June 2014 – Page 41 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Richar, T-Bones complete late comeback

Kansas City scored five runs in the eighth inning, including three off a bases-loaded triple by Danny Richar, and beat Sioux City 8-5 in front of 5,641 Wednesday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

Sioux City, protecting a 4-3 lead in the eighth, brought in former major leaguer Alex Burnett for only his second appearance in 2014. He gave up five runs on four hits, including a triple with the bases loaded by Richar, that blew things open for Kansas City, giving the T-Bones an 8-4 advantage.

Kansas City had the lead early. The second inning started harmlessly enough for Sioux City starter John Straka, retiring Richar and Nick Schwaner in order. But Darrell Hudson and Danny Masiello then drew back-to-back walks before Robby Kuzdale lined an RBI double off shortstop Nate Samson’s glove and into left field, scoring Hudson. Bryan Sabatella then legged out an RBI infield single that scored Masiello and extended the Kansas City lead to 2-0.

Sioux City responded in the fourth. Andres Perez opened the inning with a single and Rene Tosoni followed with a booming double that carried over Sabatella’s outstretched glove in right field and rolled to the wall. Samson then struck an RBI double of his own that scored Perez and Tosoni and evened the score at 2-2. Samson advanced to third, tagging on a fly ball and scoring on an RBI groundout by Peter Barrows that gave Sioux City the lead.

The Explorer lead was short-lived, however, as the T-Bones answered the following inning. Richar stroked a leadoff double into centerfield and came around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Vladimir Frias, tying the game at 3-3.

Perez finally broke the tie in the eighth for the Explorers with a solo home run off Kansas City reliever Jared Messer, knocking it off the “fair pole” in left field. The T-Bones then followed with a five-run frame, taking the lead and never looking back. Kris Regas (2-1), who entered the game in the eighth, picked up the win for Kansas City. Burnett (1-1) took the loss.

Kansas City climbs to 15-17 with the win, while Sioux City falls to 12-21, tied for the worst record in the league. The T-Bones and Explorers conclude their series Thursday night at 7:05. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=177822

– Story from Matt Fulks, T-Bones

New advance polling place at Speedway; rules on political party switching change for next election

Voter registration to close July 15

Voters will see two changes for the upcoming primary election Aug. 5.

• A new advance voting polling site will be at the Kansas Speedway, I-70 and 110th Street.
• Rules have changed for switching political parties before an election.

Also, there is a new website available for voters who are interested in advance voting at wycovotes.org.

Satellite polling site for advance voting

Satellite voting has been added this year for advance voting in Wyandotte County, according to Frances Sheppard, assistant county election officer. This option includes Saturday voting.

The new advance voting site is at the south building at the Kansas Speedway, she said. Advance voting will begin Saturday, July 26, and continue July 28 to Aug. 2. Hours for advance voting will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Only touchscreen voting will be available at the Speedway polling place; paper ballots will not be available there.

Other voting options continue
There will be three other ways to vote in the Aug. 5 election, Sheppard said.

These include the existing options of voting in advance by mail; voting in advance at the election office at 850 State Ave.; and voting at polling places on Election Day, Aug. 5.

The election office at 850 State Ave., will open for advance voting on Tuesday, July 22, and end at noon Aug. 4. Hours for advance voting there are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Those who want to vote in advance by mail may go online for applications at www.wycokck.org/election. Ballots will be mailed beginning July 16, and must be returned by Aug. 5.

Voters also may vote the usual way by going to their designated polling places between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5.

New rules for switching political parties

The Kansas Legislature recently passed a law that will change how voters may switch political parties. According to a news release from the Kansas secretary of state, those voters who are now affiliated with a political party and want to change to a different party or become unaffiliated before the primary election have until June 30 this year to make the change.

A new law passed this year will not allow party members to switch parties beginning on the day of the candidate filing deadline through the date of the August primary election certification. Because the new law does not go into effect until July 1 this year, it will not apply to this year’s filing deadline of June 1, but starts on July 1.

The secretary of state’s office issued this information about changing parties:
• Registered voters who are affiliated with a party may not file paperwork to change their party affiliations from July 1 through August this year.
• Persons who file paperwork to change parties during the prohibited period will be asked to re-file the document Sept. 1 or after.
• Democrats may not switch to Republican or vice versa (July 1 through August), and switches to and from the Libertarian Party also are prohibited.
• Members of a party may not disaffiliate from their party and become unaffiliated during this period.
• Registered voters who are unaffiliated may affiliate with a party during this period and also when voting at the primary or requesting an advance ballot.

This year, according to the secretary of state’s office, the Democratic Party in Kansas has changed its rules to have a closed primary. The Republican Party has held closed primaries for some years.

A closed primary means that voters already affiliated with a particular party may vote in that party’s primary. An unaffiliated voter who officially affiliates with a particular party at the time of voting may vote that party’s ballot.

Each political party makes its own rules on who may vote in its primary.

Check your voter registration

Voter registration closes July 15 for the primary election, Sheppard said.

Sheppard said voters may check to see whether they are registered to vote, and their polling place location, at the Voter View website, which may be accessed through the election office’s website at www.wycokck.org/election. Voters also may call the election office at 913-573-8500.

The Voter View website is located at https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org.

For more information, visit www.wycokck.org/election, www.wycovotes.org, or call 913-573-8500.

KCK RBI kicks off season

Teams from KCK RBI participated in an opening day tournament recently. Special guests were Mayor Mark Holland and Assistant UG Administrator Bob Roddy. (Photo from KCK RBI)

The Kansas City, Kan., Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities kicked off its fifth season of play with a Parade of Champions May 16 at Eisenhower Middle School, followed by the 2014 Joe Hooker Memorial preseason tournament during the weekend.

In five seasons, KCK RBI has grown from 155 youth to 904 league participants with more than 40 teams filled with kids and participants who reside in Kansas City, Kan.

All league schedules for teams 12 and under have been posted at www.kckrbi.org (see document section). The season for youth ages 13-18 began the first week in June.

Special guests attending the KCK RBI opening day was Mayor Mark Holland, Assistant County Administrator Bob Roddy and KC Royals mascot, Sluggerrr.

“In five years we have grown from 150 kids to over 900 kids and raised our league grade point average from 1.9 to 2.6, we are excited about the future of the program both athletically and academically and we are thankful that Mayor Holland took the time out of his busy schedule to attend our opening day,” said Cle Ross, KCK RBI executive director. “Now we have kids that not only want to be Major League Citizens they also want to be future executives within the community we all reside in which will help create a positive environment for all parties involved.”

Joe Hooker Memorial Tournament results:

Coach Pitch Joe Hooker Memorial Tournament: Champs- Yankees. Runner ups- Rays, 3rd place Orioles. All games were played at Eisenhower.

9-10 Joe Hooker Memorial Tournament: Royals- Champs, Orioles 2nd place, 3rd place Dodger. All games were played at City Park.

11-12 Joe Hooker Memorial Tournament: Rangers- Champs, Royals- 2nd place, Tigers 3rd place. All games were played at City Park.

Sponsors of the event included Freightquote, Calley Tires, and The Meal Ticket . Tournament organizers thanked the Kansas City, Kan., Parks and Rec Department for their assistance in making the event possible.

Teams from KCK RBI participated in an opening day tournament recently. (Photo from KCK RBI)