Ollie Jo Jacobson Passes Away

    Services for Mrs. Jacobson will be Thursday, May 5, 2022 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Corn Hill with visitation starting at 9:00 AM and Mass starting at 10:00 AM. Burial will follow the Mass at Live Oak Cemetery in Youngsport, Tx.
    Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, Ollie Jo (Hickman) Jacobson was born April 30, 1930 in Jarrell Texas to Eula Pearl (Cosper) Hickman and Roosevelt (R.V.) Hickman. Ollie Jo attended school in Jarrell, Texas where she lived into her early twenties before moving to Rossville, Kansas. She was always a caring person who put others needs before her own, in fact she was a caregiver to many of her family.
    A loving mother to her children and her entire family, when her children married, the spouses were not "in-laws' they too became her children. She had become a beautician while in Kansas, owning a salon for many years before returning home to be closer to her family in Jarrell. For a time, she served as Hostess at the historic Stagecoach Inn. Ollie Jo was described by all as a "hard worker" her entire life and actually continued as a hairdresser into her early eighties.
    After returning to Texas, she became very active in the community. Ollie Jo became a Sunday School teacher, and often a chaperone for her youngest son's church group outings. She loved music, dancing and reading especially westerns. Friends and family note that she had a beautiful voice. While she loved music of all genres, she particularly loved attending a Beach Boys concert. Being a woman of many interests, even in her last days she was a faithful fan of college basketball, especially the Kansas Jayhawks. Above all of her interests however, her family always came first.
    She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Jacobson, mother, Eula Pearl Collins, father, R.V. Hickman, brother, Robert Vernon Hickman, sisters, Billye Jean Crum, Merle Elaine James, a daughter, Judith Marie Scheid and son, Stephen Darnell Scheid.
    She is survived by her sons, Jesse Patrick Jacobson, Steven Eugene Jacobson, Michael Craig Jacobson, a daughter, Patricia Ann Bridges and a brother, Glenn and wife Pat Collins and sister, June Hodges, cousin, Cherry Lou Angel, 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, 8 great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
    The family has requested in lieu of flowers those wishing to donate in memory of Ollie Jo Jacobson please consider choosing from the following:
Live Oak Cemetery, Killeen, Texas- Live Oak Cemetery, % Glenn Collins, Assoc. President, 13245 State Highway 195, Killeen, Texas 76543
Salado/Cedar Valley Tornado Recovery Fund  % United Way of Central Texas, 4 N. 3rd Street, Temple. Texas 76501

St. Marys Inv. Golf

  The RHS boy's golf team finished 9th of thirteen teams at the St. Marys Invitational at  Stagg Hill on Thursday, April 28.  Joathan Hart finished in sixth  place with an 81.  Mshewe Hale had a 94 good for 25th place.   

Adam White In Spotlight At KAMS

 

Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science

KAMS/AMS Senior Spotlight - Adam White, Rossville High School (Rossville, KS)

Future Plans: Adam plans to attend the University of Advancing Technology (Tempe, AZ) to pursue a degree in game programming. Adam is interested in becoming a Video Game Programmer.

KAMS/AMS Accomplishments: FHSU Deans Honor Roll - Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021

KAMS/AMS Research: Adam conducted research with Dr. Hongbiao Zeng in the Computer Science Department. Adam created a computer simulation to calculate the correlation in areas between a triangle-formed parabola. Adam presented this research at the 2021 Kansas Mathematical Association of America.

"My favorite thing about KAMS was being around a new group of people. The students at my high school did not have the same interests as me, so I was able to better connect with KAMS students. The best piece of advice I have for future students is to be social. It is easy to stay in your room all day without talking to anyone, so I would suggested being involved in at least one club."

Steven Scott Passes Away

Steven C. Scott, 71, passed away Monday, May 2, 2022, at his home in Rossville.

He was born February 17, 1951, in Norton, Kansas the son of Carl and Joyce Gibson Scott.  Steve lived in Eudora before moving to St. Marys at an early age.  He attended St. Marys Grade School and graduated from St. Marys High School in 1969.  He served in the Kansas Army National Guard.

Steve had worked for A.M.R., Medevac, and Jefferson County Ambulance Services as a Paramedic.  He had lived in Rossville for nearly 40 years and had been a volunteer fireman, serving as assistant fire chief and lead medic.

Steve was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Brian, and a sister, Connie Scott.

On May 25, 1984, Steve was united in marriage to Linda Boyles in Miami, OK.  She survives at their home in Rossville.

Other survivors include two sons, Jarod (Julie) Scott, Topeka, and  Shane (Stephanie) Scott, Mayetta; a brother Kevin Scott, Miami, FL; a sister Karen (Tom) Seele, Ft. Myers, FL; six grandchildren, Brendan, Tristan, Dexter, Sobie, Carsie, and Sylas.

Memorial Services will be at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys.  Inurnment will be in Lynn Creek Cemetery, Berryton.  The family will receive friends from 9:00 A.M. until the service at 10:00 Saturday morning. Memorial Contributions may be made to the   and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple Street, St. Marys, Kansas 66536.

