HOUSTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg paraded the MVP trophy for delirious fans packed behind the dugout. Max Scherzer tearfully hugged his teammates. Gerardo Parra did the Baby Shark chop, Sean Doolittle flapped snow angels next to the mound.

Almost out of contention in May, champs in October.

Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendon and the Washington Nationals completed their amazing comeback journey — fittingly with one last late rally on the road.

In Game 7 of the World Series, no less.

Kendrick and Rendon homered in the seventh inning as the Nationals overcame a two-run deficit, rocking the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday night to win the first title in franchise history.

With all eyes on Scherzer and his remarkable recovery after a painkilling injection, these Nationals truly embraced their shot in the only Series when the road team won every game.

Even more against the odds: Juan Soto and Washington came from behind to win five elimination games this postseason, an unprecedented feat.

“What a story,” said Ryan Zimmerman, the only player who’s been a part of every Nationals team.

“The way this game went is the way our whole season went,” he said.

Strasburg, new lefty Patrick Corbin and the Nats brought the first World Series championship to the nation’s capital since ol’ Walter Johnson delivered the crown for the Senators in 1924.

This franchise started out as the Montreal Expos in 1969 when the major leagues expanded beyond the border, putting a team with tricolor caps at jaunty Jarry Park. They moved to D.C. in 2005, ending Washington’s three-decade-plus wait for big league baseball after the Senators left town to become the Texas Rangers.

But the incredible path these wild-card Nationals with the curly W logo took, well, no one could have imagined.

Because in one topsy-turvy week, they put aside the pain of past playoff failures.

“Resilient, relentless bunch of guys,” manager Dave Martinez said. “They fought all year long.”

Having lost star slugger Bryce Harper in free agency and beset by bullpen woes, Washington plummeted to 19-31 in late May. It got so bad there was talk around town the Nationals might fire Martinez and trade away Scherzer.

Instead, they stuck with the mantra that sprung up on T-shirts — Stay In The Fight.

“That was our motto,” Scherzer said.

And months later they finished it, indeed.

“Guess what? We stayed in the fight. We won the fight!” Martinez shouted during the trophy celebration on the field.

“We were down and out. We were 19-31. We didn’t quit then, we weren’t going to quit now,” he said.

Strasburg earned the MVP with a pair of wins, including Game 6.

“It’s almost like we’ve done it so many times that we have to get punched in the face to kind of wake up,” he said.

As pitcher Aníbal Sánchez told Scherzer while hugging him in the middle of the diamond: “We won one. We finally won one.”

For the 43,326 revved-up fans at Minute Maid Park, it was a combination of shock and disappointment. So close to seeing José Altuve, Alex Bregman, George Springer and their Astros add to the title they won in Game 7 at Dodger Stadium two years ago, they watched this chance suddenly vanish as Houston fell apart.

“I’ve got a group of heartbroken men in there that did everything they could to try to bring a World Series championship to this city. And we fell one win shy,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said.

“Let’s be honest, there’s 28 other teams that would love to have our misery today,” he said. “And I just told our team, it’s hard to put into words and remember all the good that happened because right now we feel as bad as you can possibly feel,” he added.

President Donald Trump, greeted with chants of “Lock him up!” when he attended Game 5 in Washington, tweeted his congratulations to the Nationals from the White House.

“Game 7 was amazing!” Trump tweeted.

Washington kept pulling away after taking the lead, with the sensational Soto hitting an RBI single in the eighth and Adam Eaton adding a two-run single in the ninth.

Zack Greinke was in complete control with a one-hit shutout until Rendon — a Houston prep and college star — hit a solo homer with one out in the seventh that made it 2-1.

“Just gave us a little bit of hope,” Nationals leadoff man Trea Turner said.

When Soto followed with a one-out walk, Hinch decided to make a move. He’d had ace starter Gerrit Cole warming up earlier, but left him in the bullpen.

“I wasn’t going to pitch him unless we were going to win the World Series and have a lead,” Hinch said. “He was going to close the game in the ninth.”

Instead, Hinch signaled for reliable reliever Will Harris.

Kendrick connected on the second pitch, slicing a drive that hit the screen attached to the right field foul pole for a 3-2 lead. Just like that, everything had changed for the team in orange that led the majors with 107 regular-season wins, and the ballpark fell silent.

For Kendrick, another timely blow. At 36, playing on the oldest team in the majors, the journeyman was the NL Championship Series MVP against St. Louis after hitting the winning grand slam in the 10th inning of the deciding Game 5 in the Division Series at Dodger Stadium.

Then again, this was nothing new for the Nationals.

