Category: Sports

KCKCC men’s soccer to rebuild with big, versatile squad

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s 24-man soccer team, the biggest in college history, will kick off the 2014 season Thursday, Sept. 4, with the Lady Blue Devils playing host to Coffeyville at 5 p.m. with the men following at 7 p.m. (KCKCC photo)
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s 24-man soccer team, the biggest in college history, will kick off the 2014 season Thursday, Sept. 4, with the Lady Blue Devils playing host to Coffeyville at 5 p.m. with the men following at 7 p.m. (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins

Kansas City Kansas Community College will kick off the 2014 soccer season Thursday short on experience but long on numbers, versatility and optimism.

“We may be young on paper but I think we will be a team that will play at a higher level than our age may suggest,” said first-year assistant coach Burke Slusher.

Without a returning letterman, third-year head coach Ruben Rodriguez and Slusher will rebuild the Blue Devil men’s fortunes around the biggest recruiting class ever – 22 freshmen and two sophomores.

“As a whole, this is a pretty skillful group that can make up for a lack of experience by taking care of the ball,” Slusher said. “We’re solid at midfield and fast and with age comes additional speed and strength. We hope to make teams chase us.”

While in his first year at KCKCC, Slusher is certainly not without teaching experience. An assistant at William Jewell last year, he’s also coached the Kansas City Brass in the Premier Development League for the past 12 years.

Jayhawk Conference rival Coffeyville will be the foe in the 2014 home opening Thursday, Sept. 4. The women’s opener will kick off at 5 p.m. with the men to follow at 7 p.m. in just the second year of play on KCKCC’s new soccer field.

With a wealth of candidates, there’s competition at every starting position beginning with goal keeper where Javier DeLara of Harmon and Sean McCulloch of Park Hill South are waging a fierce battle for the opener..

Defensively, the Blue Devils are expected to build around freshmen Kelvin Ibarra of Cristo Rey, Great Ubochi of Ocoee, Fla., and Colin Dujakovich of Shawnee Mission North with Dylan Stroud of Shawnee Mission North, Lucas Franco of Bishop Miege and Jorge Ambriz of Dodge City all in the mix for starting positions. Other hopefuls include Nicholas Marquez of Bishop Miege, Joseph Gomez of Washington and Robert Glenn III of Bonner Springs.

Marcos Alejandro of Turner heads a deep midfield corps that also includes Isaias DeLaTorre and Juan Negrete of Dodge City, Chue Yang of Turner, Rony Naz Tum of Guymon, Okla.; and two players from England, Harry Williams of Derbyshire and Jahren Barrow of Nottingham. Other possibilities include Robert Gurrola of Schlagle, Quinton Schneck of Bonner Springs, Gustavo Siguad of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Carlos Wilches of Baristan, Venezuela.

“We’re strong at midfield where we hopefully can control the game,” Slusher noted.

Isai Gutierrez of Liberal and Mario Lopez of Dodge City are the forwards and could be used in tandem although some midfielders will be used as attackers.

“We could play from one to three forwards depending on the competition we’re playing,” Slusher said. “We’re lucky we have a very versatile group that can adjust to the competition we’re up against.”

Just five of KCKCC’s 11 contests are at home not counting playing in the Thunder Duck Tournament in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 3-4. In addition to Coffeyville Sept, 4, the Blue Devils will play host to Wentworth Military Academy Oct. 16, Neosho County Sept. 23, Cowley Sept. 30 and Pratt Oct. 17. All are evening contests.

Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.

2014 KCKCC Men’s Soccer schedule
Sept. 4 – COFFEYVILLE*, Home, 7 p.m.
Sept. 9 – Barton County*, Away, 4 p.m.
Sept. 11 – Blue River, Away, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 16 – WENTWORTH MILITARY ACADEMY, Home, 8 p.m.
Sept. 19 – Cloud County*, Away, 4 p.m.
Sept. 23 – NEOSHO COUNTY*, Home, 8 p.m.
Sept. 26 – Blue River, away, 7 p.m.
Sept. 30 – COWLEY*, Home, 8 p.m.
Oct. 3-5 – Thunder Duck Tournament, Dallas, Texas
Oct. 7 – Allen County*, Away, 4 p.m..
Oct. 14 – Johnson County*, Away, 3 p.m.
Oct. 17 – PRATT*, Home, 7 p.m.
Oct. 22 – Dodge City*, Away, TBA