Alex Sherer Wins State Tennis Title

 The crown fits! Sherer's long wait
pays off with 3A-1A state title

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Saturday's Class 3A-1A state championship match was a challenge from start to finish for Rossville senior tennis star Alex Sherer.

Of course, challenge is also the best word to sum up Sherer's high school career as a whole.

But after waiting four years just to get a chance to play in a state tournament, Sherer was more than willing to put in a little extra court time, surviving a marathon three-set, two-tiebreaker championship match to take a 6-7 (10-8 tiebreaker), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker) victory over Wichita Collegiate junior Nick Grabon at Wichita's Riverside Tennis Club.

"This was the goal, this was the hope and we got it done,'' Sherer said. "It wasn't easy, but we got there.''

Rossville senior Alex Sherer displays his championship bracket after claiming the Class 3A-1A state singles championship Saturday in Wichita. [Twitter]

 A veteran of the summer circuit, Sherer was unable to play as a freshman and sophomore because Rossville did not field a tennis team and he had his junior season as a co-op player for Hayden and Rossville wiped out by COVID-19, but finally was able to fulfill his dream of winning a state title -- the first in Rossville history -- with Saturday's come-from-behind win in a match that looked like it could go either way right up until Grabon's final shot went out of bounds.

"It was definitely a little wild,'' Sherer said. "I started out down 5-2 (in the first set) and got it back to the breaker, and had a set point in the breaker, and Nick played some good points. I started up big in the second and then Nick rolled off quite a few games in a row but I was able to snag the second.

"And then the third was just a dogfight. It wasn't about the tennis anymore in the third, that's for sure. It was just about whoever could grind out every point at that point. It was wild and it was tough, but there was so much on the line that it wasn't going to be easy and it wasn't going to be fun all the time, but it had to be done.''

Sherer, who capped a 36-2 season, looked to be on his way to the title when he went up 5-2 in the third set, but just a few games later he was staring defeat in the face.

"Being up 5-2 in the third and then going down 6-5, with your opponent serving for it, you go from, 'I can finish this off,' to 'Oh my God, I might have just choked away my one and only shot,' '' said Sherer, who will play collegiately at Kansas Wesleyan. "But when that (last) ball flew wide whatever I was feeling just came out all at the same time.''

Rossville senior Alex Sherer capped a 36-2 season with the Class 3A-1A state singles title Saturday in Wichita, a taking a three-set, two-tiebreaker victory in the final. [File photo/TSN]

After playing for James Sandstrom's Hayden team in the regular season, Sherer was coached by his father, Washburn Hall of Famer Jesse Sherer, in postseason for Rossville and said it was nice to be able to share the title moment with his dad.

"He was getting on me the third set, trying to keep me motivated, keep me going,'' Alex said. "We had our exchanges and then I come off the court and he's smiling and fist-bumping.

"We were in Wichita so there were hundreds of people there all cheering for Collegiate, and they're screaming and yelling, and then that last point goes wide and you can hear my dad. He was excited and he was happy. It was cool for sure!'' 

Onaga Latest BB Victim

 The RHS baseball team added two more wins to their winning streak of 12 straight games with 14-2 and 16-1 wins over Onaga on April 28, 2022.

Softball Team Win Streak Continues

The softball team added two wins with 11-3 and 13-0 victories over Onaga on April 28.  Rossville is now 14-0 overall.

Silver Lake Inv. Golf

  The RHS boy's golf team finished 6th of eight teams at the Silver Lake Invitational  on April 25, 2022.  Jonathan Hart finished fifth  with an 81.  Mshewe Hale had a 92 good for a 14th place.   

Jeff West Inv. Golf

 The RHS boy's golf team finished 8th of twelve teams at the Jeff West Invitational at the Village Greens on Tuesday, April 26.  Joathan Hart finished with a tie for eighth place with an 86.  Mshewe Hale had a 94 good for a 17th place tie.   

KABC 3A Baseball Rankings

 The Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches ranking for 3A baseball on April 24 are

1.   Columbus
2.   Humboldt
3.   Rossville
4.   Anderson Co.
5.   Wichita Collegiate

3A Softball Regional At Sabetha

Teams  and records in 3A Sabetha Regional.  Rossville will play Centrailia and will likely meet Silver Lake for the Regional championship.  

 

Rossville HS

 

10-0

 

1.000

 

 

Silver Lake HS

 

10-2

 

0.833

 

 

Seneca-Nemaha Central HS

 

9-3

 

0.750

 

 

Hoyt-Royal Valley HS

 

6-5

 

0.545

 

 

Sabetha HS

 

7-7

 

0.500

 

 

Marysville HS

 

6-6

 

0.500

 

 

Meriden-Jefferson West HS

 

5-9

 

0.357

 

 

Hiawatha HS

 

2-9

 

0.182

 

 

Ks Softball Rankings By MaxPreps Apr 21

 The softball rankings by Max Preps were published on April 21.  However,  missing data makes the results highly questionable.

