Month: July 2021

Monarchs good news times two on Thursday night

The Kansas City Monarchs (22-15) took both games of a doubleheader with the Sioux Falls Canaries (18-20) Thursday night at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. The Monarchs won the first game 9-5 and took the night cap 3-1.

Game 1

There were no goose eggs on the scoreboard for the Monarchs and Canaries in game one as both clubs got the bats going early. The Sioux Falls Canaries came out swinging in the first inning with an RBI from Nick Gotta and two-run home run from Jabari Henry, putting three up on the board early.

Kansas City responded right away with an RBI single from Gaby Guerrero in the bottom of the first, two more coming off the bat of Ryan Grotjohn, who had a two-run scoring single in the second, tying the game going into the third 3-3.

The Monarchs took the lead for good in the third with a solo home run from Colin Willis, the run brought the score to 4-3 in favor of KC.

Jan Hernandez rocketed the ball out of the ballpark at 506 feet (yes it was measured), bringing in Morgan McCullough and Grotjohn for a three-run home run and adding to their lead, 7-3, in the fourth. Two RBIs from the Canaries in the fifth shortened the lead to 7-5.

Darnell Sweeney and Casey Gillaspie added to the run tally with an RBI each in the fifth and sixth innings, ending the game with a final score of 9-5.

Monarchs’ starting pitcher right hander Jameson McGrane (1-1) pitched four innings with six strikeouts to pick up his first professional win while Carlos Pimentel (3-2) was charged with the loss.

Game 2

It was a battle of the pitchers in the second game, with Cody Mincey (2-0) winning the crown and Ty Culbreth (6-1) coming up short. The dueling left-handers combined for 12 strikeouts in 12 innings and each just gave up one earned run in their outing.

Cody Mincey pitched a full game tossing seven innings and finishing with 91 pitches; he allowed three hits, one run, one walk, and recorded five strikeouts.

Gabby Guerrero kicked the party off for the Monarchs with a single to left field. Casey Gillaspie followed with another single to left, advancing Guerrero to second base. Then, Charcer Burks was walked by Culbreth.

After an Alexis Olmeda strikeout, Kevin Santa hit a ball to short that was misplayed by shortstop Angelo Altavilla, bringing Guerrero home to make it 1-0 Kansas City on the unearned run.

Ty Culbreth pitched for five innings, recorded seven strikeouts, allowed six hits, two runs, one walk, and one home run.

Casey Gillaspie hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth and livened the crowd at Legends Field.

The Canaries attempted to peck their way at the Monarchs’ lead in the top of the sixth, loading the bases, but Mincey was able to work out of the jam, allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Monarchs put another unearned run on the board off reliever Robbie Gordon. The action started with a walk by Casey Gillaspie, then Charcer Burks hit a single to center field. Colin Willis followed with a fielder’s choice, forcing out Burks at second.

Alexis Olmeda walked to load the bases, then a ground ball by Kevin Santa to first base was bobbled by first baseman Trey Michalczewski,whose error brought Gillaspie home for his second run of the night, making it 3-1.

Mincey worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to finish off the sweep for the Monarchs.

Kansas City will start a new series against the Lincoln Saltdogs, beginning with a doubleheader Friday night. The first pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Legends Field with the gates opening at 4 p.m.

A promotion scheduled for Friday night is Superheroes Night, and those attending can take photos with their favorite superheroes at the second game. There will be a costume contest with prizes for all ages.

The games can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 4:35 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

  • Story by Kaitlyn Sanders and Emerson Peavey, Monarchs

Kansas Supreme Court upholds murder conviction

The Kansas Supreme Court today affirmed MonDale Le’on Douglas’ convictions on three counts of first-degree premeditated murder.

A Wyandotte County District Court jury in 2020 found Douglas, age 31, guilty of the deaths of Edward Rawlins, David Rawlins and Addrin Coats. The three were killed at an apartment on April 2, 2018, in the 1100 block of Tenny Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.

According to court documents, one of the victims was shot four times, with two shots to the head and two of the shots within five feet; another victim was shot four times, including once in the back of the head; and a third victim was shot six times, including three shots to the head.

Douglas was shown on surveillance video entering and leaving the apartment building at night around the time of the murders, court documents stated. A neighbor testified she heard what sounded like an argument, loud voices and screaming about five minutes before the gunshots.

Douglas also was seen on a video buying a rare type of ammunition that was used in the murder. The ammunition sale took place at Cabelas at 3:45 p.m. on the day of the murder, according to court documents. Police recovered the shell casings at the scene.

According to today’s Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Dan Biles, the court rejected Douglas’ trial error claims, including an argument that Wyandotte County District Court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury on both second-degree intentional murder and voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense, and his argument that the prosecutor committed reversible error when he used the rhetorical phrase “we know” during the closing argument.

On the instructional claim, the court stated that given the overwhelming evidence presented at trial, Douglas failed to convince the court that the lower court’s failure was not reversible error.

With regard to the prosecutorial error claim, the Supreme Court found the prosecutor erred when he used “we know” in conveying his personal opinion about who killed the victims, but ultimately concluded that error was harmless as the strong evidence supported his convictions.

Fantastic Fourth of July weekend weather likely

National Weather Service graphic

A perfect weather weekend – great for outdoor celebrations – is in the National Weather Service forecast for Wyandotte County from Friday through Sunday, the Fourth of July.

Temperatures will be in the mid-80s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to the weather service forecast. There will be low relative humidity.

Rain will not be in the forecast until the early morning hours Monday, when there is a 20 percent chance, the weather service said. Then more rain is in the forecast from Tuesday through Thursday.

The weather service noted that residents should still be aware that rivers in the region are experiencing minor to moderate flooding. This flooding should subside over the weekend as conditions dry out, the weather service said. If encountering roadways covered by water, residents should turn around and take a different route, according to the weather service.

The Missouri and Kansas rivers in Wyandotte County currently are well below action stage and flood stage, according to USGS hydrology charts.

Today, it will be sunny, with a high near 86 and a light east northeast wind, the weather service said.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low around 66 and a calm wind, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be sunny, with a high near 87 and a calm wind, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 66 and a light south wind, according to the weather service.

On Sunday, Independence Day, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 88 and a south wind of 3 to 8 mph, the weather service said.

On Sunday night, there is a 20 percent chance of showers after 1 a.m., with a low of 69, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be sunny, with a high near 91, the weather service said.

Monday night, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 70, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, there is a 40 percent chance of showers after 1 p.m., with a high near 91, the weather service said.

Tuesday night, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a low of 72, according to the weather service.

Wednesday, there is a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high near 86, the weather service said.

Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 72, according to the weather service.

Thursday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a high near 88, the weather service said.