Category: T-Bones

Collier sets strikeout record for T-Bones in 6-0 win

Two days after the Kansas City T-Bones set a new franchise high in wins in a season, right-hander Tommy Collier set a new single season high of 140 strikeouts, while striking out 12 Wichita Wingnuts, leading Kansas City to a 6-0 shutout win Thursday night at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.

In game two of the big three-game series Kansas City needed to bounce back after the opening night loss 6-3 where they saw their wild card lead trimmed to just a half game.

They got just the recipe they needed in Collier, who tossed 6.2 shutout innings with a season-high 12 strikeouts to give the T-Bones a game and a half lead with four games to play in the season.

The offense also was able to pound out 15 hits and did not waste any time grabbing the first-inning lead.

Colin Walsh drove in Mason Davis from second with a single to left to make it 1-0 off Wingnuts starter Casey Harman in the home half of the first.

After a pair of promising innings that ended scoreless Kansas City finally got the big inning in the fourth. Alay Lago then had a single, one of his three hits on the night.

Harman then hit Anthony Phillips on the left elbow to put runners at first and second. Keith Curcio then moved the runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt sending up the top of the order

Ryan Brett then smashed a double to left scoring both runners for a 3-0 lead. Davis followed with a single on the right side past second baseman Logan Watkins to score Brett and it was 4-0 off Harman.

In the fifth Curcio hit a blooper single just over the head of Watkins at second off Scott Kuzminsky to score Noah Perio Jr., who singled to start the inning and the lead was 5-0. Adrian Nieto hit a solo home run to right in the seventh off Kuzminsky giving the T-Bones a 6-0 cushion.

Collier was in control most of the way. He scattered three hits in the first five innings including striking out the side in the fifth. Collier at 102 pitches came back out in the seventh and he got the first two but a couple of hits for the Wingnuts forced Collier from the game.

Marcus Crescentini took over and got the final out and worked another scoreless inning. Cody Winiarski worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game.

Collier has 140 strikeouts on the season, and that is one more that Johnathan Krysa had in 2004. Collier (12-3) tossed his 14th quality start and Kansas City now has a game and a half lead over Wichita with four to play. Harman (11-5) was charged with the loss for the Wingnuts. The win gives Kansas City (60-35) record and a new franchise high, while Wichita drops to (59-36).

The two teams will wrap up the series Friday night at T-Bones Stadium.

The two teams are vying for the final playoff spot in the American Association. For Wichita they are seeking their eighth straight post season spot while Kansas City seeks to end a drought dating back to 2010.

The pitching matchup will feature right-handed pitcher Seth Harvey (7-1, 2.61) going for Wichita against right-handed pitcher Barrett Astin (9-3, 5.69) for Kansas City. The game can be heard online on the T-Bones Broadcast Network.

The game can be heard online on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

Season, group tickets, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale and can be purchased by visiting the box office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the box office at 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
– Story from T-Bones

Wingnuts beat T-Bones, 6-3

On an overcast Warrior Wednesday, the Kansas City T-Bones couldn’t get out from under the clouds as the Wichita Wingnuts stormed into T-Bones Stadium.

While the T-Bones were awarded the designation of a Purple Heart Sports Team for their long-time support of veterans, they couldn’t muster a win against the Wingnuts, dropping game one of the series, 6-3.

A lead-off walk plagued the T-Bones right away, and then a bases-clearing triple by Zach Nehrir made the score 1-0 Wingnuts after the first two batters of the game. An infield single by Abel Nieves followed, making the score a quick 2-0.

In the second inning, Noah Perio Jr. hit a double off Wichita starter Travis Banwart into right field. A walk for Danny Hayes brought some life back into the T-Bones. Keeping the dream alive, Keith Curcio hit a ground-rule double that brought Perio Jr. home, earning him his 55th RBI for the season and making the score 2-1.

Great defense by the Wingnuts’ Logan Watkins at the end of the second inning robbed Mason Davis of what would have been a two RBI single and saved Wichita’s lead.

The next inning was highlighted by Nieves’s defense. Colin Walsh hit a bullet to first, but Nieves made the play on the hard bounce from his knees and threw to second from that position with short stop Leo Vargas getting it back to Nieves for a double play. That play came in the third inning and kept the game 2-1 in favor of Wichita at the end of the third.

The wind was with Wichita in the fourth inning as another lead-off walk by Mortenson put Chase Simpson on base. Rotola then reached first on a base hit, but it was the bases-clearing double by Watkins that gave Wichita a 4-1 lead.

The Wingnuts weren’t finished yet, however. Another base hit and a stolen base by Nehrir quickly increased the Wingnut lead to 5-1.

Kansas City struggled offensively in the fifth and sixth innings, but Jared Mortenson left the game after some gutsy pitching in those innings for the T-Bones, keeping the Wichita lead at 5-1. Banwart retired 14 in a row for Wichita.

Jackson Lowery came on to the mound for the T-Bones, relieving Mortenson, but he walked bases loaded right away. Rotola then was hit by a pitch, bringing in Reyes, which earned another run for Wichita and made the score 6-1.

