Category: Sports

Big first inning leads T-Bones to victory

Kansas City scored five runs with two outs in the first inning as the T-Bones went on to beat Amarillo 8-4 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Monday night in Kansas City, Kan.

Amarillo starter Clayton Tanner (2-3) collected two quick outs before allowing singles to Matt Padgett, Ray Sadler and Nick Schwaner, which loaded the bases.

Tanner then walked Bryan Sabatella, forcing in a run, and allowed a single to Robby Kuzdale that scored Sadler and Schwaner. Brian Erie, who came into the game hitting .375 with runners in scoring position and two outs, and then shot a single up the middle that scored two more and pushed the Kansas City lead to 5-0.

The Sox, meanwhile, had trouble figuring out Kansas City starter Jared Messer. Making just his third professional start, Messer didn’t allow a base runner to reach third base for the first five innings of play.

Amarillo finally got something going in the sixth. Trailing 6-0, Ransom LaLonde led off the inning with a single and came around to score when Derek Perren knocked an RBI single into center field. Andres Rodriguez later doubled, scoring Perren and cutting the Kansas City lead to 6-2.

Kansas City reclaimed its six-run lead almost immediately, however, scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Danny Richar drew a walk, forcing in a run. Matt Padgett then grounded into a double play, but managed to push across another run and increase the Kansas City lead to 8-2.

Messer (4-2) went on to toss 7 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits while striking out seven, as he picked up his first win at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Tanner took the loss.

With the win, the T-Bones move to 39-47 on the season, while the Sox fall to 30-54. Kansas City continues its three game series with Amarillo Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178170
– Story from T-Bones

Despite late start, Seber-Bradley has record 7 WyCo golf titles

For 26 years the driver of a semi-trailer truck hauling a gasoline tanker, Pat Seber-Bradley of Basehor pushes a pull cart as one of Kansas City’s best amateur golfers. (Photo by Alan Hoskins)
For 26 years the driver of a semi-trailer truck hauling a gasoline tanker, Pat Seber-Bradley of Basehor pushes a pull cart as one of Kansas City’s best amateur golfers. (Photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins
For many, life may begin at 40 but it started in earnest at just 36 years of age for Pat Seber-Bradley.

That’s when she first picked up a golf club. Now, a quarter of a century later, Seber-Bradley is one of Kansas City’s best women’s amateurs (senior or otherwise) and living proof you’re never too old to learn how to play the game.

“My husband (Dennis Bradley) taught me how to play in 1990,” said Seber-Bradley, a Basehor resident. “I had never played golf before and when he helped me as much as he could, I started taking lessons from Wayne Montgomery at Tomahawk Hills and I was hooked.”

Currently a three-to-four-times-a-week golfer, Seber-Bradley plays in two leagues – the State Line Amateur run by the Kansas City Golf Association and a Tuesday league at St. Andrews Golf Club. She’s also the captain of an undefeated Kansas City Cup golf team at Sunflower Hills and a record seven-time winner of the Wyandotte County Open.

The oldest tournament of its kind in the Kansas City area, the WyCo Open was the 38th annual event at Sunflower Hills Aug. 9-10. Seber-Bradley’s win was her third in a row – and her most challenging test at the WyCo Open.

Trailing first time entrant Chris Baird by three strokes at the halfway point of the 36-hole stroke play tournament, Seber-Bradley rallied for a one-shot win (187-188).

“Every year it gets tougher, especially when you’re a repeat champion,” she said. “There’s a little more pressure.”

Tied with four holes to go, Seber-Bradley birdied Sunflower’s demanding 432-yard uphill par 5 15th hole.

“I had a very good drive and second shot and then an A wedge to the green and made a right-to-left breaking putt from about 10 feet,” she said of the pivotal birdie that put her ahead to stay. “I played it safe on No. 18. I didn’t want to push or pull a drive into the hazards so I hit a 4 hybrid off the tee and then laid up with the same club, came up short and chipped on.”

“She’s certainly the best woman golfer right now,” said Sunflower Hills master head professional Jeff Johnson. “She’s a fanatic about playing, loves to compete and will play about anytime she has a chance.”

Seber-Bradley’s winning is not confined to Sunflower Hills, where she plays every Thursday morning. Earlier this season, she won a State Line Amateur event at Ironhorse, “That’s a harder league because there’s really a lot of good young golfers including some college players who can really hit the ball a long ways,” she said.

Her finest moment, however, came in last year’s club championship at St. Andrews.

“I shot even par (71). It was exciting. I had never shot par before. I was playing a 5-handicapper who was expected to win and I shot 71-76 and won by eight shots.”

Seber-Bradley credits her success to a “lot of lessons” and the fact that she walks while pushing a motorized pull cart.

“I walk if they allow me to walk,” she said. “I feel I play better when I walk.”

That Seber-Bradley has excelled on the golf course despite getting a late start should come as no surprise. It’s not often you find a woman who for 26 years drove a semi-trailer truck hauling a BP Amoco tanker to locations within a radius of 200 miles of Kansas City.

“I retired after 26 years and never had an accident,” she said with justifiable pride.

Growing up in Leavenworth County, Seber-Bradley attended a country school, which of course did not offer golf.

“They didn’t have anything for girls in those days,” she remembered.

With her record seventh WyCo championship safely tucked away, Seber-Bradley’s next goal is the Kansas City Cup, where she and her partner are 5-1 in match play and the team is 6-0.

“We’re in the quarterfinals,” she’s quick to point out.

Bullpen collapses in T-Bones loss

The T-Bones saw a four-run ninth inning lead vanish, falling 6-5 to Gary SouthShore in 12 innings Sunday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

With the T-Bones leading 5-1 going into the ninth, the RailCats broke through against closer Kris Regas with four runs on three hits and two walks, tying the game at 5-5.

The RailCats manufactured the winning run in the 12th inning. Drew Martinez got on base with a lead-off single and was bunted over to second. After reaching third on a groundout, Martinez scored the eventual winning run on an infield single by Josh Romanski.

Until the ninth inning, the T-Bones cruised. Bryan Sabatella extended his hit streak to 11 consecutive games with a leadoff single in the bottom of the second. He later scored on an RBI single from Brian Erie that gave Kansas City an early 1-0 lead.

Kansas City extended that lead the next inning. Danny Richar led off the third with a single. And then, after Ray Sadler singled with one out, Nick Schwaner crushed a three-run home run to center field, giving the T-Bones a 4-0 lead.

The RailCats got on the board with a run in the sixth. Danny Pulfer drew a leadoff walk and was singled home on a one-out hit by Ryan Babineau.

The T-Bones (38-47) now get set to begin a three-game series with Amarillo on Monday night at 7:05. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=178162
– Story from T-Bones