1	Wamego	11-0	26.2	10.1
2	Rossville	7-0	21.2	6.3
3	Derby	9-0	19.7	5.0
4	Spring Hill	13-0	17.8	0.9
5	Washburn Rural (Topeka)	8-1	17.5	5.9
6	Gardner-Edgerton (Gardner)	7-0	17.5	1.9

KS Baseball Rankings by MaxPreps Apr 21

 The accuracy of the following ranking by MaxPreps are really questionable.

#	Team	Ovr.	Str.
1	Blue Valley Southwest	7-2-0	10.4
2	Rossville	9-1-0	4.8
3	Bishop Ward	8-1-0	5.6
4	St. James Academy	5-1-0	8.7
5	Crest	10-0-0	-0.3
6	Gardner-Edgerton	7-1-0	6.6

Dawgs Win10 Straight, Ranked 6th

The Rossville baseball team won its 10th game in a row on Friday, improving to 11-1 overall, with two wins over Santa Fe Trail, 4-2 and 11-6. 

Ranked sixth in the most recent 3A baseball rankings by the coaches association last week, the team is more concerned with that ranking at the end of the year but it's noticed improvements after bringing back experience from a regional run last season. 

Offensive improvements

Heading into the offseason after a second-round loss in regionals last year, the team knew where it needed to improve and that was at the plate. 

"The two years prior these kids have played, we were a pitching, defensive team," said head coach Eammon Bradley. "We’d pitch the ball well, always had low ERAs, threw strikes, were tough to hit and we’d play good defense.

"We didn’t put up a lot of runs against teams that typically pitch it well. You play the Rock Creek's or you play a Wamego team, and we weren't knocking them out of the park left and right. We knew as a group we had to be better there."

Some of the data will average out as the season continues, but some of the numbers stand out now too. 

Rossville scored in double digits in eight of 23 games last season. Through 12 games this year, they've hit double digits nine times already. 

Last year, Rossville had a team batting average of .302, with 163 runs, 183 hits, 121 RBIs, 25 doubles, four triples and three home runs with an on-base percentage of .420, a slugging percentage of .372 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .791. 

Right now, with four doubleheaders remaining in the regular season and the post season still to go as well, the team has a .357 batting average with 121 runs, 94 hits, 102 runs batted in (RBI), 15 doubles, four triples and five home runs. 

The on-base percentage is .511, the slugging percentage is .501, and the on-base plus slugging percentage is a 1.013!

Heading into the doubleheader against Santa Fe Trail on Friday, six players had a batting average over .300 including junior Kade Perine (.320), senior Corey Catron (.364), senior Aiden Garcia (.306), senior Torrey Horak (.519), senior Kaden Brown (.444), senior Tegan Kippes (.448) and senior Brody Lietz (.444) 

"Our bats have gotten a lot better since last year," said Lietz, the first baseman. "Overall contact and on base percentage have gone up. A lot fewer strikeouts and more balls in play, when that happens usually things go your way." 

Bradley pointed out the seniors as being the number one reason why, saying their overall approaches to at-bats are better, seeing more pitches per bat, seeing more walks as a result and just better pitches to hit in general. 

"That's probably the biggest difference in why were successful compared to last year," said Bradley. 

Experience spurring season

At this point last season, the Rossville baseball team held a 7-5 record with four doubleheaders remaining in the regular season. 

Now, after the wins over Santa Fe Trail on Friday, they've dropped just one game and are in a good position to secure the first league title since 2014. 

"The whole year we kept filling out lineups and just noticed how many juniors we were putting in it," said Bradley on last year. "(We knew we) had the opportunity to be pretty good next year. You knew it wasn't gonna be a rebuilding year or a setback year.

"There's always that experience we would use to improve on what we would do last year and so far that's held true."

Despite losing two key contributors from last year's team in designated hitter Bo Reeves and right fielder Parker Kennedy, the team returned seven starters this year and 80 percent of its innings pitched. It's the most Bradley has returned in his five years as head coach, besides maybe the COVID canceled year. 

"This is by far the most experienced lineup we’ve had," said Horak, the centerfielder. "Our freshman year we had 4-5 freshman that played often/started. Having 7-8 seniors that can play consistently is huge, especially at a 3A school." 

The DH position has moved around on this year's team, and Tegen Kippes has stepped into the starting role in right field. 

"Tegan Kippes, he's stepped in, and was kind of competing with Parker last year for the job," said Bradley. "This year, he's stepped up massively, huge improvement from last year." 

While the bats have been hot, returning experience on the mound is another key to this team's success thus far. 

Catron and Garcia, along with sophomore Camden Horak, who saw playing time as a freshman, are leading the way on the mound for Rossville. 

Heading into the doubleheader against Santa Fe Trail, Catron had a .54 ERA with 14 strikeouts, Camden Horak had a 2.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts and Garcia had a 2.15 ERA with 13 strikeouts. 

Of the seniors this year, five saw good playing time as part of the 2019 team that placed third in 2-1A, and that experience is important for a team that has a good mix of experienced underclassmen and talented underclassmen. 

After losing their sophomore year to COVID and losing in the second round of regionals last year, going out with a deep post-season run in baseball would be the cherry on top for the senior class after most were part of the latest state football title in the fall. 

"With football this year, how that finished was great," said Catron. "Being able to finish with a baseball state title would be amazing too." 

Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker