Category: Sports

KCKCC rebounds from opening loss in national volleyball tourney

by Alan Hoskins

Kansas City Kansas Community College stayed alive in the NJCAA Division II national tournament today with a decisive 3-0 win over Genesee, N.Y.

The win sends the 7th seeded Lady Blue Devils (30-10) into the semifinals of the loser’s bracket against either No. 11 Sauk Valley (36-7) or No. 14 Northern Virginia (23-9) today at 5:30 p.m. (Kansas City time). The Blue Devils made quick work of 15th seeded Genesee, winning 25-12, 25-9, 25-11.

A win in the semifinals would send the Blue Devils into the 9th place championship game Saturday at 11 a.m. All games can be seen on-line on the NJCAA website and clicking on Division II and NJCAA TV.

No. 10 Glendale, Ariz., dealt KCKCC a 3-0 setback in Thursday’s opening round, jumping to a 25-12 first set win. Glendale had 19 kills in a 25-23 second set win before coming from behind in the third set. KCKCC led 21-19 only to have Glendale score the next five points on the way to a 25-22 win.

Glendale followed its win over KCKCC with a 3-2 upset of No. 2 seeded Central Nebraska while No. 6 Cowley knocked off No. 3 Illinois Central 3-1. Those two teams will collide in the championship semifinals tonight with No. 1 Parkland and No. 5 Columbus State clashing in other semifinal.
Alan Hoskins is the public information supervisor for KCKCC.

T-Bones acquire top reliever in trade

The Kansas City T-Bones have acquired relief pitcher Jonathan Kountis from Washington of the Frontier League in exchange for pitchers Andy Noga and Hamilton Bennett, and a player to be determined later.

Kountis, 26, is a 6-foot-3 and 215-pound right hander from Akron, Ohio. Last season with Washington, Kountis was selected as the Frontier League’s Relief Pitcher of the Year after going 1-4 with 32 saves and a 2.51 ERA in 41 appearances.

He had 50 strikeouts with 10 walks in 43 innings. The New York Mets selected Kountis in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of Embry-Riddle University.

During five professional seasons in the Mets and Toronto minor-league systems, plus four teams in the independent Frontier League and American Association, including 2012 at Lake Erie with current T-Bones manager John Massarelli, Kountis is 9-14 with 53 saves and a 4.09 ERA in 123 games. He has struck out 211 and walked 89 in 195 2/3 innings.

“Jonathan brings a power arm to the back end of the bullpen,” Massarelli said. “Royals fans know how important that can be.”

In 2014 with Kansas City, Noga went 2-6 with a 4.67 ERA in 23 appearances (17 starts). Bennett, whom the T-Bones signed midway through the 2014 season, had no decisions with a 10.06 ERA in 19 2/3 innings.
– Story from T-Bones

KCK baseball great, Ray Sadecki, dies

Kansas City, Kan., baseball great Ray Sadecki died Nov. 17 at the age of 73.

A major-league pitcher, he was a 1958 graduate of Bishop Ward High School, and was an Arizona resident.

Pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers, Sadecki had a 20-win year in 1964 for the Cardinals. He helped the Cardinals win the National League title that year.

Sadecki grew up in Kansas City, Kan., where his parents owned a grocery store.

A renovated baseball field at 9th and Homer streets in Kansas City, Kan., was renamed Ray Sadecki Field in 2002.