MIAMI (AP) — Alcides Escobar homered and drove in two runs to lead the surging Kansas City Royals past the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Thursday night.

Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Royals as the defending World Series champions have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.

Kansas City starter Edison Volquez (10-10) pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, and three hits.

The Royals’ bullpen, which has been a successful formula for the reigning two-time AL pennant winners, pitched four scoreless innings to push their franchise-record scoreless streak to 38 2-3 innings – the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1-3 straight.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a flawless ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.

Tom Koehler (9-9) allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings for the Marlins.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State fans will have numerous opportunities to preview the 2016 Wildcats prior to next Friday’s season opener as FOX Sports Midwest and Cox Channel Kansas will air the Wildcats’ preseason kickoff special beginning Sunday.

 

The one-hour show will air on FOX Sports Midwest at 9 p.m., on Sunday, Aug. 28, and will then be replayed on Monday, Aug. 29 (12 p.m.; 5:30 p.m.), Tuesday, Aug. 30 (11 a.m.; 10:30 p.m.), Thursday, Sept. 1 (9:30 p.m.) and Friday, Sept. 2 (12 p.m.).

 

Cox Channel Kansas will air the preseason special six times next week, beginning at10 p.m., on Monday, Aug. 29, and continuing on Tuesday, Aug. 30 (1 p.m.; 10 p.m.),Wednesday, Aug. 31 (5:30 p.m.) and Thursday, Sept. 1 (2 p.m.; 10 p.m.).

 

The 2016 K-State Football Preseason Special is co-hosted by the Voice of the Wildcats, Wyatt Thompson, and head coach Bill Snyder and includes an inside look at the Wildcat offense, defense and special teams as well as an analysis of the upcoming 2016 schedule and individual player features.

 

K-State begins the 2016 football season next Friday, Sept. 2, with a nationally-televised contest at seventh-ranked Stanford. The game, which kicks off at 8 p.m. (CT), will be aired on FS1. For fans traveling to Palo Alto, Stanford employs the same clear bag policy that K-State Athletics will use during the 2016-17 athletic year (click here for Stanford’s policy).

 

Following a bye week in which Bill Snyder Family Stadium will host the Wildcat Kickoff music festival featuring Zach Brown Band and Train, the Wildcats open their home slate against Florida Atlantic at 1:30 p.m., on Sept. 17.

 

Ticket availability for the Missouri State (September 24) and Texas (October 22) games is down to scattered singles and standing room only, while the Kansas game on November 26 is down to fewer than 100 contiguous seats. Wildcat 4 Packs, which include four reserved tickets, are still available for K-State’s other four home games and are only $99 for FAU (September 17), $149 for Texas Tech (October 8) and Kansas (November 26), and $199 for Oklahoma State (November 5).

 

Tickets can be purchased through the K-State Athletic Ticket office online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or in person at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

2016 K-State Football Preseason Special

Day                                        Time                      Network

Sunday, Aug. 28                9 p.m.                   FSN

Monday, Aug. 29              12 p.m.                 FSN

Monday, Aug. 29              5:30 p.m.             FSN

Monday, Aug. 29              10 p.m.                 Cox

Tuesday, Aug. 30              11 a.m.                 FSN

Tuesday, Aug. 30              1 p.m.                   Cox

Tuesday, Aug. 30              10 p.m.                 Cox

Tuesday, Aug. 30              10:30 p.m.          FSN

Wednesday, Aug. 31       5:30 p.m.             Cox

Thursday, Sept. 1              2 p.m.                   Cox

Thursday, Sept. 1              9:30 p.m.             FSN

Thursday, Sept. 1              10 p.m.                 Cox

Friday, Sept. 2                    12 p.m.                 FSN

 – k-statesports.com –

MIAMI (AP) – Jose Fernandez pitched seven innings and appeared to avoid a serious injury when he tweaked his right leg on his final pitch Wednesday night, helping the Miami Marlins beat Kansas City 3-0 to snap the Royals’ nine-game winning streak.

Fernandez (13-7) pulled up after striking out Christian Colon to end the seventh, and rubbed his right knee before limping to the dugout.

The Marlins pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the seventh, and no injury was announced. Fernandez was laughing with teammates in the dugout in the ninth inning and joined in the postgame celebration on the field.

His nine strikeouts increased his season total to 213, breaking the Marlins record of 209 set by Ryan Dempster in 2000. Fernandez ended a career-worst three-game losing streak.

He also had the Marlins’ first two hits, hiking his average to .286, and improved to 27-2 at Marlins Park.

Fernando Rodney pitched around two singles and walk for his 25th save and eighth with Miami.

Dillon Gee (5-7) took the loss.

The 4A Chapman Fighting Irish football team is heading in to this season as a young and “run heavy” team.

Dan Sell, Head Coach of the Fighting Irish, said that running the ball a lot won’t be a change from last season, but it may be more frequent.

“We’ll probably be fairly ‘run heavy’…trying to solve offensive line questions…defensively I think we’ll be in pretty good shape…we’ve got a pretty good group of returning linebackers and secondary…we have a lot more guys returning on defense so we should be better there,” said Sell.

Although the lineman are young – and scarce – Sell is banking on the returning skill position players like running backs and receivers to step up this season as leaders on and off the field.

“We’ve got several guys that we just have to find the right spots to put them in,” said Sell.

