The Junction City Lady Jay softball team lost in the first round of a Class 6A Regional Tournament at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka. The Lady Jays fell to Topeka High 13-1.

The loss ended the season for Junction City.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rougned Odor and the rest of the Texas Rangers had been using the Kansas City Royals’ beleaguered pitching staff for batting practice most of the sun-splashed afternoon.

Then the Rangers used their backup second baseman for it, too.

One of Odor’s two homers came off Chris Owings, who was summoned by the Royals in the eighth inning to try to close out the 16-1 blowout. Hunter Pence also went deep off the utility man as Texas hit five homers in all, piled up 21 hits and won the rubber game of the three-game series.

“We’ve done a good job of salvaging the last couple of games,” said the Rangers’ Lance Lynn, who earned the win with a strong start that ultimately got lost amid the barrage of runs.

“For me, I have a chance to ride a loss or a win from the night before,” he said. “That’s always my motto. Whatever happened the night before I want to get the team going.”

Calhoun and Joey Gallo each homered among their four hits, and Danny Santana also had four knocks, though some of that damage came off a utilityman. Royals manager Ned Yost wanted to save his bullpen for an upcoming road trip, so he called Owings off the bench in the eighth inning.

“I told him, ‘Look, don’t be stupid,'” Yost said, “but he did a great job of saving our ‘pen.”

Lynn (5-3) allowed a run in the first but little else over the next six innings as the Rangers won their first road series in nine tries. Their last one came last September in San Diego.

Homer Bailey (4-4) allowed six runs, eight hits and four walks in an all-around dismal day for the Kansas City pitching staff. Brad Boxberger coughed up three runs in relief of him as the Royals lost the rubber game of a series for the 13th consecutive time dating to last season.

Kansas City actually struck in the first when youngster Nicky Lopez, capping a solid debut series, hit the first of his two doubles and Adalberto Mondesi followed with a sacrifice fly. But Lynn and the Rangers controlled the game the rest of the way.

They pulled even on Gallo’s homer to left leading off the fourth, then battered Bailey and the bullpen by sending five runs across during the decisive fifth inning.

It started with a leadoff walk to Isaih Kiner-Falefa, continued with consecutive singles by Danny Santana, Calhoun and Nomar Mazara, and included two more walks by Bailey that sent in a run.

The veteran right-hander was finally yanked from the game, and Brad Boxberger appeared to have the Royals out of the inning when he induced Odor to hit a groundball. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn was able to field the ball cleanly but threw it away, keeping their misery going.

“There was a couple of hits. We missed being in the right spot cutoff-wise, trying to hold the game right there,” Yost said. “Brought in Boxberger and throwing error broke it open for them.”

Texas pushed across three more runs in the sixth, drawing a trio of walks off Boxberger and former closer Wily Peralta. It was the second straight inning the Rangers batted through the order.

“It’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “It was a 1-1 game going into the fifth. Homer Bailey was doing OK at that point. Those at-bats (in the fifth) kind of set the tone for the rest of the game. Big hits, big walks. That’s something we pride ourselves on. If you get a good pitch, take a rip. If not, let the next guy do it.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nicky Lopez rewarded the few thousand Kansas City Royals fans that stuck around through a game that stretched well past 3 hours with his first career hit, an RBI single late in their 11-5 rout of the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

But as he gazed up from first base, the Royals’ top prospect found the ones that mattered most.

“I saw my family up there,” he said, “and that’s how I always imagined it.”

Lopez, who was called up from Triple-A Omaha earlier in the day, was hardly the only Royals player to take some productive swings against the Rangers. Hunter Dozier drove in three runs, and Alex Gordon and Jorge Soler drove in two apiece, as the Royals scored nine times in the first two innings.

They quickly knocked out Shelby Miller (1-3), who was pulled with two outs in the second after he allowed eight runs on seven hits in two walks in another ugly post-Tommy John performance.

Danny Duffy (2-1) was only marginally better for Kansas City, using 107 pitches just to survive five innings. He allowed four runs, seven hits and a walk while striking out seven.

“You make a couple of bad pitches and all of a sudden they get four runs,” Duffy said. “When my team gives me nine runs, it’s a travesty to not go as long as I can.”

Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus left with tightness in his right hamstring after grounding out to end the seventh inning. He will be evaluated again Wednesday in another blow to a team that has lost five straight to fall a season-worst five games below .500.

“We’ll obviously evaluate him tomorrow,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said, “but he seems pretty optimistic. He hasn’t had a hamstring problem before. We’ll see when he wakes up tomorrow how he feels.”

The Royals pounced on Miller right from the start, sending seven to the plate in the first inning and jumping out to a 3-0 lead. But they cracked the game open in the second, when they sent 11 batters to the plate and drove in six runs against Miller and Rangers reliever Wei-Chieh Huang.

The stunning offensive outburst came after Kansas City managed six singles and no extra-base hits in a loss to the Phillies on Sunday. And it came after the arrival of Lopez, who got the start at second base and hit second behind Whit Merrifield in the lineup.

Lopez walked in the third before his first career hit made it a memorable night.

“Nicky had some great at-bats,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I was glad to see Nicky get his first hit. That’s under his belt and now he can move forward.”

Joey Gallo had a pair of RBIs for the Rangers, who tried to climb back into the game with a four-run third. But they stranded runners in four consecutive innings, repeatedly failing to get the crucial hit they needed to avoid a 1-6 start to their nine-game, 10-day road trip.

“They put some runs together. They put some big innings together,” said Miller, whose ERA ballooned to 9.51 this season. “It’s disappointing. I feel like I let my team down big-time.”

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber has been selected as the head coach for USA Basketball’s U19 World Cup Team that will compete at the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) U19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, June 29 to July 7.

 

“It’s an honor to represent Team USA at such a prestigious event like the World Cup,” said Weber. “I have had a long association with USA Basketball as a committee member, court coach and as an assistant to Coach (Gene) Keady for several championships. I appreciate the organization’s Board of Directors for giving me this special opportunity to coach some of our country’s best players on the world stage. I look forward to getting to work with the players and the rest of the staff and representing our country in Greece.”

 

The U19 World Cup, which is held every two years, dates to 1979 as the FIBA Junior World Championship and features the world’s top 19-year-old and younger players. Team USA earned a qualifying spot for the U19 World Cup by capturing gold at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship with a 6-0 record.

 

Training camp to select the 12-member team will be held June 15-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Finalists for the team are expected to be announced on June 18, and the roster will be announced prior to the team’s departure for Greece on June 24. Team USA has been placed in Group A at the World Cup with Lithuania, New Zealand and Senegal.

 

Team USA has won six gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal in the 13 U19 competitions since 1979, including gold in three of the past five U19 World Cups (2009, 2013 and 2015).

 

In addition, Weber has tabbed current graduate manager Shane Southwell as the video coordinator for the U19 World Cup. A four-year letterman who guided the Wildcats to 92 wins from 2010-14, Southwell just completed his second year on the K-State coaching staff after playing professionally in Mexico, Australia and Switzerland.

 

Weber and Southwell will be joined on the U19 World Cup by Washington head coach Mike Hopkins and North Carolina Central head coach LeVelle Moton, who will serve as assistant coaches.

 

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

The Chapman boys track team finished third and the girls squad fourth in the NCKL League meet on Friday.

For the varsity boys some highlights included a first place finish by Aaron Modrow in the 1600 meters in 4:39.29 and the 3200 meters in 10:14.54. Blake Vercher captured first in the long jump with a leap of 19’10.75″ and finished third in the 400 meters in 52.75.

Eli Winder was second in the triple jump at 39′.25″, Mitchell Tiller second in the pole vault at 12’7″ and Izek jackson third in the 200 meters in 23.25. The 4 x 800 relay team of Eli Winder, Brandon Colston, Shaun Blocker and Aaron Modrow finished first in 8:21.29 and the 4 x 100 relay team of Blake Vercher, Brandon Colston, Dalton Harvey and Izek Jackson finished second in 44.85.

For the varsity girls Taylor Briggs won the 1600 meters in 5:12.37 and the 3200 meters in 11:24.33, McKenna Kirkpatrick captured first in the long jump with a leap of 16’3.5″ and Peyton Suther won the javelin with a throw of 128’5.5.” Suther finished second in the high jump with a jump of 5’0.” Shannon Anderson finished third in the 300 meter hurdles in 52.71.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Cole Irvin was outstanding in his major league debut and the Philadelphia Phillies scored six times in the fifth inning to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Sunday in the rubber match of their three-game series.

J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run double and Odubel Herrera followed with a two-run single for Philadelphia.

Irvin (1-0) threw seven innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Seranthony Dominguez and Juan Nicasio each tossed a scoreless inning to close it out for the 25-year-old lefty.

Kansas City has lost 12 consecutive rubber games, a streak that stretches back to May 30 last year, when the Royals took two of three against Minnesota.

Irvin’s strong start continued an impressive run by Philadelphia’s rotation. Over their last 15 games, Phillies starters have a 2.36 ERA — second-best in the majors during that span.

Royals starter Jakob Junis (3-4) cruised through four innings but fell apart in the fifth. After Nick Williams reached on an error with one out, Junis walked three of the next four batters, the last one chasing him from the game.

Realmuto greeted Richard Lovelady with a first-pitch double down the right field line and Herrera hit his two-run single two pitches later. Herrera and Jean Segura each had two hits for the Phillies, and Andrew McCutchen was on base four times via three walks and a single.

Despite allowing just three hits, Junis was tagged for five runs due primarily to five walks. Free passes were an issue all weekend for Royals pitchers, who walked 18 batters during the three-game set.

Alex Gordon brought home the Royals’ only run with an RBI single in the third. After the umpires initially ruled Billy Hamilton was thrown out at third base before Cam Gallagher crossed the plate, a replay review showed Hamilton beat the throw. Hamilton and Gordon had two hits apiece for Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon homered twice to drive in three runs, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 Friday night.

Homer Bailey (4-3) gave up one run and four hits in five-plus innings, and Scott Barlow struck out a career-high six in two innings of relief for the Royals. Jorge Soler added his team-leading 10th home run of the season.

Gordon’s second homer, a solo shot in the fifth inning, was the 1,500th hit of his career. It was also his fifth career multihomer game and first since August 20, 2016, when he hit two against Minnesota. He also homered in the bottom of the first inning, sending a two-run shot over the home bullpen in right field.

Bailey left after giving up back-to-back singles to lead off the sixth. Barlow came in and pitched around a one-out walk to strike out the side and leave the bases loaded, then struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh inning.

After giving up 10 runs in 10 innings over his first two starts, Bailey has allowed just 12 runs in his last six outings with a 3.48 ERA over 31 innings.

Jake Diekman worked his eighth consecutive scoreless outing, striking out two batters in the eighth inning and Ian Kennedy pitched a perfect ninth. The Royals’ bullpen threw four hitless innings and struck out eight.

Soler homered in the bottom of the sixth.

Phillies starter Jake Arrieta (4-3) also went five-plus innings, giving up four runs and seven hits. He allowed three home runs in a start for the first time since May 29, 2015, against the Royals. Gordon also went deep in that game.

Bryce Harper walked three times and scored Philadelphia’s only run of the game, coming home on Odubel Herrera’s RBI grounder in the fourth.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State running back Alex Barnes made his first NFL contract official on Thursday night as the Tennessee Titans announced the signing of the Pittsburg, Kansas, native prior to its rookie minicamp this weekend.

Barnes is the third Wildcat to sign or be drafted by the organization since its move to Tennessee, while he is the first to play for the Titans since Zach Diles in 2012 and 2013.

A 2018 First Team All-Big 12 performer by the Associated Press, Barnes finished as the league’s leading rusher by averaging 112.9 yards per game – over than 10 yards per game more than the next best rusher – while he ranked 10th nationally in average. His season rushing total of 1,355 yards ranked fourth in school history overall and second among juniors, while he hit the 1,000-yard mark in 187 carries to tie for fifth in school history.

Barnes finished his career ranked second in school history in yards per carry (5.71) and 100-yard rushing games (12), fourth in yards (2,616) and ninth in rushing touchdowns (25).

More Wildcats could sign with NFL teams, and those will be announced when they become official by their respective organizations.