By Brett Marshall
WAC Athletics
Prendergast, Great Bend sweep conference awards
When long-time Great Bend High School softball coach Carrie Minton decided during the 2025 spring season to call it a career, the Lady Panther program and GBHS administration didn’t have to look far for a replacement.
Shawn Behr had been around the Great Bend program for many years, coaching future Lady Panthers in summer travel ball and working with many of the youth in off-season camps and clinics.
When it was announced that he would take over the reins of the Lady Panthers, Behr inherited a savvy, veteran team with tons of talent.
“That was one thing Carrie and I talked about when she decided to step down,” Behr said of the transition ease. “We wanted to get someone in there to drive it forward because the foundation had already been laid.”
In the final two years of the Minton era, the Lady Panthers had gone 41-11 overall and compiled a 22-2 record in the Western Athletic Conference.
Behr, who was voted WAC Coach of the Year, brought his own set of expertise and expectations to the diamond for the 2026 season. The Lady Panthers responded in spades as they swept through unbeaten in the WAC for the second straight season and advanced to the Class 5A semifinals before having their best postseason run end with a loss to eventual runner-up St. Thomas Aquinas.
“If there were any changes, it’s that I’m probably not as nice a coach as Carrie,” Behr said with a laugh. “Carrie is pretty laid back so there was some difference in my approach. I think maybe this group played with a little more fire, but they’ve always been highly competitive.”
This first edition of the Behr reign finished 26-2 overall. He would, however, credit the deep, talented and experienced players for the success this season. The Panthers ran roughshod over the Western Athletic Conference, going 12-0 for the second straight season while averaging just more than 10 runs per game.
Behr enjoyed having a team that excelled in every area of the game – offense, pitching, defense.
“We were very fortunate to have a strong lineup from one through nine,” Behr said. “Most teams if you get through your 3-4-5-6 hitters, a pitcher can figure it will be a little easier with your 7-8-9 batters. That was not the case with us.”
Leading that potent offensive attack was Behr’s daughter, Kya, who hit .534 with 8 home runs. Four more players batted over .400 and the team collectively had a .363 batting average.
“We had a lot of innings where our 7-8-9 hitters got on base and then scored when the top of our batting order came up,” Behr said. “We work a lot on taking short swings to be ahead of what pitch is coming and then make a strong swing to the ball. I think our offense took a lot of pressure off our pitchers and coaches.”
While the Panthers will graduate six seniors from this juggernaut, Behr returns a solid core group of starters along with bringing up promising underclassmen from the junior varsity.
“We’ve worked on structuring our practices to ensure that every girl has a chance to compete for a spot on the team,” Behr said. “We have enough competition that if somebody isn’t getting the job done, there’s someone else ready to do it.”
While many high school programs are fortunate to have one standout pitcher, Behr and the Panthers enjoyed having a strong 1-2 punch in junior Chayla Prendergast, the WAC Softball Player of the Year, and senior Braelyn Turner.
Prendergast, who was injured at the end of the regular season and missed most of the postseason, went 11-1 this season, pitching a team high 80.1 innings where she recorded 94 strikeouts while issuing only 26 walks. Of the 20 games in which she pitched, she started 13 of them and also went 5-for-5 in the saves category. She had a team best 1.92 earned-run-average.
Turner, meanwhile, posted a 14-0 win-loss record, and finished with a 3.10 ERA. She pitched 67.2 innings.
“They both bring different strengths to the mound,” Behr said. “If you throw strikes, hit your spots and let your defense play, that equation usually comes out successfully. They relied on their defense, and I believe were invaluable to the team.”
Behr said he enjoyed seeing his team show a lot of resiliency especially when it came to the postseason when he had to juggle his pitching staff.
“They displayed a lot of resolve, and I think some of our younger players got a chance to play which will be valuable to us next season,” Behr said.
Joining Prendergast on the all-WAC first team were teammates Behr at shortstop, Katherine Mazouch in the outfield and Denver Ringo at third base.
Runner-up Garden City (9-3) had three selections—freshman Ellie Konrade at first base, sophomore Marisol Angeles at shortstop and junior Yasmin Angeles in the outfield. Hays had the final two selections as the Lady Indians took third at 6-6. Those included Adalie Kippes, a senior second baseman, and Brynlee Rup, a sophomore shortstop.
