Month: May 2019

Four-year universities descend on KCKCC basketball sophomores

Five Lady Blue Devil national champions to continue college cage careers

There were smiles all around as five KCKCC Blue Devils signed letters of intent, from left, Camryn Swanson and Nija Collier, Central Missouri; Lillie Moore, Texas State; Kisi Young, Southern Arkansas; and Lizzie Stark, Baker. Teammates joining the signing were, from left, Lexy Watts, Lenaejha Evans, Brodi Byrd, Caitlyn Stewart, Carson Chandler, Caroline Hoppock and Diamond Williams. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Sophomores at Kansas City Kansas Community College are not only leaving with a national championship but with scholarships to continue their basketball careers as four-year universities wasted no time in snaring a quintet of Blue Devils.

Lillie Moore signed with Texas State University, an NCAA Division I member located in San Marcos while NJCAA Player of the Year Nija Collier passed up at least a half-dozen Division I offers to seek another national championship at NCAA DII power Central Missouri in Warrensburg where she’ll be joined by teammate Camryn Swanson.

All-American Kisi Young is returning to her home town of Magnolia, Arkansas, to play at Southern Arkansas University while Lizzie Stark will stay closest to her home in Liberty, Missouri, by selecting Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas.

Still weighing their options are point guards Caitlyn Stewart of Wichita Maize and Lexy Watts of Olathe North.

“This is by far the most calls and the most interest I’ve had on a group of sophomores which speaks to their talent and abilities,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “Obviously I’m very happy and excited for this group. I feel like each one put themselves in a great position and are most deserving of the honors they’ve earned. It’s nice to see coaches on the 4-year level recognize their potential as individuals and what they can bring to their new teams.”

Many of the calls started coming before the season after the Blue Devils took part in a pre-season jamboree in Frisco, Texas.

“It’s one of the biggest pre-season recruiting jamborees in the country,” McKinstry said. “I did not see a coach from UConn there but I did see coaches from every other big program, probably more than 400 from four-year schools. As a team, our girls played very, very well. It jump-started a lot of interest in our players.”

Collier swept every award possible in becoming the first Blue Devil to be named NJCAA DII Player of the Year.

A first-team All-American, she was also named the Most Valuable Player in the national tournament and Jayhawk Conference and first team All-Region VI and All-Jayhawk Conference. She led the Blue Devils in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (9.7) while shooting 58.5 percent from the field.

Young is the first Blue Devil to be named to the All-American second team after setting a KCKCC record for shooting percentage (.639). An All-Tournament selection at the national tourney, she was also All-Region and All-Jayhawk first team. Second in team rebounding (8.7), she was fourth in scoring (10.6).

Moore was named to the All-Jayhawk and All-Region teams in each of her two seasons at KCKCC and the All-Tournament team at the national. In 67 games played over two seasons, Moore averaged 14.16 points and 8.04 rebounds. She leaves second in career free throws (242), sixth in career scoring (949) and ninth in rebounds (539).

Swanson set the all-time record for 3-point goals in a single season with 87 and equaled the all-time career record with 128. Swanson had 11 games with four or more 3-pointers with a single game high of seven, second on the all-time list. Team captain, she averaged 8.6 points.

A preseason injury limited Stark to just 17 games this season after a freshman season when she was an invaluable “sixth man,” averaging 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds. Fully recovered from the injury, she is expected to add shooting and depth at Baker.

Amtrak answers senators but leaves the future of Kansas passenger rail in question

by Corinne Boyer, Kansas News Service

Passenger trains will keep rolling through rural communities in Kansas, for now. But Amtrak still hasn’t committed to operating the long-distance routes that connect small towns to larger cities long-term.

Earlier this year, Congress agreed to an additional $50 million to keep the Southwest Chief, which travels from Chicago to Los Angeles with stops in several small Kansas cities, running through September.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and a handful of his Senate colleagues then pressed Amtrak for answers about future plans for long-distance routes. The rail service responded with a letter this week.

CEO Richard Anderson wrote that Amtrak will not alter or truncate any long-distance routes before the end of the 2019 fiscal year. But he didn’t make any promises beyond that.

Instead, the head of the federally funded rail service pushed questions back at Congress about whether to maintain current routes or make changes.

“While we strongly believe that there is a permanent place for high-quality long-distance trains in our network,” Anderson wrote, “the time to closely examine the size and nature of that role is upon us for numerous reasons.”

Amtrak is slated to submit its proposal for reauthorization later this year.

In his letter, Anderson highlighted the increased demand for services in metropolitan areas, where the majority of its ridership occurs on short-distance routes such as the Northeast Corridor.

The long-distance routes, he wrote, ate up nearly $922 million in the 2018 fiscal year — nearly half the $1.94 billion in federal support for Amtrak’s network, while accommodating a relatively small share of passenger trips, 4.5 million rides annually.

While ridership numbers have fluctuated from year to year, Anderson noted the number of long-distance passengers fell 4 % between fiscal years 2017 and 2018.

The rail service is eyeing the development of new routes to meet demand for shorter trips in areas of the country where the population is growing.

Anderson wrote that routes connecting cities and towns within 400 miles or less are the “sweet spot” for passenger rail. He identified a number of new potential corridors, including a route between Fort Worth, Texas — now a stop along the Heartland Flyer — and Newton, Kansas, which is currently a stop along the Southwest Chief.

