KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Playing high school ball in suburban Kansas City, lefty John Means hoped he would someday pitch at Kauffman Stadium.

Did he figure that actually would happen? Hardly.

Means made the wait worth it, pitching seven strong innings to claim his first win against his hometown team as the Baltimore Orioles pounded the Royals 14-2 Friday night.

“I didn’t think I’d ever make it here, to be honest,” he said with a big grin on his face. “It was always my dream, but I was a realist as a kid. I thought I’d have to get a job.”

“It was really cool. I grew up probably coming to 200 games here in my lifetime. I’m definitely familiar with the park,” he said.

Means graduated from nearby Gardner-Edgerton High School in Kansas. The 26-year-old All-Star said there were around 100 friends and family members in attendance.

“There were some people who didn’t even tell me they were coming that I saw when I was coming out of the bullpen,” he said.

Means (10-9) matched a career high for innings. He gave up two runs and five hits, walking none and striking out four.

“To perform like that in front of family and friends I’m sure feels great,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He did it without his best fastball and his best changeup. He didn’t throw that many breaking balls. For him to go seven innings against a big league ballclub without his best stuff is pretty cool.”

Means was activated from the family medical emergency list prior to the game. He was put on the list last weekend and returned to the Kansas City area. The team had said it was a private matter — Means said after the game that his father had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a couple of weeks ago.

Before the game, Hyde said the timing was good for Means to return.

“The fortunate part was that he was able to come home,” Hyde said. “It just happened to work out that we were coming here. It’s his day to pitch and he gets the opportunity to pitch in front of numerous family members and friends. So it’s pretty cool.”

Means was a high school teammate of Royals center fielder Bubba Starling. The first time up, Starling doubled — he fouled out twice in his other at-bats against Means.

“He said, ‘slider, huh?’ when he walked past me after the double,” Means said.

Hanser Alberto got a career-high five hits and Pedro Severino had four of the Orioles’ 21 hits in their highest-scoring game of the season.

Jonathan Villar stole three bases, including a swipe of home when the Royals tried to pick him off third base.

“It feels pretty good,” Alberto said, “but it feels better when you get a ‘W.’ It was a great team win tonight. I’m sticking to my approach to hit it to the big part of the field.”

Jorge Soler hit his 38th home run, tying the Royals record set by Mike Moustakas in 2017.

“He feels good about it,” quality control coach Pedro Grafol said, translating for Soler. “Obviously, he tied the record. We lost, so that wasn’t good, but he was able to tie the all-time record here. He feels like if he breaks it, he breaks it, if he doesn’t he doesn’t.”

Soler hit a solo drive in the first, his 10th home run in August.

Anthony Santander hit a three-run homer that put the Orioles up 4-1 in the third. Severino added his second RBI single of the game, driving in Villar with a flyball that dropped between three fielders.

Eric Skoglund (0-1) gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks in four innings.

Royals left fielder Alex Gordon pitched for the second time in five games. He allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in the ninth.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — David Glass and his family have agreed to sell the Royals to an ownership group led by Kansas City entrepreneur John Sherman in a deal that is expected to be worth about $1 billion.

The Royals announced the sale in a statement Friday, just days after word began to leak that the Sherman group was closing in on an agreement. Sherman and his co-investors will become the third owners since another local businessman, Ewing Kauffman, founded the club in 1969.

The 83-year-old Glass and his family served as caretakers of the franchise following Kauffman’s death, and they took ownership of the club for $96 million in April 2000.

Sherman will need to divest his interest in the Cleveland Indians, believed to be about 30 percent of the franchise, and the deal is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball.

None of those issues is expected to be stumbling blocks to a final sale.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham and defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton met with members of the media on Thursday at the Vanier Family Football Complex prior to the Wildcats’ game this Saturday against Nicholls. Quotes from both Messingham and Hazelton are below.

 

K-State and Nicholls kick off the 2019 season on Saturday at 6 p.m., inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a game that will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and aired on the K-State Sports Network. The Wildcats are closing in on a sellout for an 11^th-straight home opener, but scattered singles and standing-room only tickets remain. Those can be purchased by visiting www.kstatesports.com/tickets, calling 1-800-221-CATS or visiting the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

COURTNEY MESSINGHAM, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

On Nicholls’ defense…

“They run really well and they are physical on their front seven.”

 

On his excitement for the season opener…

“I’m fired up to get out there. We’ve been practicing since spring ball, and our guys worked so hard in the summer and worked against each other. Then you go through fall camp and some point you have to go play against somebody else. So we are fired up just to get the opportunity to get out there and play.”

 

On the offense’s consistency…

“In practice I feel pretty good with it, especially when our ones are going. We have been consistent and have taken care of the football, which is one of the main concerns every day is take care of the football. But until you get out there and put the product on the field, you think you know, but until it really happens you are never really sure.”

