Month: February 2019

Blue Devils sweep State Fair on a pair of two-hitters

Orlando Ortiz (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

A pair of two-hit pitching performances carried Kansas City Kansas Community College to a baseball sweep of State Fair Sunday.

Orlando Ortiz gave up just two singles in a 2-0 win in the opener while three Blue Devil hurlers combined on a two-hitter in a 5-2 nightcap win in games played on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.

Still unable to hold any home games because of snow on the field, the Blue Devils (4-5) will resume play in a single game Tuesday against Butler County in El Dorado at 2 p.m. A scheduled home game with William Jewell was canceled.

Sophomores Eric Hinostroza and Jose Sosa swung the big bats in the sweep. Hinostroza had four hits in the two games including a double while Sosa had two doubles and a single and drove in runs in each game.

“Hinostroza, Sosa and Tyler Henry all swung the bats well,” KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck said.

A sophomore from Miami Beach, Florida, Ortiz had a no-hitter until one out in the fifth inning in the 2-0 win. He struck out 10 and walked two in the route-going performance.

“Orlando had a special outing,” Goldbeck said. “He had command of all his pitches and stayed in the zone, very similar to Carlos Soto’s performance last week except for a lower pitch count and no high stress innings.”

Held to just one hit through three innings, the Blue Devils snapped the 0-0 deadlock in the fourth, scoring on a leadoff single by Hinostroza and RBI double by Sosa and then added an insurance run in the fifth. Tyler Henry led off with a triple and scored on a single by Eduardo Acosta. The Blue Devils finished with seven hits including two by Henry and one each by JT Goodfellow and Kemper Bednar.

The Blue Devils had to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the nightcap. A leadoff single by Sosa, a walk and two errors tied the game in the bottom of the fourth and KCKCC went ahead with two runs in the fifth. A single by Hinostroza, double by Sosa and a passed ball gave the Blue Devils the lead and Bednar singled in the second run. A hit batsman, Hinostroza’s double and Sosa’s sacrifice fly added an insurance run in the sixth.

Sophomore Victor Gotay worked the first four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on just one hit, six walks and six strikeouts. The two runs came in the fourth on two walks, passed ball and the only hit off Gotay. Freshman Zavier Morin came on in the fifth, loading the bases on a single and two walks before Jose Amaro left the three runners stranded with an inning ending strikeout.

Amaro got the save by allowing no hits in the final two innings although State Fair loaded the bases with two out in the seventh on two errors and a walk before a game-inning popup.

Freezing drizzle in tonight’s forecast

National Weather Service graphic

Freezing drizzle is in tonight’s forecast after 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The freezing drizzle could continue through the night, the weather service said. It could affect driving on Wednesday morning.

Precipitation could start with drizzle around 5 p.m., according to the weather service, when temperatures are expected to still be above freezing at 34 degrees.

Today, the high will be near 38 with an east northeast wind of 5 mph becoming calm in the morning, the weather service said.

Tonight, there is a slight chance of drizzle before 9 p.m., then a chance of drizzle or freezing drizzle between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., then a chance of freezing drizzle after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 22. A calm wind will become north around 6 mph after midnight.

Wednesday will be mostly cloudy with a high near 27 and a north wind of 6 to 9 mph, the weather service said.

Wednesday night, it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 16 and a north northeast wind of 6 to 9 mph, according to the weather service.

Thursday, it will be partly sunny with a high near 32 and a north wind of 6 mph, the weather service said.

Thursday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 19, according to the weather service.

Friday, it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 37, the weather service said.

Friday night, there is a 30 percent chance of snow after midnight, with a low of 16, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be partly sunny with a high near 23, the weather service said.

Saturday night, there is a 50 percent chance of snow after midnight, with a low of 8, according to the weather service.

Sunday, there is a 50 percent chance of snow, with a high near 19, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 7, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be mostly cloudy, with a high of 19, the weather service said.

Turkey Creek stabilization project could cost UG up to $10 million

A Unified Government committee tonight gave preliminary approval for a $10 million bond issue for the Kaw River bank stabilization project at Turkey Creek in Kansas City, Kansas.

The cost of a plan to stabilize the Kaw River bank at Turkey Creek has doubled since the project was originally approved for $5 million last summer, commissioners heard at the Public Works and Safety Committee meeting. Kathleen VonAchen, UG chief finance officer, recommended the resolution for the $10 million bond issue.

Troy Shaw, UG engineer, told the commission that heavy rains in the summer of 2017 resulted in a failure at the Kaw River bank at Turkey Creek. He said the UG applied for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was turned down, and is now appealing that decision. There is also a possibility that the UG could receive some funding from Kansas City, Missouri, in the future in connection with this project, UG officials said.

The downstream wingwall did not fail until the river receded, Shaw said. Once the river went down, there was nothing to hold the wall.

Since then, the UG has been monitoring it, he said. A hole at the site is now filled with rock temporarily, he said. The UG has a construction manager at risk working on the project, he said. The contractor is DSI.

According to Shaw, a contractor did borings on the site and determined the break was much deeper. He said there are plans also to redo the upstream wingwall because it probably will fail soon or in five years. The wingwalls were built about a hundred years ago, he said. Shaw said it made sense to do both walls in the same project.

According to the proposed resolution, the project would include construction, inspection, repair and restoration of the Kaw River bank adjacent to the Turkey Creek outfall into the Kaw River, including replacing the wingwall and floodwall, providing stronger stabilization for the riverbank and restoring the levee wall and headwall.

The Public Works and Safety Committee voted unanimously to approve the resolution to spend up to $10 million on the project.

The project next is scheduled to go to the Economic Development and Finance Committee next Monday before going to the Unified Government Commission for approval, possibly on March 7.

A video of the meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU3IxXSztus.