Moran said he expects Congress to agree to continued funding for Amtrak to support current long distances routes, but that it would be a “battle.”

“I need to make sure that Amtrak, its board of directors, its management has a commitment to long-term passenger services in places in the country in which it’s not probably ever going to be profitable,” Moran said in an interview.

The senator got some of the assurances for the continued operation of the Southwest Chief he wanted from a meeting with Anderson Wednesday.

But Moran said through a spokesperson later that while the meeting was a, “step in the right direction,” it prompted further questions. The senator is keeping holds on nominees to Amtrak’s Board of Directors while he awaits more answers.

Corinne Boyer is a reporter based in Garden City for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and HPPR covering health, education and politics. Follow her @Corinne_Boyer or email [email protected]
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/post/amtrak-answers-senators-leaves-future-kansas-passenger-rail-question

T-Bones finally get games in, and win doubleheader

It’s been a long two days waiting for the Kansas City T-Bones and the Lincoln Saltdogs to play just one game in their three-game series because of the dreary weather in Kansas City, Kansas.

Wednesday night nothing was stopping them from playing two games including a short 15-minute delay in the second inning of game one because of rain.

The T-Bones and the Saltdogs resumed the game like it had never stopped and Kansas City rallied twice, once to tie the game and send it to extra innings and the second to walk off winners 9-8.

Every T-Bone player who started the game had at least one hit in the contest as the ball was knocked all over the ballpark for 14 hits. From the first inning the bats were alive as Lincoln scored three runs in the top of the first on five hits only to see the T-Bones come back to take the lead in the bottom of the first inning.

The T-Bones erased a 3-0 deficit on a two RBI double from Carlos Franco and a two-run home run from Casey Gillaspie off Lincoln starter Kyle Kinman. Both starters Dylan Baker of the T-Bones and Kinman settled down and worked three more scoreless innings for their clubs as the teams went to the fifth inning with a 4-3 Kansas City lead.

Marc Magliaro came in for Kansas City in relief in the top of the fifth. The Saltdogs immediately responded against the T-Bones pen.

Christian Ibarra singled to start the inning and Tyler Moore hit a two-run home run to right and it was 5-4 in favor of Lincoln. Cody Regis drove in another run with an RBI single and it was a 6-4 game.

Kansas City was down to its final three outs in the seventh as Lincoln brought in right-hander Cody Blueberg. Out of nowhere Casey Gallaspie hit the ball to center and was able to travel to second base for a stand-up double. Then Christian Correa drove in Gallaspie with a single to cut the lead to one. Ramsey Romano pinch ran for Correa and was driven in on a single by Forrestt Allday, tying the game at six.

The game headed into a wild eighth inning. Kevin Lenik came into the game for Kansas City out of the bull pen. Lenik struck out Nick Schultz but walked the next two batters. Ivan Marin singled to drive in one run and Christian Ibarra singled again to drive in another, giving Lincoln an 8-6 lead.

Jake Hohensee took over for Lincoln and it took two pitches to pull the T-Bones within one run on a solo shot to right field by Darnell Sweeney, cutting the lead to 8-7.

Shawn O’Malley and Carlos Franco each walked to put runners at first and second. Casey Gillaspie hit a fly ball to left for an out, but then Hohensee walked Roy Morales to load the bases. Daniel Robertson hit a double to left center to score O’Malley and Franco to give the T-Bones a walk-off win, 9-8.

Pitching the key to Game 2

While the offense was strong in the first game, pitching was the key for the T-Bones Wednesday night, as Randall Delgado (2-0), Nick Lee, and Carlos Diaz spun a collective seven scoreless innings to lead Kansas City to victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs 3-0 in this seven-inning nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader.

Delgado was able to set the tone early on the mound, firing two hitless innings with four strikeouts. He ultimately went on to strike out 10 in five innings of work, giving up three hits and walking one, while keeping Lincoln scoreless.

Nick Lee took over for him in the sixth with as scoreless inning of his own. Carlos Diaz followed suit with a scoreless seventh, striking out two. Overall, T-Bones pitchers struck out 13 and only allowed 3 hits as they led Kansas City to a win.

As for the offense, the T-Bones had trouble getting on the board until Darnell Sweeney blasted a rocket to left field, just out of the reach of the outstretched glove of centerfielder Colton Burns to drive in Roy Morales.

O’Malley then followed it with a single, making the score 2-0 as Sweeney raced home. They tacked on one more run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Shawn O’Malley, sending Mikey Reynolds home. That would be all the offense they needed, as the T-Bones were able to shut the door in the later innings of the game.

Randall Delgado picked up his second shutout win of the season, while Shairon Martis only lasted until the fourth, when he had to leave the game because of a possible injury. He picked up the loss, moving to 0-2, giving up two earned runs. Carlos Diaz closed it out and picked up the save for Kansas City.

The T-Bones move to 4-1 on the season and will enjoy an off day before they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Goldeyes for a three-game series this weekend. The Saltdogs’ record drops to 3-3, and they are set to play the Railroaders in Cleburne on Thursday.

The T-Bones and Goldeyes games this weekend will be on Mixlr and t-bonesbaseball.com.

Full and half-season 2019 ticket packages as well as mini plans are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.

  • Story from T-Bones