Sell said that he likes to use the ‘zone blocking’ scheme but with a team that doesn’t necessarily have sizable lineman it can be difficult.

“We’ve got the right pieces and parts, we just have to find a way to put them all together…we’ve got more kids this year that can carry the ball in different ways,” said Sell.

One luxury the team can appreciate is the versatility in the young players.

Cliche’ as it may seem Sell said that his goal for his team is to just get better each week and continue to improve.

“We’re really going to focus on that early – just trying to get better, and clean up things and take care of things…self -inflicted type things we have to make sure we take care of – so, just those kinds of things early in the season and then maybe figure out where people fit best a little bit, and solve some of those puzzles and find out what our best mix is on offense and defense,” said Sell.

With a young team one thing Head Coach Dan Sell can look forward to is their development and evolution together over the next few seasons.

The Chapman Irish host their Green/White Scrimmage game this Friday.

MIAMI (AP) – Yordano Ventura escaped two threats while pitching six innings, and the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to nine games by beating the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Ventura (9-9), who reached 101 mph on the scoreboard radar gun, allowed six hits and one walk while striking out six. Royals starters have an ERA of 1.69 during the winning streak, Kansas City’s longest since June 2014.

Three relievers closed out the win and extended the bullpen’s streak of 32 consecutive shutout innings since Aug. 10. Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

The Marlins had won three straight but were shut out despite totaling seven hits. They went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

A longtime teacher and coach Joe Beck, was remembered during a Celebration of Life Service in Junction City on Tuesday in Junction City.

Beck, who coached and taught for many years at Junction City High School before his retirement, died August 17.

He was remembered during the service as a man who touched many people, as someone who would do anything for anyone. He was a humble man who never bragged about the things he had accomplished, and served as a good role model.

Beck’s good friend, longtime basketball coach Chuck Minor,  remembered their experiences together when they were young playing basketball together. Later they coached against one another on the high school level. Minor reminded the audience that Beck was an All Big Eight baseball player for Kansas State,and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves. He was a member of the 1963 junior college national championship basketball team at Independence Community College, and later as a coach who had track and cross country teams at Bonner Springs win state championships.

At JCHS Beck was the head basketball coach for five seasons, and had two state tournament teams. During his time at JCHS, among other sports, he also coached football and track and field, and he served as a social studies teacher.

Former coaching and teaching colleagues and family members were in attendance for the service. Burial was in Riley Cemetery.

 

The girls golf program at Junction City High School is relatively new – and young.

Tim Hickert, Head Coach of the girls golf program at JCHS said that his sophomore heavy team of seven will focus on learning the game and fundamentals this season.

“This year we have 7 girls out, no seniors, and one junior – so it’s a spphomore laden team…but the 7 that are out, they’re wonderful kids and we are trying to improve,” said Hickert.

Hickert added that for many of the girls, playing a full game of 9 holes will be a challenge.

“Things that we’re not going to focus on are results in terms of where we placed, or where we finish in tournaments, we are more trying to improve whatever our individual average is, whatever our individual capabilities were…and just keep improving through the season,” said Hickert.

More than anything, Hickert hopes to teach his athletes invaluable life lessons.

“Even more than teaching the sport, I think [I believe in] teaching life skills…[I think of myself as] a life coach, more than a golf coach or tennis coach or math teacher – it’s trying to get kids to do the right thing and that’s what I like about golf…you call penalties on yourself, you don’t have a referee, so it’s important to remember to just do the best you can,” said Hickert.

The challenges that adolescents face in golf aren’t necessarily unique to them either – they can also affect the most seasoned athletes.

“Golf is a weird sport where even the professionals can have scores ranging an interval of 20 strokes or so, and the high school kids are no different; one of the things I’ve learned in my many years of coaching is trying to get in the kid’s heads and get the to relax because they think that if they shoot one good score, it’s going to be that way all the time…that’s just not the way it is,” said Hickert.

This is only the second year for girls golf at JCHS and Hickert said that more than anything he wants the girls to learn and take away positive memories.

“You’re going to have your good days, you’re going to have your bad days and what you try to do is maximinze the good ones, and minimize the bad ones,” said Hickert.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs took pass rusher Tamba Hali off the physically unable to perform list Monday, though the team said he will practice on a limited basis.

Hali had surgery in the offseason on his balky knees, which forced him to miss nearly every practice late last season. He was still able to play in games but hardly looked 100 percent.

Hali has spent training camp working out with trainers, but his removal from the PUP list means he can begin working out with the rest of the team. Still, it is unlikely he will play in the Chiefs’ remaining preseason games against Chicago and Green Bay.

The 32-year-old Hali played in 15 games and had 6 1/2 sacks last season.

The Junction City High School Alumni Band will host it’s first ever band reunion on Friday, September 9th at the Blue Jay’s first home football game of the season.

Those attending the reunion will play the JCHS “Fight Song”at the end of the halftime performance with the current Blue Jay band members.

Alumni Band t-shirts are available for alumni to purchase that will look like the current 2016 band members shirts on the front, and a “Blast from the Past” logo on the back. The t-shirts for alumni must be pre-ordered.

Alumni are required to complete a pre-registration form by Friday, September 2nd.

To pre-register click here.

For more information, contact band director TJ Taylor at 785-717-4200.