The Junction City Brigade got a complete game, seven-inning pitching performance from Dalton Shalberg enroute to a 5-1 victory over the Topeka Golden Giants Sunday night at Rathert Field.

The win came in the second game of a doubleheader and snapped a three-game Junction City losing streak.

Shalberg gave up just two hits and also walked two, as the Brigade improved to 15-9 on the season.

In game one the Golden Giants scored one run in the first inning and then two in both the second and third, and one in the seventh as they defeated Junction City 6-3.

After the doubleheader Brigade coach Seth Wheeler noted a lot of the struggles dare his fault. “When we first got here we were playing really really good baseball. I think it was a little bit of a mirage. We’re not that good.” Wheeler added the Brigade are a real young team.  While there are still flashes of good play, he said he thinks there needs to be a lot more teaching on the coaching side.

Junction City has struggled with infield errors in recent games. One infielder, Ethan Klosterboer suffered a hand injury and has been out. He is expected to return at a later date, but the exact time frame is not yet certain.

Also, there have been some struggles defensively at second base. The  Brigade tried three different second basemen over the weekend.

Wheeler noted there is an effort to try and get former Brigade player Dusty Maas to return to the team this season. He is currently working on his baseball swing technique at Central Missouri State. Maas is a second baseman who played the past two seasons for Junction City.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Jeremy Guthrie struck out a season-high seven batters in six innings and Salvador Perez homered to help the Kansas City Royals complete a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 5-3 victory on Sunday.

Omar Infante hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run sixth inning for the Royals, who have won five of six to open a nine-game road trip.

After winning two of three in Seattle, Kansas City swept the A’s for the first time since 2008.

Guthrie (6-5) allowed two runs and topped 1,000 career strikeouts. The Royals bullpen did the rest with Wade Davis pitching the ninth for his ninth save in as many chances.

Jesse Chavez (4-7) was hurt by an error by third baseman Max Muncy in Kansas City’s three-run sixth inning as Oakland lost its third straight following a season-long five-game winning streak.

MIAMI (AP) – Michael Beasley’s third stint with the Miami Heat has ended.

The Heat have declined their $1.3 million option to keep Beasley for next season, and the No. 2 pick in the 2008 draft will officially become a free agent on Wednesday.

Beasley, a former Kansas State standout, averaged 8.8 points in 24 games with Miami last season after returning from China. He was also with the Heat from 2008 through 2010, plus was part of the 2013-14 team that went to the NBA Finals.

The Junction City Blues American Legion baseball team defeated Hutchinson 10-0 at a tournament in McPherson Saturday morning.

Later on Saturday night in the tournament the Blues fell to Buhler 15-2.

The Blues went 2-1 in pool play but did not advance into the tournament championship semifinals. They will still get to play one more game in McPherson this weekend. Junction City ( 10-4 ) will play El Dorado at 2 p.m.on Sunday.

 

The Rossville Rattlers scored three runs in the fourth inning enroute to a 6-1 victory over the Junction City Brigade at Rathert Field Saturday night.

The Rattlers took two out of three from the Brigade over this past week. The Brigade defeated Rossville 5-3 Thursday night but lost to the Rattlers 10-0 Friday and then fell again Saturday night. Throughout the series defensive errors and miscues were a problem for Junction City.

The Brigade have to turn right around and host the Topeka Golden Giants in a doubleheader Sunday night at Rathert Field. Game times are 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Fans attending the ballgame Saturday night at the ballpark were also treated to a fireworks display, courtesy of Jim Clark Chevrolet-Cadillac.     Bennett Fireworks does the show at Rathert Field.

 

The Junction City Reds Babe Ruth 14 and Under team downed the Buhler 14 and Under squad 20-6 and 12-6 in a doubleheader Saturday at North Park.

Junction City improved to 11-4 with the wins.

The Red play the Buhler 15 and Under team in Buhler Wednesday night.

MICHAEL WAGAMAN, Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Chris Young bounced back from his worst start of the season to pitch six innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 Saturday.

Kendrys Morales hit a two-run single in the sixth off Scott Kazmir (4-5) that erased a 2-1 deficit. The Royals won for the fourth time in five games on their road trip.

Young (7-3) allowed four hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out four.

That was in stark contrast to Young’s previous start against Boston when he was tagged for seven runs in 4 2-3 innings.

Sam Fuld doubled for the A’s, who were wearing throwback uniforms from 1965 when the franchise was in Kansas City. Oakland has lost two straight after a season-high, five-game winning streak.

For the second consecutive game these two bitter rivals played without incident. When they played in Kansas City in April, all three games were marred by bench-clearing dustups.

 

K-State women’s basketball and head coach Jeff Mittie will host a Group Skill Intructional Camp during three sessions in August. they are available to any and all participants entering grades 9-12 and are limited to the first 144 players to register.

The Group Skills Instructional Camp will be held at the Basketball Training Facility from 4-7 p.m. on August 16, 23, and 30. The cost of the camp is $200 per player. To register online or by email, visit www.jeffmittiebasketball.com. To ensure fairness in the registration process, no telephone registrations will be accepted.

The Group SKills Instructional Camp is designed to geet maximum repetition on the fundamentals and will utilize all of the training devices K-State players use including: Gun Shooting Machines, NOAH Shooting Trainer, 94Fifty Basketball Training Ball and more.

K-Statesports.com

The Junction City Blues American Legion baseball team defeated Butler County in the opening round of pool play in the McPherson Tournament Friday night.

Junction City is scheduled to meet Hutchinson at 11 a.m. and Buhler at 7 p.m. in pool play in the tournament on Saturday.

The final round of the tournament pitting the top seeds from the pools in a playoff is Sunday.

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The Saturday baseball schedule also finds the Junction City Babe Ruth 14 and Under team hosting Buhler in a doubleheader at North Park. Game times are 2 and 4 p.m. The Reds are 9-4 on the season.

It wasn’t pretty at Rathert Field Friday night for the Junction City Brigade.

Four errors helped lead to a 10-0 Brigade loss to Rossville, in a game called after seven innings due to a 10-run rule.

Brigade coach Seth Wheeler said it was the second night in a row Junction City didn’t play good defense.”When you have that many bad defensive plays in a game it’s going to be tough to win.”

Wheeler noted the Brigade are a young team and commented, “If you keep doing something that’s not right and you keep getting away with it you’re not going to change it. ” Wheeler added his team got away with it in a 5-3 win over Rossville Friday night so they didn’t do the necessary adjustments to change it.

“After a night like tonight where you just get embarrassed you’re more likely to make the adjustment, and so I think we’re going to be okay. It’s just lack of focus, yeah.”

Junction City ( 14-7 ) and Rossville ( 9-10 ) play again Saturday night at Rathert Field at 7 p.m.  In addition to the ballgame there will be a fireworks display following the contest.