2014 KCKCC Men’s Soccer roster
No. Ht. Yr. Pos. Hometown (High School)
0 Javier DeLara 5-11 Fr. K Kansas City, Kan. (Harmon)
1 Sean McCulloch 6-3 Fr. K Kansas City, Kan. (Park Hill South)
2 Colin Dujakovich 5-10 Fr. Def. Shawnee, Kan. (Shawnee Mission North)
3 Nicolas Marquez 5-11 Fr. Def. Overland Park, Kan. (Bishop Miege)
5 Jahren Barrow 6-3 Fr. Def. Nottingham, England (Emanuel)
6 Lucas Franco 5-9 Fr. MF Kansas City, Kan. (Bishop Miege)
7 Harry Williams 6-1 Fr. MF Derbyshire, England (Tibshelf)
8 Marcos Alejandro 6-1 So. MF Kansas City, Kan. (Turner)
9 Kelvin Ibarra 5-9 Fr. MF Kansas City, Kan. (Cristo Rey)
10 Isai Gutierrez 5-9 Fr. Fwd. Liberal, Kan. (21st Century Academy)
11 Mario Lopez 5-10 Fr. Fwd. Dodge City, Kan. (Dodge City)
13 Gustavo Sigaud 5-8 Fr. MF Sao Paulo, Brazil
14 Chue Yang 5-8 So. MF Kansas City, Kan. (Turner)
15 Joseph Gomez 5-5 Fr. Def. Kansas City, Kan. (Washington)
16 Jorge Ambriz 5-8 Fr. Def. Dodge City, Kan. (Dodge City)
17 Isaias DeLaTorre 6-3 Fr. MF Dodge City, Kan. (Dodge City)
18 Great Ubochi 6-3 Fr. Def. Ocoee, Fla. (Ocoee)
19 Roberto Gurrola 5-7 Fr. MF Kansas City, Kan. (Schlagle)
20 Juan Negrete 6-2 Fr. Def. Dodge City, Kan. (Dodge City)
22 Quinton Schneck 5-6 Fr. MF Bonner Springs, Kan. (Bonner Springs)
23 Carlos Wilches 5-9 Fr. MF Barinas, Venezuela (Cologio Don Bosco)
24 Robert Glenn III 6-2 Fr. Def. Bonner Springs, Kan. (Bonner Springs)
25 Rony Naz Tum 5-7 Fr. MF Guymon, Okla. (Guymon)
26 Dylan Stroud 5-10 Fr. Def. Overland Park, Kan. (Shanee Mission North)
Head coach – Ruben Rodriguez (third season)
Assistant coach – Burke Slusher (first season)

T-Bones finish 2014 with a win

Kansas City finished the 2014 season on a high note Monday afternoon, beating St. Paul 12-10 in a back-and-fourth battle at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

Between the two clubs there were 22 runs scored on 31 hits, five errors, three ties and three lead changes. There were runs scored in every single inning until the eighth.

Things looked bleak for Kansas City early. St. Paul jumped all over Kansas City starter Kyle DeVore in the first inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Following singles by Devin Thaut and Willie Cabrera, Angelo Songco reached third on a throwing error by Vladimir Frias, scoring both Thaut and Cabrera and putting St. Paul in the lead. The next five batters reached base, scoring three more runs and giving the Saints a 5-0 lead. The Saints didn’t record an extra-base hit in the inning.

Kansas City roared back over the game’s next three innings. Trailing 5-1 in the second, Robby Kuzdale tripled and later scored on a wild pitch by Saints’ starter Justin Klipp. T.J. Mittelstaedt then walked. With that walk, Mittelstaedt reached base in all 51 home games this season. Danny Richar hit a home run off the foul pole that cut the St. Paul advantage to 5-4. Nick Schwaner later hit a solo shot in the third, his fifth of the season, tying the game at 5-5.

The next several frames followed a similar narrative. Kansas City took the lead in the fourth, only to see St. Paul tie things up the next half inning courtesy of a solo home run by Jake Taylor. Kansas City re-took the lead in the fifth, this time by three runs. But Taylor led St. Paul back in the sixth, hitting a three-run homer that knotted things up. The T-Bones once again took the lead immediately afterwards, again hanging three runs on the Saints, highlighted by a two-run homer by Ray Sadler. The Saints mustered a single run the next half inning, but Kansas City escaped with a 12-10 lead intact.

Kansas City scored in each of the game’s first six innings, pounding out 16 hits in a winning effort. Pat Doyle (7-4) picked up the win for Kansas City, tossing two innings in relief. Matt Meyer took the loss for St. Paul. Patrick Mincey pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save as a member of the T-Bones.

With the win, the T-Bones complete a five-game sweep of St. Paul and finish the season on a six-game winning streak. It’s the first winning streak of more than five games since the club ended the 2010 season with eight consecutive wins. Kansas City finishes the 2014 season with a 48-52 record, good for third place in the Central Division. The T-Bones were second in attendance in 2014, averaging 5,187 fans per game at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Stay up-to-date with the club and organization during the off-season at www.tbonesbaseball.com.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178251
– Story from T-Bones

Mittelstaedt delivers second consecutive walk-off

For the second consecutive game T.J. Mittelstaedt gave the T-Bones a walk-off home run. On Monday, it gave Kansas City an 8-6 win over St. Paul in a conclusion of Sunday’s suspended game in Kansas City, Kan.

The T-Bones and Saints were suspended before play began in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday night with the T-Bones trailing 6-5.

In the conclusion Monday afternoon, Bryan Sabatella pinch-hit for Brian Erie and worked a walk. He advanced to second on a passed ball and then scored the tying run on an errant throw by St. Paul second baseman Jake Taylor, who was trying to get Darrell Hudson out at first. Mittelstaedt then crushed a two-run homer over the left-field wall.

Angelo Songco blasted a pair of home runs for St. Paul in front of 6,757 fans at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Sunday night. He put the Saints on the board in the first with a two-run homer. And then, tied at 5-5 in the ninth, he hit his second home run of the evening, a go-ahead solo shot over the right field wall.

Kansas City scored in each of the first three innings, including a three-run outburst in the third. Two of the runs came in courtesy of a fielding error by Songco. Mittelstaedt led off with a double, scoring on a Matt Padgett RBI single in the first. They tacked on another run in the second with a leadoff single by Vladimir Frias, who later scored on a sacrifice fly by Hudson.

Trailing 5-2, the Saints surged back in the fourth with two runs taking advantage of a few Kansas City miscues. A fielding error by Frias, followed by back-to-back walks, loaded the bases with no outs, before the Saints scored two runs. St. Paul tied the game in the fifth.

On Saturday night, Mittelstaedt launched a three-run walk-off home run that gave Kansas City a 5-2 win over the Saints. He now leads the club with 16 home runs.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178245

– Story from T-Bones