Category: Kansas City Monarchs

Monarchs explode for 16 runs against Explorers

The Kansas City Monarchs exploded for 16 runs on 22 hits on Thursday night in Sioux City, Iowa.

Defeating the Sioux City Explorers 16-3, the Monarchs, 53-25, stayed on top of South division, 10.5 games ahead of the closest competitor, the Lincoln Saltdogs.

Explorer’s pitcher Patrick Ledet, 6-4, led the Sioux City pitching staff with 84 strikeouts. He faced Monarchs’ starter Nick Travieso.

After a scoreless first inning, the Monarchs scored three runs in the top of the second. Darnell Sweeney doubled to left field and drove in Charcer Burks, Will Kengor and Alexis Olmeda.

The Monarchs added another run the next inning with a Kengor RBI double, making the score 4-0. He extended his hitting streak to 18 games.

Travieso gave up his first run in the bottom of the third. Sioux City got three hits and two runs in the inning to close the gap to 4-2.

Both starters had flawless fourth innings, but the fifth inning was differenet.

Kansas City scored four in the top of the inning after a leadoff double, walk, hit by pitch, single and another double. Burks and Grotjohn had RBIs and the Monarchs led, 8-2.

Sebastian Zawada singled to right, scoring Joseph Monge, and the score was 8-3.

Elroy Urbina took over for Travieso after the end of the fifth. Travieso, the winning pitcher, faced 25 batters, gave up nine hits and one walk. Ledet, the losing pitcher, also left in the fifth, after striking out 10 Kansas City batters. The Monarchs got 11 hits, two walks and eight runs off Ledet.

The Monarchs scored two more runs in the sixth, bringing the score to 10-3. Gerrero, Isabel, Kengor and Olmeda got hits in the sixth.

Urbina pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk, and got three strikeouts.

The Monarchs weren’t done yet. They added six runs in the last two innings. Colin Willis’ two-run home run was the highlight to end the night, with the final score 16-3.

The Monarchs travel to Chicago Friday night to play the Chicago Dogs at 7:05 p.m.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

  • Story by Jaxson Webb

Monarchs split doubleheader in Sioux City

Clutch hitting, long ball win for Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (52-24) only needed one swing—and some clutch pitching—to take game one of a doubleheader against the Sioux City Explorers (39-37), 3-2, in seven innings on Wednesday in Iowa.

That one swing came from just the fourth batter of the game—a three-run shot from Gabby Guerrero. The right fielder drove in himself as well as Morgan McCullough and Ryan Grotjohn, who both reached on singles, to score the Monarchs three runs.

Starting pitcher Justin Shafer pitched a five-inning gem in which he gave up just two hits, including a solo home run in the second for the Explorers lone run against him. He struck out three and walked five en route to the win.

The Monarchs turned to bullpen arm Jameson McGrane to bring the win home in the sixth, and he promptly walked the first two batters and gave up a single to give the Explorers another run. McGrane preserved the lead by inducing two pop outs and strike out to strand an Explorer at every base.

In the seventh, the winning run reached second with two outs after a double, a walk and a stolen base. McGrane was once again able to blow one by Lane Milligan to seal the win.

  • Story by Nathan Enserro

X’s end Monarchs’ winning streak

The Kansas City Monarchs (52-25) fell to the Sioux City Explorers (40-37) in the second game of their doubleheader on the road.

The Explorers got on the board first in the bottom of the second, putting up two runs and taking an early lead, 2-0.

The Monarchs couldn’t muster an answer in the third but struck in the top of the fourth when Will Kengor hit a single to center, then Morgan McCullough singled to right. Ryan Grotjohn walked to first and loaded the bases. A wild pitch to Darnell Sweeney scored Kengor and advanced the base runners. Then, a sacrifice fly by Sweeney scored McCullough to tie the game 2-2.

Sioux City responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth, grabbing two more runs and spreading their lead over the Monarchs 5-2.

The Monarchs couldn’t answer the Explorers as they closed out game two of the double header ahead of the Monarchs, 5-2.

Right-handed pitcher Jake Matthys (7-2) took the loss and was the only pitcher for Kansas City.

The Monarchs will meet the Sioux City Explorers for the finale of their four-game series Thursday night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Following the game against the Explorers the Monarchs will head to Chicago for a three-game weekend series with the Chicago Dogs. All games can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with pregame coverage starting 30 minutes prior to first pitch.

  • Story by Emerson Peavey

Willis stuns Explorers as Monarchs win, 12-3

The Kansas City Monarchs (51-24) took a towering win over the Sioux City Explorers (39-36) thanks to Colin Willis, going 4-for-5 with six RBIs Tuesday night in Iowa.

Sioux City struck first in the bottom of the second, but their lead didn’t last long. The Monarchs started building their lead in the top of the third, starting with a walk by Morgan McCullough, then a home run by Charcer Burks gave KC a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Kansas City kept the momentum going with Casey Gillaspie singling to the shortstop to kick off the action.

Colin Willis then hit a single to right field, scoring Gillaspie and putting the Monarchs up 3-1. Will Kengor then hit a double and scored after advancing to third, thanks to a wild pitch and a double to center by Alexis Olmeda, and the Monarchs extended their lead 4-1.

The Explorers fought back, however, and put a run on the board, cutting into the Kansas City lead to 4-2 after four innings.

But the Monarchs towered over Sioux City in the fifth inning, scoring a whopping five runs. The fun started with a double to center by Charcer Burks. Darnell Sweeney followed with a single, advancing Burks to third. Then, a wild pitch moved Sweeney to second and a single by Gaby Guerrero followed. Gillaspie then walked to first and scored Burks.

Ibandel Isabel extended the Kansas City lead with a single to center field, scoring Sweeney and Guerrero. Isabel and Gillaspie advanced bases off two wild pitches, then a single by Colin Willis scored Gillaspie and Isabel, bringing the score to 9-2 KC.

The Explorers failed to come up with an answer to the Monarchs’ bats.

In the seventh inning, Gillaspie walked to first, and Isabel was hit by a pitch, putting both of them on base. Colin Willis turned up the heat with a massive home run, putting three more runs on the board, extending the commanding lead over the Explorers to 12-2.

Keyvius Sampson (2-0) tossed a quality start going six innings holding the Explorers to three hits and just two runs. The right-hander has won his last two starts with 14 strike outs in 11 innings.

Newcomer Jeremy Rhoades, true rookie Gunnar Groen and left-hander Jacob Lindgren combined to work three innings in relief allowing one run to close out the game for the Monarchs. The loss went to X’s starter Brett Adcock (3-8), who was charged with eight earned runs on nine hits in four innings on the mound.

The Monarchs will meet the Explorers again Wednesday night at 5 p.m. for a doubleheader. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 4:30 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 Emerson Peavey