KCKCC freshman Cole Slibowski slid under a leaping Marshalltown shortstop Carson Zenger for one of the Blue Devils’ 14 stolen bases in a 13-5 win Sunday that capped a four-game weekend sweep. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
With the opening of the 2020 Jayhawk Conference baseball season just four days away, Kansas City Kansas Community College took dead aim on the opener with a four-game weekend sweep of Marshalltown Community College.
The conference opener comes Thursday against the No. 3 ranked NJCAA Division I team in the nation, Cowley College. The defending Jayhawk champion, Cowley is 10-4 coming off a four-game split with Iowa Western this past weekend. First pitch will come at 1 p.m.
At State Fair for a 9-inning single game Tuesday, the Blue Devils are 9-3 after outscoring Marshalltown 55-15. The Blue Devils won 14-5 and 8-0 Saturday and 20-5 and 13-5 on Sunday.
The Blue Devils were led offensively by sophomores Griffin Everitt and Eduardo Acosta. Everitt had eight hits including two home runs and drove in seven runs; Acosta had seven hits and drove in 10. Tyler Henry also drove in seven runs, freshman Palmer Hutchinson six and Jose Sosa five and each had at least one home run while Seth Kenagy added six hits and eight stolen bases in three games.
The Blue Devils pounded out four home runs in a come-from-behind 15-5 win in the series opener Saturday. Everitt, Sosa, Hutchinson and Trey Hoover launched the homers to highlight a 16-hit attack.
Seth Kenagy and Everitt each had three hits, Hoover, Hutchinson and Raymond Paniagua two apiece with Everitt and Hutchinson driving in three runs.
Marshalltown took a 5-0 lead before KCKCC scored four times in the third and eight in the fourth. Two-run home runs by Sosa and Everitt scored the four runs in the third and the Blue Devils bunched eight hits for the eight runs in the fourth. The Blue Devils rapped out seven straight hits in the fourth.
A 3-run home run by Hutchinson and a 2-run double by Acosta were the big blows while Caleb Adams, Paniagua, Kenagy, Everitt and Hoover contributed singles.
Southpaw Gaby Ramos got the win, allowing eight hits and five runs in five innings before Parker Weddle mopped up with two hitless innings.
Joseph Reyes allowed just two hits in five innings in Saturday’s 8-0 second game win. Reyes struck out four and walked one before Chase Terrell and Nao Fukada each pitched a hitless inning.
Acosta drove in a run in each of KCKCC’s three scoring innings. Aided by four Marshalltown errors, the Blue Devils scored two runs in each of the first and second inning on just one hit, a single by Acosta, and then wrapped up the win with four runs in the fourth.
After singles by Panagua and Kenagy and a walk scored one run, Acosta tripled in two more and scored on Henry’s single.
The Blue Devils trailed 4-1 in the second inning of Sunday’s first game before a grand slam home run by Henry capped a 6-run second inning and put KCKCC ahead to stay in the 20-5 win.
Sosa and Everitt also homered in a 15-hit attack. Sosa finished with three hits and three RBI; Everitt homered and doubled; Henry added an RBI single to his grand slam; Michael Edgar doubled and drove in three runs; Acosta singled twice; and Hutchinson tripled in a pair of runs.
Steven Santiago got the win with three scoreless innings of 3-hit relief, striking out four and walking none. Chase Terrell finished up with two hitless innings, striking out three.
Jake Shafer started, giving up five runs on four hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out two.
KCKCC put Sunday’s second game out of reach by scoring eight runs in the first in the 13-5 win. Everitt started the uprising with a single and capped it with an RBI double.
The big inning also featured a 3-run double by Acosta; a two-run single by Kade Chastain, who had also had a 2-run single in the fourth; and a run-scoring single by Samuel Juarez, who had two hits and two RBI. Everitt finished with three hits, Zayne Morrow, Juarez, Chastain and Acosta two each.
Jason Crowley got the win, allowing just one hit and one run in 3 2/3 innings of relief. He struck out six and walked one. Hunter Cashero struck out two in a hitless sixth innings; Parker Weddle was touched for two hits in a scoreless seventh.
Review
by William Crum
Three people from Wyandotte County appeared in the play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” from Feb. 14 to 29 at the KC Melting Pot Theatre at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri.
Robert E. Coppage III played Joseph Asagai. He is a 2010 graduate of Sumner Academy in Kansas City, Kansas. Coppage also has been in such plays as “We Shall Not Be Moved” at the Coterie Theater.
Robert Coppage III (Photo by William Crum)
When asked when he started acting, Coppage said, “I started acting when I was 5 years old. Acting is my true love.”
When you watch Coppage perform, it will startle you. He can take a role and that person magically comes to life right before your eyes. He is a shining star. If you ever see a play he is in, by all means, go to it.
Lynn King (Photo by William Crum)
Lynn King, who played Lena Younger (Mama), is a native of Kansas City, Kansas, with over 30 years of acting experience. She has appeared in several national commercials plus she has directed over 30 productions. King is another shining star of Wyandotte County.
When asked how she liked her role, King said, “I loved it.” Like Coppage, she has a magical way of portraying her role.
One person who was unable to be contacted was Jerron O’Neal, who played Walter Lee Younger. He like, King and Coppage, is from Wyandotte County. O’Neal is a retired firefighter from the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department, and has appeared in various theater projects throughout the Greater Kansas City area. Like King and Coppage, he has that special way of acting.
Harvey Williams, executive director of The Melting Pot Theatre, said the actors that come out of Wyandotte County are amazing.
“Saturday night is our last night and I might add the play, ‘The Raisin in the Sun,’ had sellout crowds in every performance, making ‘The Raisin in the Sun’ the best play we offered the public,” he said.
He congratulated the cast and crew on one of the best plays he had seen in a long time.
Some highway lanes in Wyandotte County will be closed today for pothole patching, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
I-70 eastbound and westbound will have alternating lane closures on Monday, March 2, from 57th Street to 18th Street for pothole patching and pavement maintenance, according to KDOT. Work will occur overnight from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. and includes the ramps at I-635 – I-70 and 38th Street – I-70.
Bridge deck maintenance is ongoing on K-32 eastbound over the Kaw River from approximately 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting, KDOT stated. The right lane will be closed. The project is expected to be completed by March 27. Traffic will be controlled using traffic cones and arrow board signs.
Projects also are underway in Johnson County.
I-435 northbound and southbound will have various mobile lane closures from the Kansas River to K-10 for pothole patching, according to KDOT. Work will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is expected to be completed Friday, March 6.
U.S. 69 northbound and southbound will have various mobile lane closures from the Miami County line to I-35 for pothole patching. Work will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is expected to be completed on Tuesday, March 3.
Traffic will be controlled by mobile lane closures using trucks with arrow boards and digital message boards.
A KDOT spokesman urged all motorists to be alert and obey the warning signs when approaching and driving through a highway work zone. To stay aware of all road construction projects across Kansas go to www.kandrive.org or call 5-1-1. Motorists are asked to drive safely and always wear a seat belt.
