Tag: KCKCC baseball

Hit hard by COVID, Blue Devil baseball to build around pitchers

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Losing a season because of the COVID-19 pandemic was a painful blow to all involved. But even more so to the Kansas City Kansas Community College baseball team.

The Blue Devils had opened Jayhawk Conference play by taking three of four games from perennial power Cowley College, were 4-2 in the league and 14-6 overall when the NJCAA was forced to shut down every 2020 spring sport.

“Everyone was going through the same thing but it felt like we had something special going, especially offensively,” KCKCC head coach Matt Goldbeck said. “It was just sad not to be able see guys like catcher Griffin Everett, who was off to an All-American season and now is at Nebraska, be able to finish the season.”

While Blue Devil sophomores could have returned this spring, several were offered four-year opportunities too good to turn down. Six starters, the entire infield except for third base and two outfielders along with the ace of the pitching staff, are on four-year college rosters right now.

“We had seven or eight with 4.0 grade point averages and they had graduated so staying was not in their best interests,” Goldbeck said.

Which has left Goldback with a roster of two sophomores, 15 pandemic freshmen and 17 true freshmen to open the home season Friday, Feb. 26, with a single game against Barton County at 2 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday at noon.

“The biggest question mark is an unproven offense,” said Goldbeck, who lost his top six hitters from last spring. “Normally we would play 20 fall games. So we did the best thing, work on fundamentals three days and have intra-squad play three days. Our pitching has a little more experience, a little more battle tested.” Returnees accounted for 110 of the 146 innings played last spring.

Goldbeck will build his starting pitching staff around sophomore Gabriel Ramos and second-year veterans Parker Weddle, Hunter Cashero, lefthander Tyler Kapraun and newcomer Alan Mercado, a transfer from Florida Southwestern State.

“Weddle will be No. 1 followed by Mercado, Ramos and either Cashero or Kapraun,” Goldbeck said. Ramos was 4-0 last spring, striking out 17 and walking 10 in 26 innings while Weddle had a 3.00 earned run average in seven appearances. Cashero made eight appearance while returnees Tre Simmons and Joseph Reyes were both 1-0.

Righthanders Chase Terrell of Bonner Springs and Eli Tormes will head a bullpen that will also include southpaw Logan Barnard of Lansing and righthanders Sebastian Velez, Brett Owen and Steven Santiago. Terrell was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in eight games last spring, all in relief.

A pair of true freshmen will share the catching duties, Brayden Vawter of Topeka Seaman and Camden Karlin of Lawrence Free State.

“Vawter will probably be the designated hitter when he’s not catching while Karlin is a rare pitcher/catcher,” Goldbeck said. “Either position takes a big toll on the body. Doing both will be demanding and we’re a little thin depth-wise behind the plate so we need to keep him healthy.”

Three starting infield positions are set. Palmer Hutchinson, who hit .269 last spring, will return at third base while Brendyn Bard of Piper will start at first base and Cole Dawson at shortstop. Both are true freshmen. The starting second base job is a toss-up between at quintet of candidates. Cole Slibowski, who hit .273 in 12 games, and Sam Juarez, who batted 286 in 10 contests, are being challenged by true freshmen Beau Grable, Ivan Ortiz and Asnaldo Calcedo.

True sophomore Raymond Paniagua returns in centerfield where he batted .381with only one error last season. He’ll be flanked in leftfield by Pablo Sanchez, a transfer from Wabash, and Caleb Adams of Lansing in right. Adams, who hit .238, had a pair of home runs against Cowley. They’ll be backed Jaylon Johnson, who could also see designated hitting action; and Caleb Troutt of Lansing and Hardy Begman of Basehor-Linwood.

Infield backups will include Caleb Brown, Darius Freeman and first basemen Carter McLaughlin and Brock Stewart. Freeman could also see action behind the plate, McLaughlin in the outfield and Stewart on the mound.

“Defensively, our outfield should be a plus and I think we’ll be solid on the infield,” Goldbeck said. “We’ll also have some power but not as much as last spring.”

Veteran Bill Sharp heads the Blue Devils’ staff of assistants that also included Pedro Leon, Preston Bailey and Hector Garcia.

Kansas City Kansas Community College


2021 Baseball Schedule


Feb. 23 State Fair (1), Away 1 p.m.
Feb. 26 Barton County (1), Home` 2 p.m.
Feb. 27 Barton County, Home Noon
March 4 Butler County, Home 1 p.m.
March 6 Butler County, Away 1 p.m.
March 11 Cowley County,* Home 1 p.m. March 13

Cowley County,* Away 1 p.m.
March 16 Maple Woods (1), Home 2 p.m.
March 18 Labette,* Away 1 p.m.

March 20 Labette,* Home 1 p.m.
March 23 State Fair (1), Home 2 p.m.
March 25 Fort Scott,* Home 1 p.m.

March 27 Fort Scott, * Away 1 p.m.
April 1 Johnson County,* Away , 1 p.m.

April 3 Johnson County,* Home 1 p.m.
April 8 Cloud County, Away 1 p.m.
April 13 Maple Woods (1), Away 1 p.m.
April 15 Highland,* Home, 1 p.m.

April 17 Highland,* Away 1 p.m.
April 19 Pittsburg State JV (1), Away 6 p.m.
April 22 Neosho County,* Away 1 p.m.