 

On Nicholls’ backfield…

“Their deal is going to be how do they take full opportunity of every advantage that we give them. And we have to do a great job on our side of the ball taking care of the football, and making their offense drive long, long fields. When we get the football, every opportunity we get inside the 50, we need to be great with it and we need to try to put points on the board. If we punt, so be it, but let’s take care of the ball and make them drive the length of the field.”

 

On quarterback Skylar Thompson…

“I think the biggest thing is I feel like as camp has gone along, he really has really started to understand the why we are doing what we are doing. His ability to say, ‘Coach, I’d rather do this,’ or, ‘I think this fits better,’ I’m all in because he’s got reasons for why he is doing that. It’s the normal deal where someone says, ‘Hey coach, let’s take some shots and throw it down the field,’ and you want to say, ‘Well, give me some options.’ Well Skylar is ready now to start saying, ‘Yeah, I think if we do this. It fits better with what they are doing.’ That’s great growth and hopefully that continues.”

 

On scripted plays to start off a game…

“We are more of a script early and then kind of see how the thing unfolds. Obviously, we have a little bit of a contingency plan because you never know if they are going to play exactly what you anticipate.”

 

On the amount of receivers that might play in the game…

“I would hope five to six. It just kind of depends on how the game flows, and how guys play. I feel good with probably five or six guys getting out there and being able to compete and do well.”

 

On Nick Lenners and Blaise Gammon…

“The good part is both of them can be physical and are big, thick guys. Neither of them run extremely well. Nick probably runs a little bit better than Blaise, but both of them being 6-5, 6-6, 6-7’and 250 or a little bit more, it allows us to run the ball in either direction with both of them being the lead guy or an extension to the O-Line. I really feel like Nick has done a good job doing some of the motion stuff and be able to start on one side and motion over and play on the other side. So I feel good about both of them.”

 

On the tight ends/fullbacks…

“We’ll do a little bit of both, meaning we’ll play them 12 personnel and you might say, ‘Wow, it looks like he’s playing fullback than true second tight end,’ and then we will also play traditional where you would say, ‘That’s truly a fullback in the I-formation.’ Generally speaking, the tight ends wouldn’t, per se, be in there, but they could be just because Nick is a really smart football player and understands it. Logan Long, if he gets an opportunity, which he very well could and could definitely be a fullback, needs be. I think the fullback position, they’ve done a nice job. Also the guys that have taken over and playing it.”

 

On holding back plays in the game plan…

“To be honest with you, there may be some things that are not yet in the game plan, per se, but we pretty much look at these guys like it’s a must-win opportunity. You have to put everything out there that you need, so we didn’t hold anything back or not put anything in.”

 

On the patience with the offense…

“It doesn’t matter what was done in the past, it matters how much our guys really understand what we are trying to get accomplished now and the ability to execute it. So, hopefully we will play well. I think our guys are ready to play and chopping at the bit to get the opportunity to get on the field and see where things are at. Obviously, we are going to preach to them about taking care of the football and scoring points when we get an opportunity.”

 

SCOTTIE HAZELTON, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

On coaches being either on the field or in the press box……

“Myself, Buddy Wyatt and Van Malone will be downstairs. Joe (Klanderman) and Tui (Mike Tuiasosopo) will be upstairs, and then our GA’s will be all be upstairs. We kind of do it by the situation. I am downstairs so I can communicate with linebackers and usually I can cross over to safeties and defensive ends. The guy who is downstairs generally handles all of the game on third down, whether it’s the defensive coach or which one of those guys handle it, and that is Buddy’s area. He is going to do that so Tui can watch the run schemes from upstairs. Joe prefers to be upstairs, and his vision is good about seeing what is going on across the field. I can crossover and talk to those guys if we need to and break it up that way.”

On the defense’s performance in practice…

“Its solid. We still have some ups and downs. They are still 18-to-22 year-old kids. For us, it has been a deal with understanding the style of practice. They have been trained to do it a certain way for so long, and we are doing things a little bit different that you switch something up on or take the pads off or put noise on and the communication goes down because they do not know how to fight through it. Then the next day, you address those things then they’ll be new to that. It is just trying to balance everything out that you could have on game day. Hopefully we will play pretty fast.”

On Nicholls quarterback Chase Fourcade…

“He is a player. Any level as you look at people, you can see he is experienced. He has won a lot of games and he understands their system. He is an explosive player both running the ball and throwing the ball. It gives you a fit on defense that is something you worry about all the time. A guy like that who has been in the system for a long time is dangerous. You can trick him and keep hitting him with things, but when he figures out what you are doing, he can hurt you and be explosive. That is really what offenses look for these days. You can hold them to zero (yards), zero, zero, one (yard) and then he goes for 35 (yards) and a touchdown. You can say you are playing good defense, but you’re down points and you are only eight plays into the game.”

