Category: Sports

KCKCC sweeps into regional softball playoff semifinals

Sweeping Neosho County in first round playoff action, KCKCC will head into semifinal round play Saturday at Topeka with a squad of, front row, from left, pitching coach John Ford, Myranda Ybarra, Amanda Holroyd, Megan Dike, Lacey Santiago, Mierra Morrisette, Emily Walsh and Hanna Barnhart; second row, assistant coach Taci Beatty, Aubrie Hernandez-Taveren, Michelle Perales, Elizabeth Seimears, Laura Vanderheiden, Ashley Henington, Breanna Feight, Justice Scales, Leslie Ford, Marissa Alaniz, Jovanna Ramirez, Sheyenne Espy and head coach Kacy Tillery. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins

A pair of complete game pitching performances by freshman Leslie Ford has advanced Kansas City Kansas Community College into the semifinals of the Region VI playoffs.
Ford scattered nine hits in a 3-1 opening win over Neosho County Saturday and then followed it up with a 5-hitter in a 4-2 nightcap win.
The sweep sends the Lady Blue Devils (31-13) against No. 3 ranked Highland (36-8) Saturday noon at Topeka’s Hummer Park. Independence (40-14) and Cloud (29-12) meet in the other noon semifinal. A double elimination tournament with the finals Sunday, the two winners and two losers will clash at 4 p.m. Saturday,
“Our pitching and defense did a great job in getting us out of some jams,” said KCKCC coach Kacy Tillery. Two of the three runs allowed by Ford came on solo home runs.
Neosho put runners on base in each of the seven innings of the opener but scored only in the first on a two-out home run. The biggest jam came in the seventh when the Lady Panthers loaded the bases on three singles before Ford ended the game with her 11th strikeout. Neosho also put the first two hitters on base in both the third and fourth innings but Ford escaped each time with a pair of strikeouts.
Trailing 1-0, KCKCC went ahead in the third, scoring twice on a walk, a two-out RBI double by Justice Scales and an error and then added an insurance run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to Amanda Holroyd after a walk and singles by Lacey Santiago and Meierra Morrisette.
Ford gave up just five hits in the second game and only two the final five innings, striking out five and walking one. Neosho took a 1-0 lead on an unearned in the first before KCKCC pulled even in the third on back-to-back doubles by Scales and Morrisette and then went ahead to stay on Holroyd’s two-out, two-run double following a walk and an error in the fifth,.
Neosho closed to 3-2 with a home run in the sixth but the Blue Devils matched that in the bottom of the inning on singles by Megan Dike and Ashley Henington. The top three hitters in the KCKCC lineup, Santiago, Scales and Morrisette, each had a pair of hits in a 10-hit attack.

Registrations still being accepted for the Blue Devil 5K Run-Walk and Kids Trot

by Kelly Rogge

Kansas City Kansas Community College is getting ready to become more active and is inviting the community to do the same. The Blue Devil 5K and Kids Trot is this weekend.

The Blue Devil 5K, which is in its 10th year, is at 8 a.m. May 3. The course winds through the KCKCC campus on the roads, walking paths and sidewalks. The 4th annual Kids Trot follows at 9 a.m. and is geared toward children 11-years and younger. Registration for the 5K is $30 per person and $10 for the Kids Trot. Registration includes a T-shirt, Goodie Bag and pancake breakfast following the event. About 200 people participated in the 5K and Kids Trot in 2013.

“The goal of the Blue Devil 5k & Kids Trot is to get the Kansas City Kansas community more active,” said Joe Mundt, trainer at the KCKCC Wellness and Fitness Center. “Having the event each year helps students and staff at KCKCC as well as the community to stay more active and see the benefits of a regular exercise program.”

Awards will be given to the top overall male and female finishers. In addition, the winner of each age group will receive an award and a prize. Activities will be provide for the children between 7:30 and 9 a.m. by child care volunteers, so parent can participate in the 5K run/walk. Starting at 9 a.m., children in the Kids Trot run in heats based on age groups. Distances will range from 25 meters to one-quarter of a mile.

“People should sign up for the 5k & Kids Trot to help motivate them to take their exercise plan to the next level,” Mundt said. “If you want to start a walking-running program, a 5k makes it easier because you have something to train for. There is a reason behind all of exercising.” Mundt said.

For more information about the Blue Devil 5K Run/Walk and Kids Trot, visit www.kckcc.edu/studentLife/wfc/5kfunrunwalk.aspx. Information is also available by calling the KCKCC Wellness and Fitness Center at 913-288-7610. An entry form must be filled out for each registrant. Registration is accepted through online registration, in person at the KCKCC Wellness Center or by fax to 913-288-7527.

Two-out grand slam rallies KCKCC to dramatic 7-5 win

Daniel LaMunyon (KCKCC photo)

Blue Devils need sweep at Allen today for home playoff berth

by Alan Hoskins

One of the most dramatic blows in Kansas City Kansas Community College baseball history has put the Blue Devils in position to open the Region VI playoffs at home.
Just one strike away from a 5-3 loss to Allen County Saturday, freshman Daniel LaMunyon delivered the ultimate in blows – a grand slam home run on a 1-2 pitch that lifted the Blue Devils to a 7-5 win in the bottom of the ninth.
Coupled with a 9-1 win in the 7-inning opener, the Blue Devils (33-18) can earn a home playoff berth against Seward (29-26) Saturday with a sweep of a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Allen County today. Anything less and the Blue Devils will have to make a 5-hour trip to play Colby (28-22). A double elimination playoff, two games will be played Saturday with a third if necessary on Sunday.
“My first walk off hit,” said LaMunyon, a third baseman from Blue Valley who took advantage of a strong wind blowing to left. “I hit it pretty high and hoped the win would help and it did quite a bit. When I was rounding second, I saw my third base coach (Matt Goldbeck) jumping up and down which was pretty cool and then I got mobbed at home plate.” The home run, which came on a curve ball, was LaMunyon’s fifth of the season and gave him 34 RBI for the season, third best on the team
“It was a really cool moment for the kids,” said KCKCC head coach Steve Burleson, who lost sight of LaMunyon’s game-winning blast. “I couldn’t see the flight of the ball because of the dugout roof and thought it was a fly ball to the leftfielder. All of a sudden all the kids started yelling and then I saw the ball nestle in the hill about 325 feet from home plate.”
Zane Mapes started the winning rally by drawing a leadoff walk. One out later, Tyler Raymond was hit by a pitch and Garrett McKinzie singled to load the bases. Christian Arnold, who had homered in the first game, flied out for the second out before LaMunyon’s game-winner. The blast made a winner out of reliever Derek Watkins (4-0), who gave up only a walk in three hitless innings.
KCKCC jumped in front 2-1 in the second on singles by LaMunyon, Alex Thrower and Mapes and made it 3-1 in the fourth on a pair of Allen errors. Hunter Phillips (8-5) limited the Red Devils to just three hits and an unearned run over the first five innings only to have Allen score four times with two out in the sixth on four hits and three walks.
Geoff Birkemeier (6-4) turned in his ninth complete game of the season in the 9-1 opener, allowing just five hits, striking out three and walking none. The Blue Devils backed him with nine hits including two each by Arnold, LaMunyon and Mapes.
KCKCC scored three times in the first on just one hit, a run-scoring single by Mitch Glessner and sacrifice flies by McKinzie and Arnold; added three more in the second on hits by Mapes, Arnold and LaMunyon and a pair of walks; and then put the game out of reach on Arnold’s team high 10th home run of the season following a double by Luke Norton and a single by Raymond.