Month: May 2018

T-Bones beat Goldeyes, 4-1, in pre-season game

In a quick two-hour, 10-minute game and their fourth win of pre-season play, the Kansas City T-Bones defeated the Winnipeg Goldeyes 4-1 at T-Bones Stadium Monday evening.

Kansas City locked in a lead early with a busy bottom of the first inning, scoring three runs off three hits.

Lead-off batters Keith Curcio and Dexter Kjerstad both reached base with singles, putting runners at the corners.

The T-Bones grabbed the lead when Winnipeg catcher Gavin Stupienski overshot second base trying to throw out base runner Kjerstad, allowing Curcio to score. Adam Brett Walker followed with an RBI triple to deep center field, bringing home Kjerstad.

But the T-Bones weren’t finished yet. With one out, a sacrifice fly by center fielder Nick Torres brought home Walker, putting the T-Bones up 3-0.

T-Bones right-hander Hunter Adkins pitched three consecutive three-up, three-down innings with two strikeouts in the first and one in the second. In the T-Bones half of the third inning, Dexter Kjerstad slammed the first pitch of the inning by Winnipeg right-hander Charlie Rosario over the left field fence for a home run, upping the score 4-0 Kansas City.

But Winnipeg answered back in the top of the fourth inning with a triple by first baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez just inside the left field fence at the 411 sign. Reggie Abercrombie followed with an RBI single, bringing home Rodriguez for the Goldeyes’ only run of the game.

Right-handed pitcher Travis Hissong came in to start the top of the sixth for the T-Bones, retiring the first three batters he faced. Kyle Hansen worked the seventh inning for the T-Bones, allowing no hits and striking out two of the three batters he faced.

T-Bones shortstop Angel Rosa woke up the crowd in the seventh inning with a home run ball off Winnipeg left hander Kevin McGovern that landed in the Goldeyes’ bullpen, making the score 5-1. Jackson Lowery and Julio Eusebio each worked a 1-2-3 inning to finish off the game for Kansas City.

T-Bones pitching allowed just one hit in the last five innings of the game, and the T-Bones went on to win 5-1.

Spring training continues Tuesday night at T-Bones Stadium with the second game of the three-game series against Winnipeg beginning at 7:05 p.m. The T-Bones are now 4-1 in pre-season play.

Season, group, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the Box Office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the Box Office at 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The home opener is at 7:05 p.m. May 22 when Gary SouthShore visits the T-Bones.

– Story from T-Bones

Brazilian student’s career at KCKCC ‘the best two years’ of his life

Guilherme Grave (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

For Kansas City Kansas Community College soccer star Guilherme Grave, the highlight of his two-year career was not winning the Plains District championship; nor qualifying for the NJCAA national tournament for the first time in KCKCC history; not even earning a full scholarship to Oklahoma City University.

Simply put, the highlights were the things that America, Kansas City and KCKCC had to offer a Brazilian youth who grew up in Sao Paulo.

“It was the best two years of my life,” Grave said. “I learned a new language, went to different places and host cities. I went to Arrowhead Stadium to watch a Chiefs game, KC Sporting games, Royals games and KU games. It was the whole experience, more than just soccer.”

Grave learned English through KCKCC’s English as a Second Language program.

“When I first came, it was hard talking to coach; I knew a few words but that’s all,” he said.

A two-time All-Jayhawk Conference and All-Region selection, Grave has signed to play next fall at Oklahoma City University, an NAIA Division I university.

“Extremely proud of him,” KCKCC head coach Ruben Rodriguez said. “Guilherme is a very skillful athlete who can play any position. A hard-working young man, he has a great academic record. I wish him all the best in life.”

Grave earned post-season honors as a midfielder in his freshmen season, helping the Blue Devils finish 10-4. He moved to forward as a sophomore as the Blue Devils (11-5-1) won the Jayhawk Conference and the Plains District championships on the way to qualifying for the NJCAA Division I national tournament for the first time ever.

The highlight was a 1-0 overtime win over No. 7 ranked Cloud County in Concordia for the Jayhawk championship, a game in which Grave suffered a broken nose early and was unable to return to play.

“That impacted the game because we were without an experienced forward and disrupted the flow but the defense really stepped up,” Rodriguez said.

“That was the best game of the season,” Grave said. “Cloud was the best team we played all season, even in the nationals. The field was terrible and they had a lot of people supporting them, a really hard game. Every one of our players played so well, every single one stepped up and played for each other.”

At 6-2 one of the biggest Blue Devils, Grave is expected to use his skills to play forward at Oklahoma City.

“I’m not fast so thinking is everything for me,” he said. “People like my techniques and my awareness. Every single moment I’m thinking about the right position on the field and what I’m supposed to do if I get the ball.”

Grave does not plan to be a stranger to KCKCC.

“I will come back and see some games,” he said.

Kansas Department of Agriculture asking public for help to draft new hemp-growing regulations

by Brian Grimmett, Kansas News Service

Industrial hemp is coming to Kansas, but first the Department of Agriculture has to figure out how to regulate it.

To get started, the department is holding public meetings to get input from potential growers.

“Please don’t be frustrated if our answer is, ‘We don’t know yet,’ because that’s part of why we’ve asked you to come so we can figure out what we need to figure out,” Chad Bontrager, Kansas Agribusiness Service director, said before beginning his presentation at a recent meeting in Manhattan.

The meeting consisted of an overview of the recently passed law opening up the pilot project, as well as presentations from two people involved in the operation of industrial hemp programs in Kentucky and Colorado.

Dozens of people participated in the meeting, including Christina Hett. She’s a farmer in Marion County who’s interested in hemp as an alternative to the wheat, soy beans and corn she already grows.

“The farming markets are terrible, and it’s just to the point that we have to find something else,” she said.

But even after the meeting, she still had lots of questions and concerns, especially about how much a license to grow would cost.

“It’s almost like they’re not thinking about this from the producer’s perspective,” she said.

The state Department of Agriculture’s goal is to have draft regulations completed by July 1 and to begin issuing licenses to grow by the beginning of 2019.

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment and energy for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio, KCUR and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/kansas-department-agriculture-asks-public-help-drafting-new-hemp-growing-regulations.