Month: April 2017

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Ignited by a pair of home runs by Allison Kasick, Kansas City Kansas Community College swept a Jayhawk Conference softball doubleheader at Neosho County Tuesday.

A freshman from Basehor-Linwood, Kasick’s two home runs and five runs-batted-in powered KCKCC to a 7-3 opening game win and set up a 10-1 second game win. The sweep evened the Lady Blue Devils’ record at 16-16 heading into another Jayhawk twin bill at Allen County Wednesday.

Kasick’s first homer following a Hannah Bishop single gave KCKCC a 2-0 lead in the first and she capped a 3-run second inning with a 2-run single set up by singles by Candice Jennings, Sam Sudac, LaTisha Thomas and Bishop.

Kasick’s second home run and fifth RBI came in the fourth and Mikaela Hoffart singled and scored on a Jennings’ ground ball in the fifth.

Megan Sumonja went the 7-inning route for the win, allowing five hits and three runs but only one earned. She struck out six and walked two. She was backed by 12 hits including three by Kassick and two each by Bishop, Hoffart and Thomas.

Shannon Greene got the win in the 5-inning nightcap, scattering seven hits. The Blue Devils pounded out 15 hits including a half-dozen in both the second and third innings.

Six of the first seven Blue Devils to come to the plate lashed out hits as KCKCC jumped in front 4-0 in the second. Hoffart started it with a single and after a ground ball, Jennings singled in a run, Sudac doubled in another and Thomas, Kaylynn Stratton and Bishop rapped consecutive singles.

KCKCC built the lead to 9-0 in the third, scoring five runs on singles by Hoffart, Stringer, Sudac, Thomas and Stratton and a 2-run single by Bishop. The Blue Devils then ended it after five innings on singles by Stratton and Kasick, her sixth RBI of the day.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College continued on its biggest tear of the season Tuesday, breaking a ninth inning deadlock with a 6-5 win over State Fair.

The win was the eighth in the last nine games for the Blue Devils and improved their gaudy home record to 18-3 heading into the biggest series of the season.

Locked in a 3-way tie for second place with Fort Scott and Cowley at 16-8, the Blue Devils (28-13) will play two games at Fort Scott Thursday and then return home Saturday to complete the four-game series at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, league-leading Johnson County (17-6-1) will be playing a four-game series with fifth place Allen County (14-10).

The 6-5 win over State Fair Tuesday came on a one-out sacrifice fly off the bat of Chase Redick after the Blue Devils loaded the bases on a hit batsman and back-to-back singles by Tyler Pittman and Alex Phillips.

The win made a winner out of reliever Julian Rivera, who struck out two of the three men he faced in the top of the ninth.

Cameron Bednar worked the first four innings, allowing five hits and four runs – none of which were earned. Luke Ostenson kept State Fair scoreless until the eighth when the Roadrunners pulled even on two singles off Ostenson and one off Jarrett Cronin.

KCKCC took a 2-0 lead in the first on singles by Redick and Josh Schumacher, Ty Bradshaw’s squeeze bunt and an error and added another run in the third on a double by Albert Woodard and a single by Phillips.

However, State Fair went ahead in the fourth, taking advantage of three Blue Devil errors to score four runs and it took a 2-run rally in the bottom of the sixth for KCKCC regain the lead 5-4.

After a walk and a single by Easton Fortuna, Zach Mahoney’s squeeze bunt tied it and Brigham Mooney put the Blue Devils back ahead with a 2-out double. Redick and Phillips had two hits each and Rorey Combs doubled for KCKCC, which was outhit 12-9.