Author: Mary Rupert

Blue Devils collect 16 hits in 21st win of season

by Alan Hoskins

Pounding out 16 hits in an 11-4 win over Saint Mary’s JV Tuesday, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s baseball focus immediately swung back to Jayhawk Conference play.

At home to Labette for a 1 p.m. doubleheader today, the Blue Devils face a return meeting with Labette in Parsons Saturday.

Six Blue Devils had two hits each as the Blue Devils improved to 21-17.

Garret McKinzie doubled twice, Tyler Raymond doubled and singled and Lucas Norton, Mitch Glessner, Sam Baxter and Alex Thrower had two singles each.

KCKCC jumped in front early, scoring twice in the first on a single by Norton, double by Raymond, Christian Arnold’s sacrifice fly and Glessner’s RBI single and added single runs in the second and third.

Zane Mapes’ squeeze bunt scored Thrower in the second; Glessner drove in his second run after a McKinzie double in the third.

McKinzie and Arnold had back-to-back doubles in a 2-run fifth; two more scored on singles by Norton and Raymond and an error in the sixth; and the final three crossed in the seventh on singles by Baxter , Hunter Walsh, Tanner Foerschler, hit batsman and an error.

Three Blue Devil hurlers combined on a 5-hitter in the 9-inning contest.

Starter Spencer Nielsen gave up just one hit and no earned runs in four innings; Derek Watkins retired six of the first seven eight hitters he faced before St. Mary broke through for three runs and three hits in the seventh; and Jonathan May finished up, allowing one hit and striking out two in 2.2 innings.

PTA to honor former superintendents at 100th anniversary celebration

Kansas PTA is 100 years old, and to commemorate the anniversary, the KCK Council of PTA is planning a special reception and dinner to honor school principals and former superintendents of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools.

The event will take place on Monday, April 14, at the KCKPS Central Office and Training Center. There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m.

Former superintendents Ray Daniels and O.L. Plucker will be a part of the program. Current Superintendent Cynthia Lane and Board of Education President Evelyn Hill will extend greetings.

Entertainment will be provided by the KCK Harp Ensemble and Wyandotte High School drama students.

Child dies in crash on Leavenworth Road

A child died after a crash Wednesday night at 63rd and Leavenworth Road in Kansas City, Kan.

A traffic stop by Kansas City, Kan., police preceded the incident.

Police pulled over a car on 63rd Street, just north of Parallel Parkway, according to Kansas Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Howard Dickinson. The highway patrol handled the investigation but was not involved in the traffic stop or incident.

He said the driver who was stopped, Tyrone Murphy Jr., then took off in the vehicle headed north on 63rd, and the police then followed.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s crash log, a Chevy Impala was northbound on 63rd about 8:35 p.m. Wednesday when it failed to stop at a red traffic light at Leavenworth Road.

It struck a Dodge Caravan that was eastbound on Leavenworth Road, going through the intersection, killing a girl inside the van.

Jasmine Rodriguez, 7, of Kansas City, Kan., was taken to the hospital, where she later was pronounced dead, according to the trooper’s report.

Dickinson said it was a T-Bone crash, with the impact on the passenger side of the van where the children were sitting. They were properly restrained by safety restraints, he said.

It may have been difficult for the driver of the minivan to see anything coming because of the houses near the corner.

Also injured and taken to the hospital were Brian Rodriguez, 7, Kansas City, Kan.; Jesus G. Rodriguez, 9, Kansas City, Kan.; and the driver of the van, Jacqueline, 35, Kansas City, Kan.

Murphy, 27, of Kansas City, Kan., the driver of the Impala, also was injured, according to the report.

Dickinson said that in fatal crashes, a full drug and alcohol screening will be taken, and lab results will be available later.

Dickinson pointed out that it is the police officers’ job to make traffic stops, and officers did not start the chase. It was the decision of the person being stopped to run, he said.

According to the Wyandotte County Jail log, Murphy has been booked into the Wyandotte County Jail.

The jail log lists several charges, including involuntary manslaughter in the commission of another crime;  aggravated battery, interference with law enforcement officer, fleeing or eluding a law enforcement officer with five or more moving violations, possession of drugs, and numerous other traffic citations such as reckless driving, speeding and failure to wear a seat belt.