Washington rallied in the eighth to beat Milwaukee in the wild-card game and took the last two to beat Los Angeles in the NLDS, setting up a sweep of the Cardinals in the NLCS.

“This is now the most 2019 Nats thing to ever happen,” Doolittle said. “Another elimination game, another come-from-behind win.”

Far away, a sizable crowd poured into Nationals Park for a watch party. That was the stadium where Houston hammered the Nats for three games last weekend in taking a 3-2 edge, but their luck changed in Texas.

And they won the last two against a team that posted the best home record in the majors (60-21) over the last two decades. Houston earned home-field advantage throughout the postseason, but it didn’t help in the end as the Astros went a stunning 0-4 in their own ballpark during the Series.

“I hope D.C.‘s ready for us to come home!” shouted Zimmerman, the Nationals’ initial draft pick back in 2005.

Martinez said Soto, who turned 21 last week, celebrated with his first beer. Meanwhile, the skipper, who had a heart procedure six weeks ago and can’t resume his six-cups-a-day coffee habit, headed back to the clubhouse for a special treat.

“I am,” he said, “going to smoke a cigar.”

With Greinke and Scherzer grunting on every pitch, Game 7 started as a classic duel.

Yuli Gurriel put the Astros ahead with a home run in the second and Carlos Correa added an RBI single off Scherzer that made it 2-0 in the fifth.

Scherzer was done after the fifth. Only a few days earlier, the three-time Cy Young Award winner had been unable to lift his right arm due to nerve irritation near his neck.

Corbin, the $140 million starter, threw three scoreless innings in relief.

Daniel Hudson, released by the Angels in March, closed it out for the Nationals, who made Houston pay for stranding so many runners all game. Hudson struck out Michael Brantley for the last out, then threw his glove to start the celebration.

Houston shares a spring training complex in Florida with the Nationals and reported to camp in February full of high hopes.

The Astros breezed to the AL West title, edged Tampa Bay in a five-game ALDS and topped the Yankees in the ALCS. They had a front-office fiasco in October, which led to the firing of an executive for a boorish rant at female reporters during a clubhouse celebration.

“Yeah, the ultimate goal is to win the World Series, and we fell short to a great team. You can’t hang your head low about that,” Springer said. “You move on and start getting ready for spring training.”

WILD

The Nationals became the first wild-card team to win the Series since Madison Bumgarner and the Giants in 2014. Starting with San Francisco’s win, the last six champs have clinched on the road.

UP NEXT

The Astros and Nationals start training side-by-side in a few months and open exhibition play with a World Series rematch on Feb. 22 at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. They met in their Grapefruit League opener this year and Scherzer gave up a home run to the first batter of the game.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State junior quarterback Skylar Thompson added to his awards following the Wildcats’ win over No. 5 Oklahoma as he was named the Maxwell Award Player of the Week, the Maxwell Football Club announced Wednesday.

It was Thompson’s third honor this week as he was named a “Star of the Week” by the Manning Award and was on the Davey O’Brien Award’s “Great 8” list.

Thompson rushed for four touchdowns in K-State’s 48-41 victory over the Sooners, the second most single-game rushing touchdowns in the nation this season and tied for third in school history. He also threw for 213 yards on 18-of-28 aim as he helped K-State earn National Team of the Week honors. Three of his completions went for third-down conversions of over 10 yards, while he had a 13-yard completion on 4^th and 6 in the second quarter to help fuel a touchdown drive.

 

The 22^nd-ranked Wildcats travel to Lawrence to face Kansas in the 117^th edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday. The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m., and will air on FS1.

 

Following a road trip to Texas on November 9, the Wildcats return home to face West Virginia on November 16. Tickets to the game can be purchased online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

KSHSAA Football Playoff Brackets

Area 1st Round Playoff Games on Friday, November 1st:

Class 6A
Hutchinson (2-6) @ Manhattan (7-1)

Class 5A
Newton (3-5) @ Emporia (5-3)

Class 4A
Wellington (2-6) @ Buhler (6-2)
Abilene (0-8) @ McPherson (8-0)

Class 3A
Nickerson (4-4) @ Colby (8-0)
Clearwater (6-2) @ Hesston (7-1)
Clay Center Community HS (3-5) @ Andale (8-0)
St. George-Rock Creek (3-5) @ Cheney (3-5)
Wichita Collegiate (5-3) @ Halstead (8-0)

Class 2A
Hutchinson-Trinity Catholic HS (4-4) @ Eureka (5-3)
Sterling (4-4) @ Norton (5-3)
Fredonia (4-4) @ Garden Plaine (8-0)  Thursday, Oct. 31st

Class 1A
Johnson-Stanton County HS (1-7) @ Inman (4-4)

8-Man D-I
Montezuma-South Gray HS (5-3) @ Little River (7-1)

8-Man D-II
Ingalls HS (4-4) @ Hutchinson-Central Christian HS (7-1)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Meet the 100-year-old Chiefs superfan, Melba Mills. She had never been to Arrowhead to see the Chiefs play, until now.

