Concordia Baseball Ends Season in State Quarterfinal Loss
On a Memorial Day Monday afternoon, the 2026 Concordia Panther baseball team took the state baseball diamond for the first time since 2017 at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina. After a special regular season and a NCKL league title, Concordia's season came to an end, falling to the #6 seed in the Class 4A State tournament, the Paola Panthers 7-4 in eight innings.
Senior Chane Parker got the start on the mound for Concordia. Paola jumped on top first with a 2-out double from Kayden Hendrickson after a 2-out single from Mason Stein. Paola held the lead going into the bottom of the 3rd, where Concordia created a two-out rally of their own.
Boone Richard singled, and Ayden Krier reached on a fielder's choice for out number two. After Parker Jackson was intentionally walked to load the bases, it was up to Junior third baseman Drake Blochlinger. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Blochlinger roped a ball to deep left field over the head of the Paola outfielder to clear the bases with a 3 RBI double and give Concordia the 3-1 lead.
Chane Parker managed to hold the lead for the Panthers after allowing one more run in the top of the 5th on a sacrifice fly. Parker finished the game, pitching 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6. Freshman Gehrig Bechard came in to try and close things out for Concordia to try and advance to the semifinals in Manhattan at K-State on Thursday.
After a clean top of the 6th inning, Concordia was never able to add to their 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th, and Paola fought to keep their season alive. Bechard got a lead-off strikeout in the top of the 7th to get things started, but then the black and gold Panthers started to gain some momentum. Blake Costlow was hit by a pitch, and Gannon Miller walked to get the tying run in scoring position with only one out. Concordia grabbed the momentum right back when Costlow was thrown out by Maxson Frey trying to steal 3rd, Paola was down to their final out with the tying run at first. Bechard got ahead 0-2 against Mason Stein for Paola, but the final strike always proves to be the hardest one to get. Stein worked the count back full 3-2 before hitting a 2-run home run to left field to give Paola the lead 4-3. Bechard bounced back to get a strikeout to end the side, but Paola had retaken the lead.
Now Concordia was faced with their final 3 outs of the season against pitcher Blake Costlow, who had sat 7 Concordia batters down in a row, and Junior Kale Schroeder was at the plate. Schroeder then did something special.
Schroeder's first homerun of the season gave Concordia new life, tying the game at 4 with the blast over the left field wall. Rush LeDuc was then hit by a pitch, and Concordia had the winning run on with nobody out. Braytin Hake entered the game to run for LeDuc and was advanced to second on a bunt from Brandon Vignery. The Panthers had the winning run at 2nd with only one out and couldn't find a way to get the run in. Boone Richard flew out to shallow left holding Hake at 2nd, then after Hake stole 3rd, Ayden Krier struck out to send the game to extra innings.
Paola, in the top of the 8th, scored 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks against Bechard, who was handed the loss, pitching 3 innings, allowing 5 runs(3 earned) on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5. Costlow came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th, and after hitting Parker Jackson to start the inning, he got Blochlinger to ground into a double play and got Bechard to fly out to shallow right to end the ballgame. Costlow earns the win for Paola on the mound and sends the Panthers to Manhattan on Thursday for the semifinals.
Concordia's season ends heartbreakingly with a 22-5 overall record and a share of the North Central Kansas League title. Thanks to Seniors Chane Parker, Rush LeDuc, and Joe Berk for the impact they have left on Concordia High School. Thanks to all the fans for tuning in to KNCK Radio for the entire 2025-26 sports season! On to 26-27!