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Dream coming true for youth baseball in KCK

A check for $200,000 was presented to KCK RBI by the Royals Charities before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. The money will go toward baseball field renovations at the former 3&2 field at 53rd and Parallel Parkway. (Photo from KCK RBI)

KCK RBI gearing up for a big year in 2015

by Mary Rupert

A dream will come true next year for KCK RBI and its executive director, Cle Ross.

Ross said the renovation of the former 3&2 baseball field, 5325 Parallel Parkway, is now on track because of grants that have been awarded this year. Recently, a $186,000 incentive grant was awarded to the project by the Baseball Tomorrow Fund of Major League Baseball, Ross said. KCK RBI’s parent organization, Success Achieved in Future Environments (S.A.F.E.), will receive the grant.

Donations totaling $1.2 million this year mean that the big 3&2 field will be ready for use in May of 2015, and the smaller field at the site will be ready in May of 2016, Ross said.

“Once the ballpark is completed it’s going to change things tremendously,” Ross said. “Now we have a home field.”

He said he expected youth registration in KCK RBI to grow from 900 kids to close to 2,000 kids.

The Kansas City Royals making it to the World Series, by itself, will result in a renewed interest in baseball among the area’s youth, he believes.

“I believe there were a lot of kids that were previously not interested, and now their interest has been sparked,” Ross said. “Previously they were not excited, and now they are excited beyond word.”

Four members of KCK RBI were given tickets to the Royals wild card game, and the last game of the playoff series against the Angels, he said, through MasterCard through the MLB RBI program. Tickets were extremely expensive for people who went to these games, he added.

“It put some young men and young women into a position to see a game they never would have been able to see,” Ross said.

Ross noted that before the Royals went to the World Series, KCK RBI went to its RBI World Series, taking fifth in the nation, in August.

Ross makes sure the youth in KCK RBI know that some local baseball greats grew up playing on the 3&2 field in past years, and he hopes that will create a positive environment for them. Some of the past baseball greats who played at the Kansas City, Kan., 3&2 field included Ray Sadecki, Larry Drew, David Segui, Steve Renko, Neil Allen, Kevin Young and Damian Rolls.

RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City) is a program supported by Major League Baseball, and the Royals have helped KCK RBI through grants and programs previously.

The youth baseball program received a check for $200,000 from the Royals at Kauffman Stadium before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Ross said. The Royals also will provide another $100,000, he added.

Also giving $200,000 each to the baseball field project were Freightquote and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, he said.

The baseball field renovation fund drive is still about $600,000 short of its goal, which is why the smaller field renovation has been scheduled for 2016. Donations are still being accepted toward the project, he added.

For more information about the KCK RBI program, visit its website at www.kckrbi.org/.

KCK RBI went to the RBI World Series in August in Arlington. (KCK RBI photo)

The Sticks, a team from Kansas City, Kan., went to the regional RBI competition. (Photo from KCK RBI)

KCKCC volleyball ‘family’ headed for national tournament

Sophomores, from left, Kailee Dudley, Carlyn Walsh, Lily Cullers, Lily Thornberg, Andrea Aparicio, Peyton Pender, Blair Russell, Jasdel Gonzalez and Junelie Irizarry will lead the way in KCKCC’s bid for an NJCAA national volleyball championship in the national tourney starting Thursday in Phoenix, Ariz. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information director
It is a family not quite like any other – a family assembled from Alaska on the West, Puerto Rico on East, Michigan to the North and Texas to the South and several Kansas communities in between.

Officially, it’s the national tournament-bound Kansas City Kansas Community College volleyball team but to head coach Mary Bruno, her staff and the 14-member Blue Devil squad its far more than just a team.

“KCKCC volleyball is family,” Bruno said. “We’re always together, spending time with the same focus. Everyone gets along and enjoys each other so much. It’s an absolute joy to coach these girls. I look forward every day to coming to practice with them and am so proud of them.”

“I consider them all my sisters,” said co-captain Lily Thornberg. “We’ve really grown together. In Florida, we stayed at a big house together and had family dinners and went to the beach together. We’ve really bonded.”

The Blue Devils will open tournament play Thursday at 11 a.m. against Glendale, Ariz., at Phoenix College in Phoenix. All games will be streamed in the NJCAA website by clicking on national tournaments.

It’s a family put together from far distance places. Sophomore defensive specialist Lily Cullers came to KCKCC from Palmer, Alaska, after being discovered on a recruiting website. The same for 6-2 freshman outside hitter Cecelia Augustine of Ypsilanti, Mich. Both came to the KCKCC campus for a visit, liked what they saw and signed.

Four Blue Devils are from Puerto Rico. Libero of the Year Andrea Aparicio and Jayhawk second team selection Jasdel Gonzalez were discovered on a recruiting trip taken by Bruno (Dee Bruno) and her mother in December of 2012. Freshman Kimberly Martinez was discovered by manager Franchelle Gonzalez (sister of Jasdel) while living in Puerto Rico. The fourth, Junelie Irizarry, had moved to Papillion, Neb., when discovered by the KCKCC staff.

“Coach Mary and Coach Dee came to Puerto Rico for a recruiting tournament for American coaches and we kept talking by e-mail and phone and they offered the best,” said Aparicio, who arrived in the U.S. for the first time in July of 2013. “First it was hard but then I started adapting.” Fluent in English, Aparicio hopes to earn an AA next spring and play two more years in the U.S. before returning home.

Blair Russell, the Jayhawk Conference’s Most Valuable Player this year, was a three-sport star at Marysville, Kan., but started her volleyball career at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.

“I tore up my shoulder my first semester so I came back,” Russell said. “I knew the Bruno’s because my sister (Riley Russell) played here. I called Mary and she let me transfer. I am so thankful. After I tore my shoulder I was not sure I wanted to play but I’m so glad. Otherwise I would not be here with my teammates.”

The remainder of the squad is all from Kansas. Sophomores Lily Thornberg and Peyton Pender, a transfer from Saint Mary, are both from Junction City. Kailee Dudley, a summer transfer from Butler County, went to high school at Lawrence Free State, while soph Carlyn Walsh attended Wichita Northwest. The three other freshmen are from Leavenworth (Allyssa Lutgen), Douglas (Janelle Fowler) and KCK’s Bishop Ward (Lexi Nick).

Four Blue Devils – all sophomores – finished among the national leaders in statistics. Thornberg, who was named Co-Setter of the Year, and No. 5 in assists with 10.74 per set, was on Bruno’s wish list early.

“Mary saw me in a traveling tournament my junior year and kind of followed me,” Thornberg said. “It was between here and Hutchinson and once I spent time with the coaches and others here, it was an easy decision.”

Dudley, who was the Jayhawk Freshman of the Year in 2013, contacted Bruno about transferring when she decided not to return to Butler.

“She was kind of a last-minute addition,” Bruno said. And a good one, earning All-Jayhawk first team honors and finishing 21st nationally in blocks (1.24) and 30th in hitting percentage (.317). “A great decision,” Dudley said.

Russell, who was all-state in volleyball, honorable mention all-state in basketball and a four-year qualifier in the state track meet at Marysville, finished fifth in the nation in kills (516) and eighth in average (3.94).

“I just love volleyball, my favorite sport,” said Russell of her decision to play college volleyball. “It’s a team sport where you rely on everybody.”

Aparicio was something of a human dynamo diving on the floor countless times to return shots as she took advantage of her 5-4 size to make numerous saves.

“I think being small helps. I’m a little faster and react better,” said Aparicio, who finished 21st in the nation in digs per set (5.54) and 22nd in total digs (693).

T-Bones sign relief pitcher and infielder-outfielder

The Kansas City T-Bones announced they have signed Garrett Granitz and Joe Rapp to contracts for the 2015 season.

Granitz, 28, is a 6-foot-2 and 195-pound right-handed relief pitcher out of Sun Prairie, Wis. He’s played four professional seasons, all in independent leagues, most recently with Rio Grande Valley of United League Baseball.

In 34 appearances in 2014 with Rio Grande, Granitz went 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA. In 31 innings he struck out 22 and walked 15. Granitz has a 7-5 record and 2.89 ERA in 100 professional games.

“Garrett is a submarine pitcher who will scrape his knuckles on the CommunityAmerica Ballpark turf,” said T-Bones manager John Massarelli. “He’ll come out of the bullpen and hopefully make it tough for right-handed hitters to elevate the ball.”

Rapp, 24, is a 6-foot-2 and 225-pound first baseman-outfielder from Sarasota, Fla. He spent the first two seasons of his professional career in the San Francisco Giants organization after the club selected him in the 28th round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

He played last season for the Greys of the Frontier League, where he batted .256 with 95 hits, including 19 home runs and 55 RBIs. In three professional seasons, Rapp is a .264 hitter with 36 homers, 151 RBIs and 134 runs scored.

“Joe was on our radar last spring when he left the Giants organization, but we didn’t have a roster spot at the time,” Massarelli said. “So he spent last season in the Frontier League and put up solid numbers.”

The T-Bones open the 2015 regular season at home on May 22 against Lincoln.

– Story from T-Bones