Wednesday Morning Sports Report from KWBW Radio

UNDATED (AP) — TCU and Oklahoma State meet after both got needed wins in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs and Cowboys have freshman starting quarterbacks, and the league’s longest-tenured coaches. Gary Patterson is in 19th season at TCU and Mike Gundy in his 15th season at Oklahoma State. Both had lost three of four games before wins last week that knocked other Big 12 teams out of the Top 25. TCU beat Texas, and Oklahoma State beat Iowa State.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — An Oklahoma football fan died after suffering an apparent heart attack at Saturday’s game against Kansas State. David Adams, director of Riley County emergency services, said paramedics were called to the stadium for a patient experiencing chest pain, and the fan collapsed after they arrived. He was treated at the scene and taken to a Manhattan hospital across the street from the stadium, where he was pronounced dead.

UNDATED (AP) — When the Kansas City Chiefs beat the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in the fourth edition of the Super Bowl, the result marked the second straight time the AFL team took down an opponent from the supposedly superior NFL. The two leagues merged soon after. The 23-7 victory by the Chiefs on Jan. 11, 1970, stands as the only time they have hoisted the Super Bowl trophy. The humbling loss by the Vikings became the first of four Super Bowl losses for a franchise still seeking its first such win.

UNDATED (AP) — TCU and Oklahoma State meet after both got needed wins in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs and Cowboys have freshman starting quarterbacks, and the league’s longest-tenured coaches. Gary Patterson is in 19th season at TCU and Mike Gundy in his 15th season at Oklahoma State. Both had lost three of four games before wins last week that knocked other Big 12 teams out of the Top 25. TCU beat Texas, and Oklahoma State beat Iowa State.

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard leads the nation in rushing and all-purpose yards. The track star from Canada likes the idea that a fast guy can also be a workhorse. He has rushed for 1,381 yards this season in eight games, an average of 172.6 yards. He ranks second nationally with 16 rushing touchdowns.

UNDATED (AP) — West Virginia is looking for some type of spark as it tries to avoid falling into last place in the Big 12. A bye week allowed coach Neal Brown to focus on fixing the mistakes and bad habits of a young team without the distraction of preparing for an opponent. Now comes the task of getting the heavy underdog Mountaineers prepared to play at first-play Baylor on Thursday night.

UNDATED (AP) — Big 12-leading Baylor goes for its 10th win in a row when the 12th-ranked Bears host West Virginia. The Mountaineers have lost their last three Big 12 games. The game on Thursday night is the last for Baylor before the first College Football Playoff rankings come out next week.

National Headlines

HOUSTON (AP) _ Anthony Rendon drove in five runs and Stephen Strasburg pitched into the ninth inning as the Washington Nationals whipped the Houston Astros, 7-2 to send the World Series to a seventh game. Rendon was 3-for-5 with an RBI single, a two-run homer and a two-run double as the Nationals pulled within one victory of the first World Series title in franchise history. Strasburg is 5-0 with a 1.98 in this postseason after limiting the Astros to a pair of runs and seven hits while striking out seven over 8 1/3 innings.

UNDATED (AP) _ The NCAA has voted to permit college athletes to “benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness,” but it now must figure out how to allow athletes to profit after fighting such a proposal for years. The NCAA Board of Governors has directed each of the governing body’s three divisions to create the necessary new rules immediately and have them in place no later than January 2021. The about-face comes a month after California passed a law that would make it illegal for NCAA schools to prohibit college athletes from making money on endorsements, autograph signings and social media advertising, among other activities.

CINCINNATI (AP) _ Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor has decided to bench Andy Dalton, ending his nine-season run as a starter. The move came two days after a 24-10 loss to the Rams in London left Cincinnati 0-8 for the first time in 11 years. The first-year coach decided to use the bye week to get rookie Ryan Finley ready to face the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 10 at Paul Brown Stadium.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A person with knowledge of the situation says Washington Redskins starting left tackle Trent Williams has ended his holdout and rejoined the team. The seven-time Pro Bowl selection had not reported all season because of a dispute with the team over the handling of a medical situation. The Redskins did not deal the 31-year-old before the NFL trade deadline, which prompted Williams’ return.