April 24 Neosho County,* Home 1 p.m.
April 27 Maple Woods (1), Home 2 p.m.
April 29 Allen County,* Home 1 p.m.

May 1 Allen County,* Away 1 p.m.
May 6 Coffeyville,* Away 1 p.m.

May 8 Coffeyville,* Home 1 p.m.
May 12-15 Region VI Playoffs (2 of 3) TBA
May 19-22 Super Regional, Wichita TBA
May 24-31 NJCAA World Series
• Jayhawk Conference doubleheader

No. 5 KCKCC takes 34-19 record to No. 4 seeded Colby Saturday

by Alan Hoskins

Freshman Geoff Birkemeier will draw the opening pitching assignment when Kansas City Kansas Community College opens the Region VI playoffs at Colby Saturday at 1 p.m.

Beaten 11-8 by Maple Woods in their final regular season game Wednesday, the Blue Devils will take a 34-19 record into the regional as the No. 5 seed. The No. 4 seed out of the West, Colby is 28-22. A best of three series, two games will be played Saturday with a third if necessary on Sunday with the winner advancing to the super-regional starting May 9 at Wichita. The Colby games will be streamed on OpenSpacesSports.

“Colby always has a good club and is well coached,” said KCKCC coach Steve Burleson. “They like to run so managing their running game will be a key.”

Burleson sent four hurlers to the mound and rested several starters against Maple Woods. Spencer Nielsen worked the first four innings, giving up seven runs of which only three were earned, while Cole Frakes and Derek Watkins were both touched for three hits and two runs in their two innings of work. Zane Mapes doubled and singled twice and drove in two runs, Tyler Raymond and Mitch Glessner each singled twice and Trevor Norbury delivered a pinch RBI double  in a 12-hit KCKCC attack.

The workhorse of the Blue Devil staff, Birkemeier completed nine of his 12 starts this season while compiling a 6-4 record with a 2.89 earned run average. Burleson is undecided on his Game 2 starter. Possibilities are southpaw Hunter Phillips, 8-5 with a 3.95 ERA, and E.J. Merlo, 4-3 with 4.36 ERA.

Boasting a team batting average of .300, seven of the eight Blue Devil starters are hitting .300 or better led by centerfielder Luke Norton, who is hitting .378 and leads in stolen bases with 27. The others are leftfielder Mitch Glessner (.344), third baseman Daniel LaMunyon (.341), shortstop Zane Mapes and catcher Garett McKinzie, both .319, rightfielder Christian Arnold (.308) and second baseman Tyler Raymond (.301). Only first baseman Tanner Foerschler is below .300 but he has 18 RBI.

Arnold, McKinzie and LaMunyon have supplied the power. Arnold leads in home runs (10) and RBI (50) while Garrett has six homers and 39 RBI and LaMunyon five homers and 36 RBI.

Split forces KCKCC to open playoffs at Colby Saturday

by Alan Hoskins

The biggest comeback in Jayhawk Conference baseball came to a temporary halt Monday in Kansas City Kansas Community College’s 5-0 opening loss at Allen County.

Off to a 2-10 conference start, Coach Steve Burleson’s comeback kids bounced back to win 20 of their next 22 games – the best record in the league over the past six weeks. Still, the Blue Devils needed a sweep at Allen County to host the first round of the Region VI playoffs.

As a result, the Blue Devils will open a best-of-three series at Colby Saturday. Two games will be played Saturday starting at 1 p.m. with a third game if necessary on Sunday.

“As soon as the game was over, we started the post-season,” said Burleson, whose Blue Devils won the second game 11-1. “You still have to win two of three games wherever you play. We’ve played well on the road and it’s still the same 90 feet.”

John Prochaska, a 6-2 lefthanded sophomore, blanked the Blue Devils on two hits in the 5-0 opener, striking out five and walking four in six innings.

“He pitched well,” Burleson said. “We only had two hits and hit three balls hard. We put a runner on third with no one out in the first and did not score and had men on second and third with one out in the second and did not score and that pretty well set the tone for the game. A run or two then would have changed a lot of things.”

Daniel LaMunyon had a leadoff single in the fourth and Christian Arnold a one-out single in the sixth for the Blue Devils, who had runners reach base in each inning but the seventh. Allen took advantage of a two-out walk in the second and a leadoff walk in the third to take a 2-0 lead and then added a single run in the fourth and two in the sixth off E.J. Merlo.

The Blue Devils bounced back with an 11-hit assault in the nightcap with Garrett McKinzie, Tyler Raymond and Mitch Glessner rapping out three each and LaMunyon and Zane Mapes two apiece.  Mapes drove in four runs with a double, single and two-run bunt. Two of McKinzie’s hits were doubles.

Trailing 1-0 on an unearned run in the first, KCKCC tied the game on Mapes’ two-out double in the second and then went ahead 2-1 on LaMunyon’s two out double in the third. The Blue Devils added two runs in the sixth on singles by LaMunyon, Glessner and Mapes’ sacrifice bunt and then closed out the game with four runs in the seventh and three in the eighth. Glessner, Mapes, Raymond and Arnold had singles and McKinzie a double in the seventh and Raymond and McKinzie started the 3-run eighth with back-to-back doubles.

Jonathan May got the pitching win, allowing just two singles and striking out six over the final six innings.