The Kansas City Kansas Community College Choral Department is preparing for its final concert of the season.
The KCKCC Spring Choral Multimedia Showcase is at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at Trinity Community Church, 5010 Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kan. Admission is free and open to the public. However, donations will be accepted.
“People should come to this concert, because it’s rare to find a vocal concert that combines video, audio, and lighting to create an overall effect, based on the theme of the music,” said John Stafford, director of choral activities at KCKCC. “The music comes from a variety of different areas including Russian Church music, music about recent events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, environmental music, biblical stories and many more.”
The spring concert will feature a variety of choral music, expressing the joys and sorrows of the human experience. Music will be by Eric Whitacre, Jake Runestad, Mike Engelhardt, Stacey Gibbs, Anders Edenroth and Daniel Elder. Multimedia aspects will be combined with the choir performance in the form of video and audio elements. Some of the video will feature animation designed by students from the KCKCC Art Department.
Kansas City, Kansas, Chief of Police Terry Ziegler choked up as he presented a flag to Jamie Lancaster, widow of Detective Brad Lancaster. The flag was flown over the U.S. Capitol in Lancaster’s honor, and was sent to Chief Ziegler by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran. (Photo copyright 2017 by Brian Turrel)
Photos and story copyright 2017 by Brian Turrel
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4 and the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department held a memorial service to remember all of the police officers who have died in the line of duty for the department.
The deaths of two officers in the past year were a heavy focus of the service.
The service was originally scheduled for the front steps of City Hall, but was moved indoors to the council chambers because of inclement weather.
The memorial stone in front of City Hall lists the names of all the fallen officers from the city’s history. (Photo copyright 2017 by Brian Turrel) Eloise Melton, youngest daughter of fallen officer Capt. Robert Melton, wore a shirt that read, “My Hero Wears a Badge.” Eloise was born after Capt. Melton’s death. (Photo copyright 2017 by Brian Turrel) Taps was played and a moment of silence was observed for the fallen officers. (Photo copyright 2017 by Brian Turrel) Attorney General Derek Schmidt, right, talked with Mayor Mark Holland prior to the service. Mayor Holland gave a tribute to fallen officers Detective Brad Lancaster and Capt. Robert Melton. He also read a proclamation from the city. Attorney General Schmidt also paid tribute to the officers and extolled the role of police in protecting the public. He announced the imminent passage of the Law Enforcement Protection Act by the Kansas Legislature. (Photo copyright 2017 by Brian Turrel)
KCKCC will send a lineup of all .300 hitters against Garden City in first round playoff action Friday. The Blue Devil starters, from left, Albert Woodard (.368), Tyler Pittman (.380), Alex Phillips (/420), Rorey Combs (.387), Brandon Green (.304), Easton Fortuna (.345), Chase Redick (.321), Drew Holtgrieve (.303) and Josh Schumacher (.384). (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins) by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
A pair of offensive-minded teams, Kansas City Kansas and Garden City Community Colleges, will square off in opening round Region VI baseball playoff action at KCKCC Friday.
The Blue Devils will come into the opener with a .329 batting average; Garden City is at .327. But as usual, the key to success goes through the mound.
“Pitching and defense win championships, at least that’s one everyone says,” KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck said. Friday’s opener is set for 3 p.m. with game 2 Saturday at 1 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
On paper, pitching is where the Blue Devils may have an edge. As a team, the Blue Devils (38-18) have an earned run average of 4.63, well under Garden City’s 6.32 ERA.
Jake Purl, 7-2 with a 3.84 ERA, will get the start in game one with lefthander Shea Stephens (6-3, 2.35) set for the second game.
Chad Cox (4-3, 5.76) will get the call in the third game if needed with Corey Cowan (5-0, 3.21) available for long relief, Julian Rivera, who has six saves, will be called on to close. Purl finished fifth in strikeouts in the Jayhawk Conference with 75 while Stephens’ 2.35 ERA was also fifth in the conference.
“We’ve had four guys who have started every conference game and been pretty consistent all year,” Goldbeck said. “We want our starters to give us a chance to win and they not only did that but went out and finished a lot of games.”
Offensively, the Blue Devils boast a starting lineup of all .300 hitters led by first baseman Alex Phillips, who finished fifth in the conference with a .421 batting average and tied for second in runs-batted-in with 68. He’s joined by designated hitter Rorey Combs (.387), outfielders Josh Schumacher (.384), Tyler Pittman (.380) and Chase Redick (.321), shortstop Albert Woodard (.368), second baseman Easton Fortuna (.345), third baseman Brandon Green (.304) and catcher Drew Holtgrieve (.303).
Redick is second in both home runs (8) and RBI (41). Other RBI leaders are Holtgrieve (35), Schumacher (30), Fortuna (30), Pittman (29) and Woodard (27). The running game will be a Blue Devil strength. Pittman finished second in stolen bases in the conference with 29; Woodard fifth with 25.
Led by Connor Reynolds, who led the conference with 18 home runs, Garden City (33-22) has out-homered the Blue Devils 60-41. However, the Broncbusters will be getting their first look at the biggest park in the conference.
“It’s .290 down the line but gets big in a hurry,” Goldbeck said.
“Garden City always has good teams,” Goldbeck said. “They’re well-coached and real scrappy. Not a team that gives away outs and one that extends pitch counts to get starters out of the game,”
KCKCC finished in a tie with Neosho County for third place in the Jayhawk East at 24-12 but Neosho got the third seed by virtue of a better record against league champion Cowley.
The Blue Devils have a sparkling 24-4 record at home but were only 5-10 in one-run games against Jayhawk rivals. Seven games were decided in extra innings with KCKCC winning three.
“We’ve been competitive in every game with the exception of one and even when we’ve had tough losses, we’ve been able to rebound,” Goldbeck said.
A KCKCC quartet of, back row, from left, Chad Cox (4-3), Shea Stephens (6-3), Jake Purl (7-2) and Corey Cowan (5-0) combined to start every Jayhawk Conference game in the Blue Devils’ 24-12 season while Julian Rivera, center, has claimed the closer role with six saves in recent weeks. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