Tuesday Scores

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Final Washington 7 Houston 2

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Miami 112 Atlanta 97
Final Dallas 109 Denver 106
Final L.A. Lakers 120 Memphis 91

goshockers.com

WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State’s newcomers made a strong first impression in a 92-57 exhibition victory over Northeastern State, Tuesday night at Charles Koch Arena.

The Shockers won their 26th-straight preseason exhibition game dating back to 2001 and improved to 15-0 under Gregg Marshall (2007-Pr.).

WSU’s newcomers accounted for 52 of the team’s 92 points.

Freshman Grant Sherfield celebrated his 20th birthday in style with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Junior college transfer Trey Wade narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Freshman guard Tyson Etienne put up 12 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting.

Sophomore Jamarius Burton tacked on 14 points and dished out a game-high six assists without a turnover.

Up 27-23 near the 7:00-mark of the first half WSU used a 10-0 run to create separation.  Stevenson’s three-point play, a Burton triple and buckets from Wade and Asbjørn Midtgaard helped the Shockers take a 15-point lead into halftime.

Sherfield led all scorers with 14 points in the opening period.

WSU stretched its lead to 28 near the midway point of the second half after a 13-0 run, with freshmen accounting for nine points.

Within three minutes, the margin had ballooned to 38, thanks to another 12-0 spurt.

The Shockers committed just one second-half turnover and would lead by as many as 41 in the final minutes.

WSU out-rebounded NSU 45-33 and finished +7 in turnovers.

All 13 players that dressed saw at least three minutes of action.

• BOX SCORE (PDF)
• ROUNHOUSE REACTION
• HIGHLIGHTS
• GREGG MARSHALL RADIO INTERVIEW
• GRANT SHERFIELD RADIO INTERVIEW
• QUOTABLES
• PHOTO GALLERY

TOPEKA, Kan. – State Soccer Regional sites have began play on Monday. Winners advance to play in Regional Championship Matches on Thursday, October 31st at various sites.

In 6A, Dodge City defeated Hutchinson 10-0 in Dodge City.  The Salsthawks finish the season at 6-10-1.  Dodge City (14-3-0)  advances to play Wichita Southeast HS on Thursday in Dodge City.

In 5A, McPherson defeated Salina Central 6-1.  McPherson (14-2-1) now advances to play Emporia High School (13-4-0) in McPherson on Thursday.

In 4-3-2-1A West Regional #2, Buhler defeated Wichita-The Independent HS 11-1 Tuesday. Now the Crusaders (12-5-0) will face Rose Hill (10-6-1) in the Regional Championship on Thursday in Buhler

In the other West Regional #3, Elbing-Berean Academy  defeated McPherson-Elyria Christian HS/Hutchinson-Central Christian HS 2-0 in a close match on Monday.

HOUSTON (AP) — It’s been an unconventional road to Game 7 of the World Series for Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals.

Seizing the October spotlight he missed out on as a youngster, Strasburg pitched another postseason gem into the ninth inning Tuesday night as the Nationals beat the Houston Astros 7-2 to tie this Fall Classic at 3-3.

Juan Soto ran all the way to first base with his bat following a go-ahead homer, the same way Houston slugger Alex Bregman did earlier.

Yep, these wild-card Nationals have matched the heavily favored Astros swing for swing, hit for hit — even home run celebration for home run celebration.

Now, it’s onto a winner-take-all Game 7 on Wednesday night to decide the only Series in which the visiting team won the first six.

“It’s weird, really. You can’t explain it,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.

Adam Eaton and Soto hit solo homers off Justin Verlander in the fifth to help the Nationals overcome a 2-1 deficit. Anthony Rendon also went deep and drove in five runs.

“Maybe they enjoy our park and maybe we enjoy their park,” said Rendon, who attended high school 4½ miles from Minute Maid Park. “We’re not going to ask questions.”

Max Scherzer, revitalized by an injection of painkiller, is primed to return from an irritated nerve in his neck to start Game 7 for Washington in a Series that’s been all road, sweet, road.

Scratched from his scheduled Game 5 start only hours before the first pitch, Scherzer was warming up in the seventh inning Tuesday before Rendon’s homer, then sat down as Martinez became the first manager tossed from a Series game since Atlanta’s Bobby Cox in 1996.

“The cortisone shot worked. That relieved the pressure on the nerve, and then keep applying heat,” Scherzer said. “Our chiropractor, he does amazing work. He was able to go in there and make adjustments. We did two treatments of it and really freed up the neck.”

