T-Bones sign pitcher, utility player

The Kansas City T-Bones have signed Pat Doyle and T.J. Mittelstaedt to contracts for the 2014 season.

Doyle, 25, is a 6-foot-2 and 230-pound  right-handed pitcher from St. Louis, Mo. Splitting time between the Cincinnati Reds’ single-A and double-A teams in 2013, Doyle was 4-1 with 11 saves, 70 strikeouts, 18 walks and a 3.41 ERA in 52 appearances (74 innings).
Cincinnati selected Doyle in the 24th round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of Missouri State University. He reached triple-A with the Reds in 2011. In three professional seasons, Doyle is 24-10 with 17 saves, 278 strikeouts, 84 walks, and a 4.30 ERA.

“Doyle attacks the strike zone with all of his pitches and can start or even close for us this season,” said T-Bones manager John Massarelli.

Mittelstaedt, 26, is a 5-foot-10 and 185-pound utility player from Mission Viejo, Calif. The Milwaukee Brewers selected Mittelstaedt in the 44th round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of Long Beach State. Last season, splitting time between single-A and double-A, Mittelstaedt batted .199 with 15 doubles, 12 home runs and 35 RBIs in 97 games.
In four professional seasons, Mittelstaedt is a .250 hitter with 307 hits, 62 doubles, 38 homers and 156 RBIs. Playing mainly four positions — left field, right field, third base and second base — in the Milwaukee system, Mittelstaedt has a .963 career fielding percentage.

“T.J. is a very versatile player who can play a lot of different positions,” Massarelli said. “He plays the game hard and he plays the game right.”

The T-Bones open the 2014 regular season at home on May 15 against Lincoln.

Piper results

Piper High School – swimming at Lawrence (5th place as a team)

– 1st place finishers

– M. Dailey (200 free), C. Johnson (100 fly), R. Morris (100 back)

– 3rd place finishers

– R. Morris, H. Grable, C. Johnson, M. Dailey (200 medley), C. Johnson (100 fly and 500 free)

– 4th place finishers

–  R. Morris, H. Grable, M. Dailey, C. Johnson (200 free)

Because of the weather and field conditions, Bishop Ward has canceled the soccer games with Piper for tonight. A makeup date will be announced.
 
– from Doug Key, Piper activities director

Kansas joins suit over lesser prairie chicken

Kansas has joined with Oklahoma to challenge a federal endangered species listing.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced that Kansas joined an Oklahoma lawsuit that challenges a process resulting in the lesser prairie chicken being named as a threatened species.
North Dakota also joined in the lawsuit.
A “citizen suit” led to a federal court order that ultimately led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide to list the lesser prairie chicken as threatened under the endangered species act, according to the attorney general’s office.
Private interest groups may sue federal agencies and then enter into consent decrees that compel the agencies to take certain actions.
Oklahoma, Kansas and North Dakota are arguing that consent decrees cannot be used to circumvent provisions of federal statutory law. The states alleges that the Fish and Wildlife Service violated its statutory obligation to make endangered species listing decisions “solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available” and it alleges the agency failed to adhere to its own regulations and guidelines in the rulemaking process.