnson said. “You can only dream of a season like this and it was just unreal to watch it play out. I’m so proud of these girls.”
Jailyn Adolph hit her first over-the-fence home run of the season in the sixth inning to provide the game’s only run, while Korri Lies did the rest with a shutout performance in the circle.
“You talk about what an incredible experience that must have been for her, to hit her first one out in that situation,” Johnson said. “And then Korri was just incredible. She pitched every inning, every game for us. She was just phenomenal with her off-speed pitches today. She did a fantastic job.”
Cheney finished the game with nine hits, as Brooklyn Wewe and Alexis Lorenz each had two and Kylee Scheer, Adolph, Elina Bartlett, Lies and Hailey Jones all had one apiece in the title game.
The Cardinals also had to survive a 4-2 victory over Hoisington in the semifinals earlier in the day. Lies again threw a complete game, striking out 13 hitters, and finished 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI’s.
After losing to Silver Lake in the semifinals, Haven came back to take third place by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for a 8-7 win over Hoisington. Maguire Estill homered with one out, then Haven scored the next five runs all on two-out hits from Brookelyn Barnett, Lexi Smith and Sadie Estill.
Meanwhile, in the Class 2-1A state tournament in Pratt, Belle Plaine settled for a fourth-place finish a day after upsetting the top seed. The Dragons (20-6) lost 3-1 in the semifinals to Burlingame, then 10-0 in the third-place game to Mission Valley.
Andale-Garden Plain advances to the 4A final
A late offensive explosion spurred a 7-2 victory for Andale-Garden Plain over Eudora in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament in Salina. On Saturday afternoon, Andale-Garden Plain (21-3) beat top seed Holton (22-2) 3-2 in the semifinals and faced No. 6 Wamego (19-5) for the title later in the day.
In the quarterfinal, Kyla Eck came through in the clutch for Andale-Garden Plain, delivering a two-out, two-RBI hit in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the team up 2-1, then blasting another two-RBI hit, this time a triple, in the sixth inning in part of a five-run rally to blow the game open. Eck finished with a team-best four RBIs.
Madelyn Rolfs delivered the other crucial hit, a two-out, two-RBI single in the sixth inning and Alyssa Mude did the rest in the circle, limiting Eudora to two earned runs in a complete-game performance and striking out 13 hitters.
In other quarterfinals, Winfield lost 5-2 to top-seeded Holton and Pratt lost 5-1 to second-seeded Clay Center. The Vikings (14-9) had RBI hits from Haley Gedrose and Haley Sparks.
Friday’s state softball tournament game scores
Class 6A
Semis: No. 1 Topeka 1, No. 5 Gardner Edgerton 0
Semis: No. 6 Olathe North 3, No. 2 Lawrence Free State 2
1st: No. 1 Topeka 7, No. 6 Olathe North 1
3rd: No. 5 Gardner Edgerton 2, No. 2 Lawrence Free State 1
Class 5A
Semis: No. 1 Bishop Carroll 3, No. 4 Goddard Eisenhower 1
Semis: No. 3 Basehor-Linwood 1, No. 7 Goddard 0
1st: No. 1 Bishop Carroll 4, No. 3 Basehor-Linwood 3
3rd: No. 4 Goddard Eisenhower 4, No. 7 Goddard 3
Class 4A (quarterfinals)
No. 1 Holton 5, No. 8 Winfield 2
No. 4 Andale-Garden Plain 7, No. 5 Eudora 2
No. 2 Clay Center 5, No. 7 Pratt 1
No. 6 Wamego 4, No. 3 Bishop Miege 0
Class 3A
Semis: No. 1 Cheney 4, No. 5 Hoisington 2
Semis: No. 3 Silver Lake 7, No. 2 Haven 3
1st: No. 1 Cheney 1, No. 3 Silver Lake 0
3rd: No. 2 Haven 8, No. 5 Hoisington 7
Class 2-1A
Semis: No. 5 Burlingame 3, No. 8 Belle Plaine 1
Semis: No. 7 Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan 3, No. 3 Mission Valley 2
1st: No. 7 Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan 6, No. 5 Burlingame 0
3rd: No. 3 Mission Valley 10, No. 8 Belle Plaine 0
Saturday’s state softball tournament game schedule
Class 4A (at Salina’s Bill Burke Complex)
No. 4 Andale-Garden Plain 3, No. 1 Holton 2
No. 6 Wamego 2, No. 2 Clay Center 1
Third place: No. 1 Holton (22-2) vs. No. 2 Clay Center (21-3), 1 p.m. (Field B)
Championship: No. 4 Andale-Garden Plain (21-3) vs. No. 6 Wamego (19-5), 1:30 p.m. (Field A)
This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 6:57 AM.
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