The Junction City 12U Brigade advanced into the championship bracket at the USSSA World Series in Branson, Missouri.

Junction City won their pool games and went into bracket play seeded 7th out of the 16 teams to play in the championship bracket. They defeated the Republic Outlaws of Republic, Mo. 6-5, defeated the Arkansas Jaguars 5-4, and then advanced into bracket play where they lost to the Iowa Tigers 6-3.

The Brigade then defeated the Little Rock, Arkansas Prospects 16-8 and finally fell to the first ranked Custom Playground Blue Chips from Rockford, Ill. 9-7. The loss ended the season for the Brigade, who ended up in the 7th place spot in the bracket. The Brigade finished with a final record of 35-11-1.

The Brigade are thanking the Junction City community for support this summer.

Some of the major supporters through the World Series trip included JCJBA, the Brigade Baseball Association, Armor-Eckrich, Flint Hills OBGYN, Coach’s Grill and Bar, Froyo Junction, Millenium Bank, Walmart, True Value, The Eagles Club, Miranda Mann ( Bake Sales ), and the community members who purchased Sonic Cards from the players.

Coach Carl Laughlin also recognized Mary Khoury for helping organize fundraisers to support the team, and there was a thank you to the coaches Aaron Felton, Adam Wilkey, Randy Spell, and Jeff Underhill for their time spent helping the team.

The Junction City Rodeo is Friday and Saturday nights at the arena just off South Spring Valley Road on the west side of the city.

Rodeo Association President Daryl Blocker and others have been, and will continue working this week to prepare the arena. “The arena needs prepared. It had a lot of weeds. We’ve got a tree that needs to come down that’s died, spray weed killer, mowing. ” They’re also seeking three sets of bleachers that are not at the arena right now.

The rodeo begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Tickets are $9 in advance and $10 at the gate for adults, and $4 in advance and $5 at the gate for children ages 6-12.

Ticket locations are Orscheln’s in Junction City and Manhattan, Rittel’s Western Wear in Abilene, and PJ’s Liqour Store in Clay Center.

Former K-State basketball player Will Spradling and his wife Meagan have recently found out that their unborn baby, “Triss” has a rare disorder where a mass has been found in her lung. A Gofundme page has been started by the family of Spradling.

In just the first day since the page was Gofundme page was posted more than $15,000 was raised.

Twenty-one teams and four solo racers participated in the 2015 Sunflower State Games Adventure Race at Milford State Park on Saturday.

The race was 20 miles long and consisted of two miles of kayaking / canoeing, six miles of trekking, and 12 miles of biking. Racers had to find 20 check points, which required skills with a map, compass, and land navigation.

The winners were:

–2 Person Coed, Cara Barnes-Linville and Jon Pierce, Douglass, KS

–3 Person Male, Drew Billingsley, Jeremy Deering and David Streeter, Shawnee, KS

–2 Person Male, Roper DeGarmo and Scott Ellwood, Shawnee Mission, KS

–1 Person Solo Male, John Clausen, Overland Park, KS

–1 Person Solo Female, Connie Carpenter, Leavenworth, KS

University of Kansas Athletics

GWANGJU, Korea – Guard Wayne Selden, Jr., scored 22 points and his last seven came at the most crucial juncture in USA’s 78-68 win against Russia in the semifinals of the 2015 World at Dongkang College Gymnasium Sunday.

With the win, the USA (7-0), made up mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, will play Germany (6-0) for the gold medal on Monday, July 13, at 9 p.m. local, which is 7 a.m. in Kansas, at Yeomju Indoor Gymnasium in Gwangju. Germany defeated Brazil, 59-49, in the semifinal contest just prior to the USA-Russia matchup.

Having won an all-time most 19 medals (13 gold, three silver and three bronze), the USA is looking for its first medal in the last three World University Games (WUG). USA finished ninth in the 2013 WUG and fifth in 2011. The last medal won by the American men’s basketball team was bronze in 2009. The previous USA medal was gold in 2005.

With the USA up 12 at 61-49, Russia went on a 13-0 run to take a 62-61 lead with 6:40 to play. Included was a half court three-pointer by Ivan Strebkov as time expired, giving the Russians momentum heading into the final period. Russia would score the first six points of the fourth quarter to take the 62-61 lead, then Selden took over. The Roxbury, Massachusetts, native first made a three-pointer over Russian 7-3 center Andrei Desiatnikov to give lead back to the Americans. Selden then made a layup on a fast break to put USA up four and regain the mojo.

“That’s something we’ve done the whole tournament, even against Canada,” Self said. “We get behind and our guys don’t panic. Certainly, when we got up by 10 and they (Russia) came back to take the lead, they had all the momentum and had some things go right to get back in the game. Then we locked in. Their ball movement wasn’t as good and they didn’t drive, pitch and create as many open looks as they did early, but we guarded. Then we had two individuals just play great down the stretch. Perry (Ellis) and Wayne were terrific.”