On preparing for Nicholls…

“They have a lot of weapons. It is not just one back, they have about three back there. One guy is a speed guy that runs the ball and can find creases. They have two others that is a very good change up. They got a big bruiser in the backfield, and they got a guy that can cut and do all those things. For us, it is what it is going to be. You have to look at those things and say, ‘OK, if this guy is hurting us, what do you want to do?’ You have to adjust and see how the matchups work out during the game. I think everyone is going to do that. Everyone is going to have a good running back and quarterback, and everyone is at least going to have one good wide receiver. You can kind of make this your test process and say, ‘How are we playing this spot? If it is going to be an issue, then we switch and need to do this.’ We just have to see how it works as we go.”

On defensive end Kyle Ball…

“He has been consistent since he stepped onto the field this fall. He is a guy that understands the defense and his job. He did a really good job when he was hurt in the spring picking up the defense. Most guys without doing it, they cannot do it themselves. He had the ability to take things in the classroom, walk onto the field right away and do them. Reggie (Walker) was nicked up, but I think defensive end is a good position for us. We can play a lot of guys and keep them really fresh. We are excited to have all those defensive ends. They all have little slots where they can play in different areas and in the same area.”

 

 

RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football Communications | K-State Athletics

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jurickson Profar homered and drove in three runs, Seth Brown added two RBIs and the Oakland Athletics held off the Kansas City Royals 9-8 on Thursday to cap a four-game series victory.

Everybody in the A’s starting lineup had a hit or drove in a run, bailing out starter Chris Bassitt after a dismal performance. Bassitt failed to survive the fifth before turning the game over to Yusmeiro Petit (4-3), who was just about the only effective pitcher all the afternoon.

Fellow relievers Jake Diekman and Liam Hendriks gave up back-to-back RBI singles in the eighth, then Hendriks gave up a two-out RBI single to Ryan O’Hearn in the ninth. But the former Royals reliever bounced back to strike out Bubba Starling and earn his 17th save.

Glenn Sparkman (3-10) also failed to make it through the fifth for Kansas City, allowing seven runs, nine hits and a walk. He also hit a pair of batters in losing his fifth straight decision.

Sparkman gave up a leadoff single to Marcus Semien, another hit to Matt Olson and plunked two batters — one of them sending home a run — in staking Oakland to a 1-0 lead.

Bassitt served up a leadoff since to Whit Merrifield, then let Jorge Soler drill a 1-0 pitch out of the park. The homer was the 37th of the year for the slugging Soler, moving him within one of matching Mike Moustakas for the single-season franchise record.

Sparkman breezed through a perfect second and third before making a mess of everything else.

Profar went deep and Josh Phegley had an RBI single during the A’s three-run fourth, then Oakland tacked on three more runs off Sparkman and reliever Josh Barnes to take a 7-2 lead in the fifth.

Bassitt nearly gave it all back. Over the span of five batters in the bottom half, the right-hander plunked one, gave up a single to another, was victimized by an error and walked the bases loaded. Then, with the bases loaded, Cheslor Cuthbert came within a foot of hitting a tying grand slam — he wound up with a two-run double instead that drew the Royals within 7-5.

Oakland tacked on another run in the sixth before the Royals got within 8-7 in the eighth. Soler came to the plate with the go-ahead run on first, but Hendriks struck him out to preserve the lead.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics spent the night trading big blows, and they weren’t limited to the balls they kept sending out of spacious Kauffman Stadium.

Three guys were hit by pitches, too — one of them smack in the helmet.

Yet it was Hunter Dozier who delivered the timeliest hits on Wednesday night, belting a two-run homer in the third inning before driving in the go-ahead run with a base hit in the seventh. When Tim Hill notched a pair of perfect innings in relief, and Ian Kennedy survived a harrowing ninth, the Royals had escaped with a 6-4 victory against a club that has owned the AL Central all season.

“We’ve had some opportunities the last two games to get some runs or tack on some runs and we didn’t do it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Tonight was a pretty good night for our offense.”

Hill (2-0) dazzled in relief of Jacob Junis before Kennedy kept everyone on edge. He walked Jurickson Profar to begin the inning, then struck out Chris Herrmann and Corban Joseph, before Marcus Semien singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Kennedy responded by getting Robbie Grossman to hit a lazy flyball to left field to earn his 23rd save this season.

“It was set up perfectly for Timmy,” Yost said. “The way their lineup was set up was perfect. He threw the ball extremely well. Then Ian came in with great stuff, too.”

Blake Treinen (6-5) faced four batters in the seventh inning without recording an out for Oakland. He allowed three hits and a walk, and Jake Diekman allowed one of his inherited runners to score.

