Three Kansas State football players — safety Dante Barnett, fullback Glenn Gronkowski and offensive lineman Cody Whitehair–were each named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team as voted on by media representatives who cover the league, the conference office announced Wednesday.

Whitehair is a two-time member of the preseason all-conference team, while Barnett and Gronkowski are first-time recipients.  All three earned All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches following the 2014 season as Gronkowski was a first-team member and Barnett and Whitehair were named to the second team.

A native of Abilene, Kansas, Whitehair is a three-time All-Big 12 offensive lineman after starting 38 of his 39 career games and helping K-State earn a 28-11 record with three bowl berths during that span. He is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy for a second straight season.

Gronkowski has played in all 26 games over the past two seasons and has been a receiving threat out of the backfield in addition to being one of the top blocking backs in the country.

Barnett, who is on the watch list for the 2015 Bednarik and Thorpe awards in addition to the Nagurski Trophy, is K-State’s top returning tackler after recording 77 stops in 2014.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Royals have proven last year was no fluke.

As they hit the All-Star break with a big lead in the AL Central, they found themselves reveling in seven players chosen for the Midsummer Classic. And after a World Series run last year, they had manager Ned Yost and his staff on the bench Tuesday night in Cincinnati.

But with the festivities over, the Royals now set their sights on returning to the playoffs, something they did last year for the first time since 1985.

The Royals begin the second half Friday night in Chicago against the White Sox. They lead the Minnesota Twins by 4 1/2 games in the AL Central, with Detroit and Cleveland looming.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that the Chiefs and All-Pro linebacker Justin Houston have agreed to a six-year, $101 million contract that includes $52.5 million in guarantees.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal has not been announced. The sides had until late afternoon to work out a deal, otherwise Houston would have played the upcoming season under the franchise tag.

The deal is not only the richest in franchise history but also the richest for a linebacker in NFL history. The only defensive player to sign for more is Ndamukong Suh, who reached a six-year, $114 million deal with Miami.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Mike Trout flashed the skill that puts him at the front of baseball’s new generation, just moments after four of the all-time greats walked off the field.

Trout became the first player in 38 years to homer leading off an All-Star Game, then became the first player to take home the Midsummer Classic’s MVP award two years in row.

A new-look All-Star Game finished with the same old result. The AL beat the NL 6-3 Tuesday night and will open the World Series at home for the 10th time in 13 years.

“It’s obviously a humbling honor with the MVPs,” Trout said in his usual understated, aw-shucks manner.

After Trout completed a career All-Star cycle in just his fifth big league season, Prince Fielder delivered. He drove in two runs, sending Trout blazing home ahead of Joc Pederson’s throw with the run off Clayton Kershaw that put the AL ahead for good.

In an age of dominant pitching, Felix Hernandez, winner David Price, Zach Britton, Dellin Betances and Wade Davis took scoreless turns in the AL’s third win a row.

Playing on the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels, Trout could add an even bigger honor this fall — his first World Series ring.

“He can do anything that anybody can do on a baseball field,” AL manager Ned Yost said. “He can hit with power. He can run. He can drive the gap. He’s a great defender. He’s just special. When you look at Mike, you don’t look at a 23-year-old. You look at a guy that is one of the best baseball players on this planet.”

A season after the retirement of Derek Jeter dropped the curtain on the turn-of-century greats, Trout was among six starting position players under 25 — the most since 1965. At last year’s game in Minneapolis, he hit a tiebreaking triple and later a go-ahead double.

This time Trout sent Zack Greinke’s fourth pitch, a 94 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate, over the wall in right next to the visiting bullpen for an opposite-field homer.

Winner of his first season AL MVP award in 2014, the center fielder joined Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Gary Carter and Cal Ripken, Jr. as the only two-time All-Star MVPs.

Paola defeated Junction City 17-7 in round two play at their American Legion Zone Tournament in Emporia on Tuesday.

Later, Tuesday evening, Junction City fell to Emporia 15-5.

The losses ended the season for Junction City.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder and the Wildcat coaching staff will host one final summer camp this month as spots still remain for the one-day camp on July 25.

The Kansas State Football July One-Day Camp, which will be held at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, is open to any and all entrants entering grades 11-12 in the fall of 2015.

The day will consist of a morning and afternoon session led by K-State assistant coaches along with talks from the Wildcat staff as campers will work with the coaches on their individual skills. Lunch will also be provided for campers.

More information regarding the camp, which costs $50 per camper, is available at kansasstatefootballcamps.com. Questions regarding any of the camps should be directed to the K-State football office at 785-532-5876 or by email at footballcamps@kstatesports.com.

Kansas State Football Camps provide detailed instruction on fundamentals and techniques by the Kansas State football coaching staff and are open to any and all entrants, limited by number, age, grade level, and/or gender.

Released by Kenny Lanou, Assistant A.D. for Communications | K-State Athletics

GWANGJU, Korea – The only two undefeated teams remaining in the men’s basketball World University Games (WUG) finished a double overtime thriller with a gold medal for team USA.

A 9-0 run to finish the game gave the USA National Team consisting mainly of the Kansas men’s basketball student-athletes and staff, an 84-77 victory over Germany.

The Jayhawks swept through the emotional and physically draining eight games in 11 days to finish the tournament a perfect 8-0. Playing in its 17th World University Games gold medal contest, the USA won its all-time most 14th gold medal and its first since 2005. This is the first medal of any kind for the U.S. men in the last three World University Games.

The USA advanced to the gold medal game with a 78-68 win against Russia in the semifinal contest on July 12. After going 5-0 in Pool D, the USA defeated Lithuania, 70-48, in the medal bracket quarterfinals on July 11. Germany went 4-0 in the five-team Pool B and beat Canada, 79-73, in its quarterfinal contest and then Brazil, 59-49, to advance Monday’s matchup.

Ethan Klosterboer is the Mid Plains League Player of the Year.

According to Brigade General Manager Cecil Aska, the award is voted on by the coaches in the seven-team league.

Klosterboer said receiving the award was a little bit of a surprise to him. “I think there are a bunch of really good guys in the league that easily could have won the award. And it’s an honor just to be in consideration, let alone win it.”

Klosterboer has come back to the Brigade after missing several games in June due to a hand injury when his hand was stepped on in a play at first base during a ballgame at Rathert Field. During the school year he plays for Kansas State. He is originally from Humble, Texas.

The Kansas City Monarchs rallied for one run in the sixth and two in the eighth inning to defeat the Junction City Brigade 3-1 on a hot humid night at Rathert field.

Junction City had taken the lead in the third inning on a walk by Jake Biller and pair of singles by Cole Brecheisen and Ethan Klosterboer, but that was the only run produced by the Brigade, who fell to 20-16 on the season.

Junction City Seth Wheeler felt it was a tough loss. “we tried to get everybody in and tried to split the game today just with it being so hot and it being a non-league game.” He noted the Brigade had also recently played several games in recent days.

The Monarchs won the game despite having only nine players.  Luke Cathal was the winning pitcher for the Monarchs.

Junction City will host a summer collegiate baseball team from Puerto Rico on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

The Junction City Blues got a complete game pitching performance from Dylan Collette in a 7-2 victory over Salina in the opening round of their postseason Zone baseball tournament Monday in Emporia.

For Junction City, Bobby Khoury had an rbi double, Nate Johnson a 2-rbi single, Pedro Vasquez an rbi double, Ashton Wiegand an rbi single, and Declan Gaub an rbi single.

Blues coach Derek Scott said the win sends Junction City into round two at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Paola, the top seed entering the six-team double elimination tournament.  Paola had a first round bye.