With no answer for Banwart, the T-Bones continued to trail 6-1 going into the ninth inning.

As Daniel Tillman took the mound for Wichita, the T-Bones bats awakened. A base hit for Nieto started the bottom of the ninth. Danny Hayes hit his first home run for KC, a two-run blast to right. Though the T-Bones rallied, it wasn’t enough as they dropped game one 6-3.

Banwart (8-4) got the win, and Mortenson (4-6) was credited with the loss. And with this loss, the T-Bones (59-35) narrowed their lead in the wild card race to only half a game over Wichita (59-36).

The T-Bones return looking for a comeback in game two of the three game series at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.

Left-handed pitcher Casey Harman (11-4, 3.66) will start for Wichita while right-handed pitcher Tommy Collier (11-3, 3.27) will get the nod for Kansas City.
The game can be heard online on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

Season, group tickets, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale and can be purchased by visiting the box office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the box office at 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
– Story from T-Bones

T-Bones give math and science lesson to students attending Tuesday’s game

The Kansas City T-Bones welcomed 4,268 students to celebrate science, technology, engineering and math Tuesday for the 11:05 a.m. start at T-Bones Stadium.

If they were paying attention, they got a lesson in all those disciplines with an exciting 14-13 walk-off win for KC over the Sioux City Explorers.

The “science” of it all is that the combination of south winds blowing out and a baseball pitch up in the strike zone in the 85 to 95 mile an hour range when hitting a wooden bat result in balls leaving the ball park often.

The teams combined for eight home runs during the game, the first of which was a grand slam over the mini monster in left field by Sioux City left fielder Blake Schmit off Adam Bleday to help give the X’s a six-run advantage in the top of the first.

The T-Bones found themselves trailing 8-0 after an inning and a half. Colin Walsh took Sioux City starter Luis Mateo deep in the bottom of the second to make it 8-1, proving the science was right, and he was joined by two solo shots by Tucker Pennell and Mason Davis to trim to lead to 8-3 and inning later.

Sioux City then jumped to a 9-3 lead in the top of the fourth when Michael Lang hit the left field foul pole to increase the visitors’ lead to 9-3 owing to more home run “science.”

KC chipped away in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a two-run single to cut the lead to 9-6 in favor Sioux City. Anthony Phillips added a two-run home run in the fifth, and the T-Bones trailed by just one.

“Technology” has made a major impact on both sports and education. The American Association, as all leagues and teams do, puts out daily stats, and the T-Bones add a set of game notes for each game. Those notes for fans and media cover trends and headlines and help tell the story and make the game more understandable.

The two teams boast the top two offensive batting averages. The Explorers lead the league in average, coming into the day at .304, but KC at .294 actually was out hitting Sioux City 10-8 at this point in the game. That technology of the internet provided the research that told fans that the T-Bones were 49-10 when out-hitting their opponents.

On cue, Sioux City broke out the offense once again in the sixth inning. The first two batters reached off T-Bones reliever Pasquale Mazzoccoli who was later relieved by left-handed pitcher Joe Filomeno.

Sioux City scored four runs—the first three coming on a Jose Sermo three-run home run to left. The last was a manufactured run when Dean Green was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly to make it 13-8.

But then came the “engineering” lesson as the T-Bones engineered the comeback despite being down 13-8. In the seventh the T-Bones got four more runs.

Anthony Phillips tripled home Danny Hayes to get his third hit and one shy of the cycle off Keith Picht, and the lead was cut to 13-9. Phillips had a fourth inning double and a eighth inning single to complete the feat. Tucker Pennell hit a single to left center to score Phillips, and it was now 13-10.

Sioux City got a double play ball and looked to escape any more damage, but the engineering continued. Mason Davis walked, and Todd Cunningham and Colin Walsh singled to load the bases. With two outs and facing lefty Patrick Schuster, Noah Perio Jr. drove in another two runs, his fourth and fifth of the day (and his 23rd in the last week), to cut the lead to 13-12.

The final piece of the lesson is the “mathematic” equation. Baseball is full of stats and averages, and the T-Bones taught the crowd one final lesson. One hit plus one hit plus another hit equals walk-off winner.

Todd Cunningham singled to start the bottom of the ninth off of X’s closer Eric Karch. The right-handed pitcher had 21 saves coming into the game for Sioux City. Colin Walsh then singled back up the middle to put runners at first and second. Noah Perio Jr. then hit a line drive down the right field line hitting the chalk to score Cunningham and Walsh, who ran through a stop sign but the throw home was late ending the game as the T-Bones walked off winners. 1+1+1 = T-Bones winners 14-13.

The T-Bones won their 59th game, a franchise high, and are now 59-34, while Sioux City, who clinched the division, dropped to 67-27. KC took two of three in the series and finished the game one full game ahead of third place Wichita in the American Association Wild Card race with six games still to play.

The T-Bones will play host to Wichita in a big three-game series beginning Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas. It will be a Warrior Wednesday—free ticket with military ID, presented by Warhorses for Veterans. The event includes pre-game autographs with select players and a Sizzle selfie. The game can be heard online on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

Season, group tickets, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the box office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the box office at 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
– Story from T-Bones