“It’s frustrating when you feel when you feel like your stuff is playing well and you’re locating,” Treinen said. “I think I only missed the spot once.”

Semien and Mark Canha homered for the A’s, who twice blew two-run leads in squandering a chance to go a season-best 22 games over .500. Oakland (76-56) had won 19 of 24 against the Central Division.

The big blows began with the second pitch, when Semien launched a solo shot off Junis to give the A’s the lead. The Royals’ starter proceeded to hit Matt Chapman in the helmet with a pitch two batters later, the impact launching the headgear all the way toward the warning track.

Chapman stayed in the game to score on Seth Brown’s groundout before heading for the clubhouse.

“He’s all right, no concussion symptoms as of right now,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “That was scary.”

The Royals tied it in the third when Tanner Roark served up Dozier’s two-run shot. The homer over the left-field bullpen was bookended by Roark hitting Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon with pitches.

Oakland jumped back ahead in the fifth on Canha’s two-run homer, and the Royals quickly answered over the next couple innings. Jorge Soler got the first run back with an RBI double in the fifth, and O’Hearn tied it 4-all when he belted a 0-2 pitch to right field to open the sixth.

Roark wound up allowing four runs on five hits and a walk in six innings, striking out four. Junis gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out five.

“Got off to a tough start. Command was all over the place,” Junis said. “I kind of grinded through it and figured a way to get through six innings and give us a chance.”

TOPEKA, Kan. – The 2018-2019 school year marked the first year member schools were required to report concussions to the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Over 2,100 concussions were reported across grades 7-12.

“The KSHSAA is committed to adopting policy and implementing best practices in order to minimize risk for student participants,” said executive director, Bill Faflick. “We believe it is important to use relevant data to craft such policies and protocols, and we certainly appreciate member schools playing their part by reporting concussions realized in practices and contests under administration of the KSHSAA.”

The tracking of concussions comes from the recommendation and work of the KSHSAA Sports Medicine Committee which meets twice a year. Reporting was done by the school’s administration and/or athletic trainer.

“We believe it is important to have Kansas specific concussion data to truly understand at what level sport concussions are affecting our student participants. Sport related concussions don’t necessarily happen at a high rate compared to some other injuries, but due to the significance of the injury, proper recognition and management are extremely important,” said Brent Unruh, KSHSAA office manager and sports medicine liaison. “As this dataset continues to grow and trends begin to emerge, KSHSAA leadership, including the association’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee can make better informed decisions related to risk minimization and student safety.”

The table linked below provides a summary of the concussions reported by activity. Total participants in each activity was divided by the total number of concussions reported to get the incidence for each activity. The three sports with the highest incidence of reported concussions were Football (6.16%), Girls Soccer (3.63%) and Wrestling (2.98%). The number of days missed was also collected for each reported case and the average by activity is shown in the table. Interestingly, the top three sports with the highest incidence of concussions in Kansas also have the highest concussion injury rate nationally according to the High School RIO study.

Of the reported concussions, 60.5% were reported to be the student’s first ever concussion, 17.5% of the cases were reported as not being the student’s first concussion and 22% of the cases were reported as not knowing. Thirty-seven percent of the reported concussions were incurred at a practice versus 63% in a competition setting. When considering the higher number of practice exposures versus competition exposures throughout a season, this difference illustrates a much higher risk of concussion incidence in a competition setting.

The ongoing High School RIO study taking place through the Colorado School of Public Health is considered the preeminent high school injury tracking study in the nation. This study collects the number of athlete exposures which enables the researchers to obtain an injury rate by sport. The KSHSAA concussion tracking does not track athlete exposures, so it is not possible to compare Kansas concussion injury rates to the national average. But in comparing the overall incidence by sport in Kansas to national data, some very similar trends have been observed over this first year of reporting.

The KSHSAA is extremely appreciative of the effort of all member schools to report every concussion to the Activities Association. This requirement continues to be in effect for the 2019-2020 school year. Any concussion sustained by a student participating in a KSHSAA sponsored activity shall be reported to the KSHSAA through the online reporting system. By collecting this type of incidence data on an annual basis, better informed decisions can be made regarding risk minimization in our activities.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A day after their highest scoring output of the season, the Oakland Athletics had to rely on their pitching to pull out another win.

Fiers and three Oakland relievers combined to shut down the Kansas City Royals and Marcus Semien provided just enough early offense in a 2-1 victory Tuesday night to take a one game lead over Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card spot.

“We had to grind this one out,” Fiers said. “It was one of those games where their pitcher pitched well so you have to tip your cap to them. To keep them to one run is what we needed.”

On Monday night, the A’s beat the Royals 19-4.

Semien had hits in his first two at-bats Tuesday, coming around to score in the first inning and driving in a run in the second. That was all the offense the A’s pitchers needed.