Guard Nic Moore finished a 6-0 USA run with a jumper in the lane. Following a Russian basket, forward Perry Ellis did one of his patented spin moves to give the USA a 70-64 with 4:50 to play. With Desiatnikov switching to guard Selden again at the three-point line, the 6-5 guard found room on the baseline and blew past the Russian for a monster dunk and the USA never looked back.

“My teammates found me,” Selden said of his crucial run. “I had the seven-footer on me both times, and I didn’t feel like he was able to guard me. He backed off the first time so I was able to shoot it. The second time he got a little closer so I had to drive it.”

Ellis found his groove and led all scorers with 23 points to go along with four rebounds. Selden’s 22 points marked his fourth 20-point effort in the seven USA contests at the World University Games. Moore ended the night with five points and four rebounds, while point guard Frank Mason III had 10 points, six rebounds four assists and three steals. He also drew six fouls for the game. Forward Landen Lucas ended the game with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting with five rebounds and two assists. Strebkov led Russia with 20 points.

The Junction City Blues finished second in the eight-team Post 45 Invitational American Legion baseball tournament that wrapped up Sunday at Rathert Field.

Junction City defeated Riley County, Marion, and Paola in the tournament before losing to Manhattan in the championship game 10-6 on Sunday.

Blues coach Derrick Scott noted Manhattan put up a big inning ( 3 runs ) in the top of the first.  “Guys could have gotten shaken a little bit, but we come back, put two runs up. Guys executed well in some spots, but ultimately they came up with some more plays than we did. Fun day for us.”

In contest for third place in the tournament, Marion shut out Seaman 14-0, for Riley County defeated Emporia 11-9, and in the seventh place qame Paola defeated Alma – Wabaunsee 10-2.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Paulo Orlando broke a tie with an eighth inning homer and Kendrys Morales hit a three-run homer as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 11-10 after blowing a seven-run advantage Sunday.

The Royals enter the All-Star break with an American League-leading 52 victories. Orlando hit a 2-1 Bo Schultz (0-1) pitch out to left to leadoff the eight.

Kansas City led 7-0 after five innings, but the Blue Jays sent 12 men to the plate in an eight-run sixth. Danny Valencia and Jose Bautista contributed two-run doubles in the inning.

Seven of the runs were unearned after Mike Moustakas and Omar Infante committed errors.

Royals reliever Wade Davis (5-1) got the win despite allowing his second run of the season.

Greg Holland worked the ninth, logging his 20th save in 22 opportunities.

The Junction City Blues picked up two victory’s Saturday evening to make it to Sunday’s championship game of the Post 45 American Legion Baseball Tournament at Rathert Stadium.

The Blues defeated Marion 12-1 and Paola 5-3 to make Sunday’s championship against Manhattan. The championship game will be held at 3:45 p.m. at Rathert Stadium.

The Blues previously faced Manhattan in a 9 inning game back in June, but fell 7-6.

Head Coach Derek Scott explained they will be a tough opponent to end the weekend on but they couldn’t imagine anyone else.

“it will be a fun game to end the weekend on,” said Coach Scott.

Junction City and Manhattan will face off Sunday at 3:45 p.m. at Rathert Stadium in Junction City.

The Junction City 12U Brigade baseball team has been competing at the USSSA World Series in Branson, Missouri.

Rainouts earlier in the tournament forced the Brigade to play four games on Friday. They went 3-1 on the day, defeating teams from Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Junction City lost to a team from Iowa.  The Brigade are still competing on the winner’s bracket side of the tournament, and after Friday still had a chance to win the tournament.

The players, coaches, and parents are thanking the Junction City community for their continued support while the team is competing in Branson.

University of Kansas Athletics

 

GWANGJU, Korea – For the first time in three World University Games, the USA will play for a medal as it defeated Lithuania, 70-48, in the quarterfinals Saturday at Dongkang College Gymnasium in Gwangju, Korea.

The USA, made up mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, went on a 25-2 run from the final minute of the third quarter to just over five minutes of the fourth period to outdistance Lithuania and advance to the semifinals against Russia, Sunday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m., 4:30 a.m. in Kansas, at Dongkang College Gymnasium. Russia defeated Estonia, 86-65, in the other quarterfinal. The last time USA played for a medal was when it won bronze at the 2009 World University Games, which are held every other year. USA finished fifth in 2011 Universiade and ninth in 2013.

“We played a bad third quarter, but we defended,” USA head coach Bill Self said. “Even though we only scored eight points in the third quarter, they only got 12. Then we go on a 25-2 run and it was because of defensive rebounding. We absolutely locked them up the last 13 minutes of the game. That was really a good display against a team that had been leading the tournament in scoring.”