Month: August 2022

Monarchs sweep Sioux Falls, 13-8

by Dan Vaughan Jr., Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (59-34) rode the arm of Jalen Miller (1-0), who tossed six innings and recorded a quality start and a barrage at the plate to complete the three-game sweep over the Sioux Falls Canaries (32-61) 13-8 Sunday afternoon at Sioux Falls Stadium.

Miller, who was signed last week for the Monarchs, made his first start for the club and was in a solid groove all day. He tossed five scoreless innings, holding the Canaries to two hits until Sioux Falls scratched out a pair of runs in the sixth.

The Monarchs jumped on Sioux Falls starter Stevie Ledesma (4-5) early, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Before the beverages were warm on the 80-degree day, Mallex Smith doubled, then came home on an RBI single from Kevin Santa to make it 1-0. With two outs and two aboard, Gio Brusa roped a single to right center to score a pair and make it 3-0.

Ledesma then retired 10 in a row until the fifth and the Monarchs got hot again. Dylan Harris walked to start the inning, then was followed by a Smith single to put runners at the corners. Santa then drove in his second of the day on an RBI single to make it 4-0 Kansas City.

Ryan Grotjohn singled, but Smith was thrown out at home to put runners at first and second. The Monarchs pulled off a double steal to move the runners up for Jacob Robson. Robson cranked a ball to right center to score both runners with a double, 6-0.

A wild pitch moved Robson to third for Jan Hernandez, who hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Robson. It was 7-0 in favor of KC.

In the sixth, the Monarchs struck again facing reliever Christian Johnson. Pete Kozma singled and moved to third on Smith’s second double. Santa walked to load the bases for Grotjohn, who smacked a double and scored two runs to extend the lead to 9-0. After a wild pitch, Robson hit a roller to short to score Grotjohn and it was 10-0 Monarchs.

The Canaries got two off Miller in the bottom of the sixth for two runs, but he punched out Kona Quiggle to record his ninth strikeout and ended his outing with the score 10-2. His line for the afternoon was 6.0, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 errors, 1 base on balls and 9 strikeouts.

The Monarchs picked up three more runs in the seventh on a two-RBI double from Kozma and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Smith to extend the lead to 13-2.

The Canaries came back with five runs in the bottom of the seventh off Frank Rubio to make it 13-7. Aaron Takacs drove in one run, Quiggle had a two-RBI double, and Angelo Altavilla added another RBI to cut into the Monarchs’ lead.

The Canaries got a solo home run with two outs in bottom of the ninth from Altavilla, who finished 5-for-5 in the loss.

The Monarchs won for the fifth game in a row and finished the season 13-2 against Sioux Falls. The Monarchs, with 12 strikeouts, tied a franchise high as a pitching staff of 897 set in 2017.

The Monarchs continue their six-game road trip with the first game of a three-game series across the border against Winnipeg Goldeyes at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, in Winnipeg.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

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

BPU warns customers of telephone scams

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities is warning customers about utility scams.

Scammers are using a new tactic, according to reports from some BPU customers.

Callers, fraudulently claiming to be BPU representatives, are telling customers they have been overcharged on their electric bill and are owed a credit, according to a BPU spokesman.

An individual on the call asks for credit card information to apply a refund, according to the BPU spokesman. The calls are not from the BPU, the spokesman stated.

In most cases, the caller claims to be a BPU customer service representative to get the customer to provide credit card information or other personal information, telling the customer a check has bounced or he or she has a past-due bill.

According to BPU representatives, multiple reports have been made about calls stating if payment is not made, services will be shut off within 30 minutes. The caller claims to represent a local utility and sometimes uses caller ID spoofing to convince victims the call is from a real customer service number.

Imposters often will ask customers to use a pre-paid card for payment. BPU will never ask a customer to purchase a pre-paid debit card, or any form of cryptocurrency, to pay for service, the spokesman stated.

BPU never asks for payment over the phone or threatens to disconnect utilities due to nonpayment, the spokesman stated. Customers who suspect they are being targeted by a scam need to hang up and call the BPU customer service department at 913-573-9190. If they feel they have been the victim of a scam, work with local law enforcement to report the crime.

Although BPU sometimes uses pre-recorded messages to notify customers about future dates for possible disconnection, they do not cold-call customers to demand immediate payment, the spokesman stated.

BPU offered these tips for customers to protect themselves if they are unsure about a call, email or visit from a utility representative:

• Never give credit or debit card, Social Security, ATM, checking or savings account numbers to anyone who comes to your door, calls, texts or sends an email asking for information regarding your utility bill. Verify the request is authentic by asking to see company identification or calling the BPU customer service department.
• Be suspicious if you receive an email regarding your utility bill if you have not requested online communications from BPU.
• Never provide personal information via email or click any suspicious links or attachments.

BPU said electric customers have been targeted by scammers using a variety of scam attempts for a number of years in several states besides Kansas, including Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin and New Mexico.

  • Story from BPU