Zack Greinke will start for the Astros, who led the majors with 107 wins and are seeking their second title in three seasons.

“I wish it was in a National League park,” Greinke joked, cracking a smile about his affinity for hitting.

Fired up after a disputed call at first base went against them in the seventh, the Nationals padded their lead moments later when Rendon hit a two-run homer off Will Harris. Martinez, still enraged at umpires, was ejected during the seventh-inning stretch, screaming as a pair of his coaches held him back while the crowd sang along to “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

Rendon added a two-run double off Chris Devenski in the ninth to just about seal it after Strasburg gutted through without his best fastball to throw five-hit ball for 8 1/3 innings. Washington pitching coach Paul Menhart told Strasburg after the first that he was tipping pitches. Strasburg allowed only three more hits.

“Started shaking my glove, so they didn’t know what I was throwing,” Strasburg said. “It’s something that has burned me in the past, and it burned me there in the first.”

Now the Nationals will attempt their ultimate comeback in a year when they were written off time after time, hoping for the first title in the 51-season history of a franchise that started as the Montreal Expos and the first for Washington since the Senators in 1924.

Visiting teams have won three straight Game 7s in the Series since the Cardinals defeated Texas at home in 2011.

“I don’t think there’s a person in the building that would have assumed that all road teams were going to win,” Houston manager AJ Hinch said. “We’ve just got to make sure that last one is not the same.”

Washington rebounded from a 19-31 start — the Nats were given just a 1.6% chance to win the Series on May 23 — to finish 93-69. They rallied from a 3-1 eighth-inning deficit against Milwaukee in the NL wild-card game, a two-games-to-one deficit vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series and a 2-1, fifth-inning deficit in Game 6 vs. the Astros.

Outscored 19-3 at Nationals Park while going 1 for 21 with runners in scoring position, the Nationals got the strong outing they needed from Strasburg, who allowed his only runs in the first inning, struck out seven and walked two while throwing 104 pitches.

“It was a mental grind out there, especially after the first,” Strasburg said. “Just got to keep fighting.”

Strasburg was memorably shut down by the Nationals in September 2012 to protect his arm in his first full season following Tommy John surgery, and Washington was beaten by St. Louis in the Division Series.

He improved to 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in six postseason outings this October — five starts and one relief appearance — despite failing to get a swing and miss in the first two innings for the first time this year. Eight of his nine swings and misses overall came on breaking balls, and Strasburg escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the fourth by striking out Carlos Correa.

After George Springer’s one-out double put runners at second and third in the fifth, José Altuve struck out on a curve in the dirt and Michael Brantley hit a hard grounder to second.

“He has an uncanny ability to slow the game down when he’s under any duress,” Hinch said about Strasburg.

Sean Doolittle got the final two outs as the Nationals bullpen headed into Game 7 relatively rested.

Verlander dropped to 0-6 with a 5.68 ERA in seven Series starts, a blemish on his otherwise sterling career.

“I didn’t really have great feel for the off-speed stuff,” he said. “The last inning just a poorly executed slider and then really just kind of a fastball up and in.”

Martinez’s ejection came after Trea Turner was called out for interference when he ran on the fair side of the foul line and knocked the mitt off first baseman Yuli Gurriel in the seventh following his slow roller. Washington was leading 3-2 at the time and would have had runners on second and third with no outs.

Martinez tried to protest the game. Joe Torre, MLB’s chief baseball officer, said the long delay that followed — just over 10 minutes — was caused by umpires at Minute Maid Park consulting with the replay room in New York to confirm the decision on the field was not subject to a protest.

Rendon’s RBI single through a shifted infield put the Nationals ahead in the first, but Houston needed just four pitches to tie the score. Springer lined a double off the left-field scoreboard, at 112 mph off the bat the hardest-hit ball of the Series, and advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on Altuve’s sacrifice fly.

Bregman’s third homer of the Series put the Astros ahead on Strasburg’s 12th pitch. He carried his bat out of the batter’s box and tried to hand it to first base coach Don Kelly, only for the bat to fall as Kelly stuck out his hand for a shake.

Strasburg called Bregman’s antics “tired.”

“I just let my emotions get the best of me and it’s not how I was raised to play the game,” Bregman said. “I’m sorry for doing that.”

Eaton tied the score in the fifth when Verlander hung a slider. Soto, who turned 21 on Friday, followed with his third home run of the Series.

Soto, too, flipped the bat at his first base coach, Tim Bogar.

“I just thought it was pretty cool,” Soto said when asked if he was mimicking Bregman. “I wanted to do it.”