How back-to-back Valley Center softball state titles began in middle school science class
The first hint of a softball dynasty brewing in Valley Center happened in a middle school science class more than six years ago.
Corey Jones has used his science classroom as a recruiting ground for future Valley Center softball players for the past two decades. It didn’t take long after a batch of sixth-graders showed up in 2016 for him to start thinking about the possibilities when the group came together in high school.
“Every once in a while someone will come up to you and tell you about a sixth-grader to keep an eye on,” Jones said. “I’ve been hearing about this group since they were in fifth grade.”
The group featured eight girls who would all end up becoming college softball players, including three NCAA Division I commits. But the group didn’t grow up playing together; instead they were scattered amongst the top club teams in the Wichita area.
It wasn’t until Mr. Jones’ eighth-grade science class that they realized the potential of what was to come.
“(Jones) was always talking about softball because he knew there were a lot of us coming up and we were pretty good,” Valley Center senior Lucy Hooper said. “We knew there were going to be eight of us who were going to do some damage together.”
Fast forward to the end of their high school careers and their legacy has been cemented, leading Valley Center to its second straight Class 5A state championship with a 16-8 final win over Goddard Eisenhower on May 26.
The group featuring Hooper, Maci George, Sykora Smith, Tori Turner, Kennedy Johnson, Mykah Klump, Ainsley Kraus and Korah Nash finished with a 63-10 record in their three years together (their freshmen year was wiped out by the pandemic) and back-to-back titles.
“This is a core memory for sure,” Turner said. “This is just a special group of girls. Everyone has each other’s backs on and off the field. We all mesh together so well and we all pushed each other to be the best we could be. This group is always going to have a special place in my heart.”
After breaking through and winning the title last season with a core of juniors, the group said repeating had its own unique set of challenges.
“Everyone was gunning for us this year,” George said. “Everyone knew what we could do and they were going to give us their best game every game of the year, so we had to show up and play every time out.”
In fact, the biggest challenge in coaching a group so deep with talent was finding playing time for everyone.
Valley Center also had an infusion of talent that included star freshman outfielder Abreya Perry and junior infielder Morgan Thatcher.
“Just trying to keep everyone happy and feeling like they’re part of the program,” Jones said. “I was very lucky because this is such a great group of girls. Some girls got to play a little bit, some got to play all of it. There were a lot of difficult decisions along the way. It was really hard to make a lineup because we just had so many options.”
Playing time was extremely competitive in practice, but the group was so tight-knit that it never affected their team chemistry.
Valley Center was certainly together as one for the championship game, when Eisenhower set up a rematch of the AV-CTL Div. II rivalry that saw the two teams split in the regular-season series. After all, the Hornets had only lost four times in the last two years and a chance at redemption for the title sounded good.
The championship game was an entertaining back-and-forth affair with Valley Center finally pulling away late, as George, a North Texas signee, delivered a two-RBI rope to the outfield and Smith, a Northern Iowa signee, crushed a grand slam.
“This is just so special because of how close we are with each other,” George said. “We’re all truly sisters and we grew up together. This just means so much to us.”
It was almost fitting that such a special group finished out their final game together in truly spectacular style — with a game-ending triple play.
With Eisenhower threatening with the bases loaded and no outs, a sharp line drive was hit to shortstop where Hooper, a Minnesota signee, made a shoe-string catch. The runners took off at the sound of hard contact, so Hooper sprinted over to touch second base for the force out and then whizzed a throw to third base to complete the improbable triple play to win a state championship.
“I don’t think I could have ever drawn up something like that for the ending,” Hooper said. “This is probably one of the most special things I’ve ever experienced. These girls have become my sisters over the years. We worked hard together. We pushed each other and I would choose them any day of the week.”
For an hour following the victory, the group smiled for pictures with the trophy, laughed with friends and family and relived the memories from their memorable run together.
They lingered at Wichita State’s Wilkins Stadium, the site of the championship game, fully realizing this would be their final time together wearing their all-white Valley Center uniforms with purple and gold trim.
They secretly wished the night would last forever, but one by one, they filed out of the stadium, their careers finished, their legacies sealed.
“It’s such a bittersweet feeling right now,” Smith said. “I’m so happy, but this is also really sad. I know we’re not going to be strangers, but it’s sad that I’m not going to be seeing them everyday anymore.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
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