Month: September 2019

Man dies in shooting near 59th and State

Police are investigating a fatal shooting in the 5900 block of State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.

According to a police spokesman, officers responded to the 5900 block of State Avenue on a reported shooting about 2:08 p.m. Sept. 1.

They found a man in the street with apparent gunshot wounds, the spokesman stated. Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department personnel also responded and confirmed the victim had died as a result of his injuries.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department Criminal Investigations Division is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Russell’s goal propels Sporting KC to 1-0 win over Houston

Johnny Russell’s first-half header propelled Sporting Kansas City (10-11-7, 37 points) to a crucial 1-0 victory over rivals Houston Dynamo (9-15-4, 31 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

The result gives ninth-place Sporting its first three-game winning streak of 2019 and keeps the club within striking distance of the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Goalkeeper Tim Melia made five saves en route to his 45th career regular season shutout – tying Jimmy Nielsen for the most in team history – as the hosts claimed a momentous win in the bid for a ninth consecutive postseason berth while stretching Houston’s winless skid to seven matches.

Sporting manager Peter Vermes fielded an unchanged lineup from last week’s 2-1 defeat of Minnesota United FC, awarding veteran midfielder Roger Espinoza his 250th career start for the club in all competitions. Gerso Fernandes later entered as a second-half substitute, becoming the 44th player to log 100 appearances in a Sporting uniform.

The hosts wasted little time dictating tempo and landed the first punch on 12 minutes when Russell nodded home his ninth goal of the MLS campaign. The Scottish international’s free kick into a crowded penalty area was cleared only as far as Felipe Gutierrez, who clipped a ball over the top for Graham Smith to chase near the endline.

The center back sent an inch-perfect delivery back across the face of goal for Russell to head past Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis, queuing celebrations across the stadium as Smith recorded his first MLS assist.

Russell was the dangerman once more in the 19th minute, finding Graham Zusi on the overlap along the right channel. His low-driven pass found Daniel Salloi on the doorstep, but the forward’s first-time effort caromed off the top of the crossbar and out of play.

Melia was called into action twice on the half-hour mark as Houston gradually gained a foothold of their own. He dropped low to palm away a Memo Rodriguez strike from the left corner of the box before reacting quickly at the near post to parry Alberth Elis’ deflected cross behind for a corner kick.

Salloi threatened again in the 34th minute, catching Russell’s free kick cleanly on the volley and forcing Willis into a reflex stop. A gripping sequence then unfolded on the stroke of intermission as both sides went close to scoring.

Sporting left back Luis Martins nearly caught Willis out of positions with a searching ball from the wing, but the goalkeeper secured possession and picked out Elis with a booming punt downfield. Elis surge goalward pulled the trigger on the breakaway, but Melia produced a save to keep his clean sheet intact.

The visitors improved in the second half but lacked the requisite incision to break down Sporting’s defense. Vermes’ men remained dangerous in spurts as well, and Willis did well to thwart Erik Hurtado after Russell had skipped past Kiki Struna and Maynor Figueroa before neatly laying it off to his teammate.

Houston thought it had conjured an equalizer in the 73rd minute when Elis dashed down the right channel and squared to Christian Ramirez for a point-blank finish, but the offside flag had been raised on Elis.

The final half-hour of an increasingly cagey match saw referee Alan Kelly brandish four Houston yellow cards as a few egregious challenges popped up across the pitch. Sporting ultimately held their slim advantage to the final whistle, leaving the Dynamo’s playoff aspirations on life support.

Sporting will battle for a fourth straight triumph next Saturday when they travel to face the eighth-place Portland Timbers in yet another all-important Western Conference clash. Kickoff at Providence Park in Portland is slated for 9:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO.

  • Story from Sporting KC

T-Bones climb into first place in division with 3-2 win in 10 innings

by G.M. Vaughan

The T-Bones broke a three-way tie for first place on Saturday evening with a 3-2 win in 10 innings in Kansas City, Kansas.

Stewart Ijames got the winning single in the 10th inning for the T-Bones, scoring Dylan Tice for the win.

At a time when every game feels like a playoff game because the stakes are so high for each team, Saturday’s game between Eric Karch, pitching for Sioux City Explorers, and Akeem Bostick, pitching for the Kansas City T-Bones, felt like everything was on the line.

After seven strike-outs in a row, Akeem Bostick left the ballgame, apparently injured, bringing Henry Owens to the mound in the top of the third. And after a walk to Dylan Kelley, and a bunt by Kyle Wren that advanced him to second, the Explorers threatened early, but the T-Bones defense kept them from scoring.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Stewart Ijames hit a single to the shortstop and advanced to first. A base hit by Nava sent Ijames to third. And with T-Bones on the corners, Casey Gillaspie got on base and drove in Ijames for a 1-0 T-Bones lead.

A walk for Sebastian Zawada and a single to left field by Dylan Kelly helped the Exes charge back in the top of the fifth. Kyle Wren got a double, bringing Zawada home, tying the game 1-1. After a 3-1 groundout fielder’s choice, Drew Stankiewicz got Kelly home, and the Exes took the lead 2-1.

The T-Bones responded quickly, with a single by Omar Carrizales and another by Ramsey Romano. With T-Bones on the corners again, a Dylan Tice base hit brought home Carrizales, tying the game 2-2.

After several innings of great defensive playing, the T-Bones and Exes were tied at the end of nine innings. But things turned around quickly in the tenth inning. Tice advanced to first when hit by a pitch by Jose Velez and then stole second base.

And finally, Ijames got the game-winning RBI as he hit a single that brought Tice home, and the T-Bones walked it off, winning 3-2, and securing first place—all alone—in the South.

The winning pitcher for the T-Bones was Hunter Smith (1-0), and the losing pitcher was Jose Velez (2-1) for the Explorers.

The T-Bones and Exes still have two more games to play to finish out the season, with the third game of the four-game series starting at 7:05 p.m. Sunday in Kansas City, Kansas. On Monday, Labor Day, they will play at 1:05 p.m. at T-Bones Stadium. The games will be on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

Tickets to all T-Bones home games 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. For more information, see www.tbonesbaseball.com.

  • Story from T-Bones