Month: March 2019

Grosstephan pitches, bats Blue Devils to two one-run wins

Shay Grosstephan (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

A pair of outstanding pitching performances by Shay Grosstephan and Faith Maslak led Kansas City Kansas Community College to a pair of one-run wins that went right down to the wire Wednesday,

The Blue Devils scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to rally to a 4-3 win over Southeast Community College of Beatrice, Nebraska, and then stranded the tying run on third in a 2-1 second game win.

The wins boosted the Blue Devils’ record to 17-7. The Blue Devils will resume Jayhawk Conference play at Hesston Sunday at 2 and 4 p.m. They’ll then play North Central Missouri in Trenton Monday and then return home against North Central on Tuesday.

A freshman from Girard, Kansas, Grosstephan (7-1) not only got the pitching win but drove in the winning run in the 4-3 opener and then got a save in the second game.

“Shay had a phenomenal day, a win and four hits in the first game and then getting the final out in the second game,” KCKCC coach Lana Ross said. “She had came in cold and pitched lights out and then had the game-winning hit. And Faith pitched very well in the second game, mixing up her pitches and getting hitters to pop up.”

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh in the first game, Basehor-Linwood sophomore Britney Smith led off the inning with a triple and scored the game tying run on Hannah Redick’s single.

Inserted as a pinch runner, Turner sophomore Gracie Gentry stole second and scored the game-winner on Grosstephan’s single, her fourth hit and second RBI of the game. Devin Purcell and Grosstephan each had doubles and Brittney Beck drove in the Blue Devils’ other run.

Mackenzie Pinkerton started on the mound for KCKCC, allowing two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out before Grosstephan came on in relief in the third inning. She gave up three hits and an unearned run while fanning three and walking two.

Maslak, a sophomore from Raymore, Missouri, allowed just four hits and had a shutout until Southeast scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh of the second game. With the tying run on third, Grosstephan got a ground ball to second to end the game. Maslak walked one and struck out two in improving her record to 5-1.

The Blue Devils scored their two runs in the third inning on a double by Hannah Redick and singles by Devin Purcell and Alexis Rymer.

More water releases planned from reservoirs into Missouri River

Missouri River levels are still in the moderate flood stage but are declining. This gauge is on I-435 between Wyandotte County and Missouri, and it includes the Wyandotte County area. While river levels are declining, the area also is experiencing rain, and snowmelt upstream with reservoir water releases will add to Missouri River levels in the future. The river is not expected to reach the levels of last weekend. (National Weather Service – USGS graphic)

While the Missouri River near Wyandotte County has declined significantly in the past few days, rains, runoff and increased water releases from reservoirs to the north are expected to aggravate flooding in some areas.

The Missouri River at Wyandotte County, which is covered by the Parkville gauge, remained in the moderate flood stage on Friday, March 29, as the river is currently projected to decrease to the minor flood stage on Saturday night, according to hydrology charts. The charts are subject to change. With the water receding here, the flood fight has shifted to central Missouri, although officials are monitoring towns all along the river for another rise on the weekend or Monday.

An Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, official announced on Friday afternoon that they intend to increase water releases into the Missouri River from the current 36,000 cubic feet per second at the Gavins Point reservoir in South Dakota to 39,000 cfs on Sunday, to 42,000 cfs on April 3, then increasing it 2,000 to 4,000 cfs daily until it gets to 55,000 cfs. It usually takes around four to five days for water released at Gavins Point to reach Kansas City.

Corps officials stated that there are large inflows into the Missouri River basin system reservoirs from the remaining plains snowmelt in the upper basin. These large inflows were expected to continue during the next week. That results in a need for reservoirs to release more water, according to officials.

A National Weather Service forecaster said on Friday afternoon that with the rain, runoff and releases, some cities in Missouri will have two crests. Jefferson City, Missouri, crested on Thursday and is expected to crest again late Saturday night.

Herman, Missouri, is expected to have a second crest on Sunday, while St. Charles, Missouri, will crest for the second time late Sunday night.

In the Kansas City area, more rain is possible tonight, about a half-inch to three-quarters inch, and Saturday, as much as a tenth of an inch, then a frost is in the forecast for Saturday night, Sunday and Monday morning. The weather will warm up again on Monday. More rain is possible Wednesday night and Thursday, according to the forecast.

Johnson Countian wins big in Powerball Wednesday

Two siblings, one of whom lives in Johnson County, have anonymously claimed the $2 million Powerball ticket from the Wednesday, March 27, drawing.

The other sibling lives out of state. They decided to remain anonymous when claiming their prize.

The winners explained they hardly play Powerball, but when they saw the jackpot for the drawing was an estimated $768.4 million, they couldn’t pass up an opportunity to beat the odds.

“We are still shocked and in disbelief,” one of the siblings said.

“We bought four tickets. Three of the tickets were Quick Picks, and on the fourth ticket, the winning ticket, we actually picked the numbers,” the other sibling explained. “We used the random ages from people in our family to pick our numbers.”

The pair matched five-of-six total numbers, which would normally win $1 million, but because the players also bought the Power Play option for an additional $1, they doubled their prize from $1 million to $2 million.

The winning numbers in the March 27 drawing were 16, 20, 37, 44, 62, with a Powerball of 12. The winning jackpot ticket worth an estimated $768.4 million, with a cash option of $477 million, was sold in Wisconsin.

The $2 million winning ticket was sold at Murphy Express 8799 on 22770 W. 56th St. in Shawnee. The retailer is eligible to receive a $1,000 bonus for selling the $2 million ticket.