Born to Lead: Frontenac Softball's Sullivan Triplets Crown Their Career

FRONTENAC, KS — The Frontenac Raiders finished the 2025 high school softball season with a school record of 30 wins and a second consecutive Class 3A state championship.

While several athletes played a big role in the Raiders’ success, a unique trio in the Sullivan triplets helped carry Frontenac to glory.

“It’s always an awesome thing when you can get a sibling or two that play together, but when you get three at once, you know, it was really special,” Frontenac head coach Cassie Rhuems said.

Ella, Alana and Tenley Sullivan grew up attending youth camps with Rhuems and said being a part of Raider Softball was a dream turned reality.

Now, these triplets end their time on the field together as three-time state champions.

“All of us our whole lives, we were just waiting to play Raider softball and play for Cassie and just to think that’s over, it’s kind of hard,” Alana Sullivan said. “But we’re really glad we got the chance to experience it and have the success we had.”

The journey to end their high school career on top wasn’t easy, though, as Frontenac had multiple games come down to the wire in both the Regional and State tournament. With their backs against the wall in do-or-die situations, Ella Sullivan drilled game-winning walk-off hits not once, but twice.

“I always tell them, ‘You can, you will.’ And that’s what I told her,” Rhuems said. “I said, ‘You can and you will.’ And she repeated it back to me. ‘I can. I will.’ And she did it.”

The first walk-off came in the Regional title game against Columbus to send Frontenac to the state tournament, and the second came in the state championship game against Silver Lake.

“They [Alana and Tenley] were both crying and Alana told me ‘Oh, I knew you were going to do it.’ And it just felt good,” Ella Sullivan said.

While winning even one state championship is the goal for nearly every high school athlete, the Sullivans said lifting the trophy was even more special alongside one another.

“I think the reason that I have so much fun during, you know, all the seasons that I’m in is because of Ella and Alana,” Tenley Sullivan said. “Because I know even if I’m having a bad day, they’ll be there and they’ll get through it with me.”

“It was a different feeling,” Ella Sullivan said. “It was so cool to be with our teammates and with my sisters just one last time.”

Going out on top of the sport, Rhuems believes the trials and tribulations the Sullivan triplets endured over the last two postseason runs will pay dividends down the road.

“They started to believe in themselves and, you know, not let mistakes take them down and just tap,” Rhuems said. “They were able to handle big moments and they wanted to handle big moments, you know, and those things like that. Those situations are going to help them in their life in more ways than just softball.”

Statistically, the Sullivan triplets put together quite the impressive senior campaign:

• Alana (CF): .543 BA, .551 OBP, 63 hits, 20 RBI, 49 runs scored, 27 stolen bases
• Tenley (SS): .354 BA, .552 SLG, 34 hits, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored
• Ella (1B): .310 BA, .345 SLG, 26 hits, 14 RBI, 25 runs scored

Now Frontenac graduates, all three Sullivan sisters are set to attend Pittsburg State University in the fall where they plan to study nursing.

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