Month: April 2021

Hutchison’s extra inning home run lets Blue Devils sweep

Palmer Hutchison (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

The KJCCC Player of the Week last week, Kansas City Kansas Community College third baseman Palmer Hutchison laid the foundation Thursday for a repeat performance.

Hutchison’s leadoff home run in the top of the eighth inning provided the winning run in a 5-4 opening game win and he added another in a 10-1 sweep of Neosho County in Chanute. The homers were his 10th and 11th of the season and gave him seven in the last eight games.

The sweep extended the Blue Devils’ current winning streak to 10 in a row and a two-game lead over Allen County in the race for the third place and a home playoff berth.

Johnson County (18-2) continues to lead the Jayhawk Conference followed by Cowley (16-3-1), KCKCC (13-7) and Allen County (9-7). The Blue Devils closed out their four-game series with Neosho Saturday in a home doubleheader and are hosts to Maple Woods Monday at 3 p.m.

Hutchison’s tie-breaking home run in the 5-4 win rewarded Parker Weddle’s strong pitching performance. Weddle (4-3) worked seven innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven and walked three before Hunter Cashero gave up one hit and struck out two for his first save.

The Panthers proved to be the generous hosts. Hutchison’s homer was the only earned run. The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the third without benefit of a hit, scored another on singles by Camden Karlin, Cole Slibowski and Caleb Adams in the fourth; and added two in the fifth on a two-run single by Slibowski following an error and Hutchison’s third hit of the game.

Logan Barnard (3-0) allowed just two hits in six innings in the 10-1 nightcap, walking four and striking out four. Joseph Reyes pitched a scoreless seventh.

The Blue Devils belted three home runs. Cole Dawson had a 2-run shot in the first and Adams and Hutchison each had 2-run blasts in a 4-run second. Adams added a 2-run double in the sixth while Dawson finished with three hits and Camden Karlin, Hutchison and Adams two each.

A COVID freshman from Hays, Hutchison paced the Blue Devils to six wins with five home runs, two with the bases-loaded to earn Player of the Week honors.

Hutchison’s two-out grand slam got the Blue Devils in front 4-0 in the first inning of a 14-4 win at Highland Thursday and then hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning in a game the Blue Devils would win 11-6. He finished with two hits in each game. On Saturday. Hutchison belted two home runs, one a grand slam and drove in seven runs in a 13-3 win over Highland and then homered and singled in a 6-3 nightcap win. Hutchison leads the Blue Devils in home runs with 11 and runs-batted-in with 31 while hitting .307 and has been a defensive standout at third base.

No. 9 KCKCC women get seventh straight win, face big soccer match Saturday

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s unbeaten women’s soccer team continued its climb in the NJCAA Division I national rankings.

Vaulting from 12th to 9th in the latest NJCAA poll, the Blue Devils defeated Coffeyville 5-1 Wednesday for their seventh win in a row.

The win also set up the biggest game of the season – at second place Barton County Saturday at 2 p.m. Barton (5-1-1) and Cowley (4-1-1) are the closest pursuers to the Blue Devils (7-0).

Sophomore Corrine Hughes had two goals and freshman Katharina Oelschlager a goal and three assists to lead the Blue Devils offensively. Coffeyville took an early 1-0 lead on a penalty kick by Louise Atkinson before KCKCC went ahead 2-1. Hughes scored the tying goal and the go-ahead goal, both on assists from Oelschlager.

Oelschlager widened the lead to 3-1 on a goal assisted by Melissa Siegel and Jaidlyn Yingling and then had her third assist on a pass to Kayley Pedersen. Sammy Wojahn closed out the scoring with an unassisted goal for a 5-1 halftime lead. Coffeyville’s goal was only the third scored against goalkeeper Susie Lopez.

“A great team win,” KCKCC coach Shawn Uhlenhake said. “Our defense was solid and our offense continued to be aggressive. Coffeyville is one of the best teams in our region. It’s always good to beat another team from the Jayhawk East. Hopefully we can heal up quickly for our at Barton Saturday.

Blue Devil men drop 2-1 decision to No. 19 Coffeyville

No. 19 ranked Coffeyville made two early goals stand up in a 2-1 win over Kansas City Kansas Community College Wednesday.

It was the Blue Devils’ fourth straight game one goal decided the outcome. The loss evened the Blue Devils record at 3-3 heading into a road game at No. 15 ranked Barton County Saturday at 4 p.m.

Tahj Hylton scored both Coffeyville goals on assists from Nicolaus Stoddart and David Gomes. KCKCC’s lone goal came when the Red Ravens inadvertently kicked the ball into their own goal.

Drug Take Back Day today

The Drug Enforcement Administration is holding its 20th Take Back Day and invites the public to safely turn in expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs at designated collection sites from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, National Prescription Take Back Day.

With studies indicating a majority of abused prescription drugs come from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets, clearing out unused medicine is essential.

“Prescription medications often end up in the wrong hands, fueling an epidemic that kills more Americans than car accidents,” said Special Agent in Charge Todd L. Zimmerman, head of DEA’s division responsible for the states of Missouri and Kansas, as well as southern Illinois. “We have about 200 police departments in our region participating in this national event. That means everyone has the opportunity to help prevent drug abuse by cleaning out their medicine cabinets.”

Those who have outdated or unused medications or prescription drugs may take them to locations today during Drug Take Back Day.

A Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department community policing office at 49th and State and two CVS stores are on the list of places where residents can take back old prescription drugs or medications. The CVS locations, working with the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, are 4300 Rainbow Blvd. and 950 Minnesota Ave.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department community policing office at 4953 State Ave. will be accepting old prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 24. The office is next to the UG’s Neighborhood Resource Center.

They are accepting pills, capsules, tablets, patches and solid forms of medications as well as vaping devices and cartridges with lithium batteries removed. They are not accepting liquids, IV solutions, sharps, syringes and illegal drugs.

Find another location or learn more about National Prescription Take Back Day at www.deatakeback.com.