CHAYLA PRENDERGAST, GREAT BEND, Sr., Pitcher
When the 2026 softball season was in its preseason stage, Chayla Prendergast and her Great Bend Lady Panther teammates had every expectation of experiencing a successful season.
After all, in her freshman and sophomore seasons, the Lady Panthers had posted a 22-2 win-loss record in the Western Athletic Conference, winning the 2025 title with an unblemished 12-0 mark. They also had posted an impressive 41-11 overall record.
So, when the ‘26 campaign was dusted off in late March, Prendergast and her teammates were ready to take on any and all opponents.
When the final weekend of the season arrived, the Lady Panthers found themselves in the Class 5A state semifinals for the first time since the 1990s only to come up one game short of making the state championship game.
Prendergast, though, could only watch from the dugout after suffering an achilles injury in the final week of the regular season. She had, however, made her mark through April and May and was rewarded with being selected as the WAC Player of the Year by the peer coaches in the conference.
“I just found out Monday (June 1),” said an excited Prendergast. “There are so many great players in the WAC and I’ve got a bunch of great teammates, so it’s an honor to represent them and the school.”
In her junior campaign, Prendergast was nearly unhittable, recording an 11-1 win-loss record and an impressive 1.92 earned-run-average. In her 80.1 innings on the mound, she recorded 94 strikeouts while issuing just 26 walks. She never hit a batter all seas.
“My goal was to make good pitches and trust my defense because I had amazing players behind me,” Prendergast said. “I always knew there was someone behind me to take the pressure off me.”
Prendergast comes from a pitching family as her mother pitched collegiately. She also has three younger sisters and all three of them also pitch.
“I think I started around age 8 playing T-ball and then began pitching around age 10 to 12,” Prendergast said. “Before pitching I was a catcher, but I’m happy I made the switch.”
Prendergast hopes to extend her playing career, having already made a verbal commitment to Division I Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
While she admits she doesn’t have a favorite or a best pitch, she has developed a wide repertoire that includes a fastball, dropball, riser, change-uip, screwball and a curveball.
“I work on all of them and I think a lot of the pitches simply depend on the situation, the batter, how many outs, are there runners on base, is the batter right or left-handed,” Prendergast explained. “It’s a lot of fun when I get a strikeout on my change.”
Prendergast didn’t get to finish out the Panthers’ stellar season after she suffered a strained Achilles in her left foot against McPherson near the end of the regular campaign.
“I’m going to get it healed up and be ready for next season,” she said. “We have a great group of players. It’s like a big family. We all get along. I think everyone likes to have fun but we are also focused on winning.”
2026 Western Athletic Conference
Team Standings
TEAM WAC OVERALL
1 Great Bend 12-0 26-2
2 Garden City 9-3 14-13
3 Hays 6-6 12-15
4 Liberal 3-9 9-18
5 Dodge City 0-12 5-22
All-Conference Selections
FIRST TEAM YR POS SCHOOL
1 Chayla Prendergast 11 P Great Bend
2 Kya Behr 11 SS Great Bend
3 Katherine Mazouch 12 OF Great Bend
4 Ellie Konrade 9 1B Garden City
5 Denver Ringo 12 3B Great Bend
6 Adalie Kippes 12 2B Hays
7 Marisol Angeles 10 SS Garden City
8 Brynlee Rupp 10 SS Hays
9 Yasmin Angeles 12 OF Garden City
Player of the Year: Chayla Prendergast. Great Bend
Coach of the Year: Shawn Behr, Great Bend
SECOND TEAM YR POS SCHOOL
1 Alyssa McCauley 12 1B Great Bend
2 Brylee Hamblin 9 P Garden City
3 Haiden Lyon 10 P/C Liberal
4 Jaylee Summers 12 U Hays
5 Lanie Becker 12 OF Hays
6 Camdyn Post 11 OF Great Bend
7 Braelyn Turner 12 P Great Bend
8 Karley Webb 9 OF Dodge City
9 Anabelle Castillo 12 2B Garden City