Dave Riggert – Page 628 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Benton’s Mallory McAndrews signs with Northwest Missouri State

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball program announced on Wednesday that Benton High School senior Mallory McAndrews has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Bearcats next season.

The 5’7” guard was a three-year starter for the Cardinals and she helped Benton to the Class 4 Final Four during his junior season and to the Class 4 Quarterfinals as a senior.

McAndrews averaged 13.4 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game this past season, while shooting 40 percent from the three-point line. The Cardinals finished 26-3 as they lost to Bolivar in the quarterfinals. She also led the team in scoring as a junior when she scored 14.7 point per game and shot 39 percent from the three-point line, and Benton finished 20-10.

Northwest also announced Wednesday that 5’9” guard Arbrieal Benson from Benson High School in Omaha has signed a letter of intent. The late signing period began on Wednesday for high school and junior college players to sign national letters of intent to play college basketball next season.

Those two will join a Bearcat team that went 8-20 last season and finished 4-15 in the MIAA. Northwest failed to qualify for the MIAA Tournament as Michael Smith wrapped up his second season in Maryville.

St. Joseph Mustangs announce Fan Fest and Media Day

Posted on April 15, 2015

A brand new season awaits the St. Joseph Mustangs next month. The St. Joseph Mustangs are excited to announce a new event to begin the season, Mustangs Fan Fest & Media Day.

Mustangs Fan Fest will be held on Tuesday, May 26th, at East Hills Mall from 5:30-7:30. There are a number of fan friendly attractions planned for this free event. The first half hour will be the local media’s chance to interview Mustangs players and staff, and the 2015 St. Joseph Baseball Hall of Fame Class will be announced.

Following the press conference, fans will be able to meet players and receive autographs. Other events are planned, including a National Anthem Audition, and prize giveaways.

“This will just be the second day in St. Joseph for many of these players who are coming from all over the country to play for the Mustangs,” said Mustangs General Manager Ky Turner. “This is a chance for players and fans alike to meet each other before the season begins. The players have heard about the wonderful fan support and they’re really excited about this event. It will be a fun way to kick off the season with Opening Day the following day.”

For more information, please contact the Mustangs at 816-279-7856 or www.stjoemustangs.com

— Mustangs Press Release —

Royals suffer first loss as they fall to Minnesota 3-1

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kansas City became the last team in the majors to lose this season, as Kyle Gibson pitched into the seventh inning and Oswaldo Arcia hit a two-run homer for the Minnesota Twins in a 3-1 victory over the Royals on Wednesday night.

The Royals (7-1) were chasing the 2003 team’s 9-0 start as the best in franchise history, but Gibson (1-1) used 12 groundball outs and three strikeouts to keep the highest-scoring team in the majors quiet for a night.

The Twins (2-6) went 1-8 to begin the 1994 season, the only other time in the club’s 55-year history they started with seven losses in their first eight games. Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.

Edinson Volquez (1-1) struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings, with five hits and one walk allowed. He loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but he escaped with only Brian Dozier’s sacrifice fly as the damage.

Arcia’s two-strike, two-out drive into the seats above right-center field in the fourth, though, hurt Volquez. Trevor Plouffe’s single came right before that.

Lorenzo Cain bounced into a double play after consecutive singles to start the game, and Salvador Perez grounded into an inning-ending turn-two by the Twins in the second. Alcides Escobar had three of the nine hits against Gibson and Alex Gordon drove in a run with a two-out single in the fourth inning, but the right-hander didn’t walk anybody after issuing five free passes in his first start.

Gibson, who failed to finish the fourth at Detroit last week, improved to 4-0 in four career starts with a 1.38 ERA against Kansas City.

Manager Ned Yost decided to keep Cain in center field and replace Alex Rios in right field with Jarrod Dyson, only the second bench player to appear in a game so far for the Royals along with Paulo Orlando. Outfielder Terrance Gore was recalled from Double-A Northwest Arkansas for depth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Rios said he wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis, considering how hard the pitch was and the placement of his hand against the knob of the bat. He passed a strength test on his hand, one encouraging sign for a recovery that could take about a month.

“I’m going to do my best to do what I can to shorten up the time. It’s going to depend on the bone itself, but I’m going to work on everything that I can to help the healing process a little more,” he said.

Twins: Right-hander Ricky Nolasco, seven days into his stint on the 15-day disabled list, was cleared for some long toss to test his inflamed elbow. “So far so good,” general manager Terry Ryan said, asked whether Nolasco could be ready after the 15-day minimum. “Whether it’s 15, if it’s 18 or if it’s 20, we just want to make sure he’s right.”

UP NEXT

The Royals will send left-hander Jason Vargas to the mound for the series finale on Thursday afternoon to face Twins left-hander Tommy Milone.

— Associated Press —

Lynn solid again, leads St. Louis to win over Brewers

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lance Lynn extended his April success with five solid innings and Matt Holliday had a two-run single in the first inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.

Lynn (1-1) allowed one run and six hits. He pushed his April record to 13-2 since 2012, the best record in the majors over that period.

Wily Peralta (0-1) gave up four runs on 10 hits over five innings for Milwaukee.

Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez was removed from the game in the ninth inning. He was limping after beating out a play at first base.

Yadier Molina had three hits for St. Louis, which won 12 of 19 against Brewers last season.

Kevin Siegrist, Seth Maness, Matt Belisle, Randy Choate, Jordan Walden and Trevor Rosenthal followed Lynn. Rosenthal picked up his third save despite giving up a two-out run-scoring hit to Ryan Braun in the ninth.

Lynn worked out of trouble in four of his five innings and threw 99 pitches. He rebounded to set the side down in order on 16 pitches in the fifth.

The Cardinals needed just six pitches to take a 2-0 lead. Matt Carpenter singled and Jason Heyward doubled before Holliday ripped the first pitch to right field. Holliday has a hit in all seven games this season.

Milwaukee cut it to 2-1 on a run-scoring single by Aramis Ramirez in the third.

St. Louis pushed the lead to 4-1 in the fourth on successive singles by Jhonny Peralta, Jon Jay and Molina. Matt Carpenter doubled in Molina with two outs.

The Cardinals had 10 hits and went 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position after stranding an NL-high 50 runners over their first six games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: Braun started for the sixth time this season despite a sore rib cage that caused him to miss two starts last week. … RHP Jim Henderson remains on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia threw another side session at extended spring training on Wednesday. He is expected to throw batting practice on Friday.

UP NEXT

Brewers: RHP Mike Fiers (0-1, 9.00) will make his second start of the year in the series finale Thursday at 12:45 p.m. He is 2-1 with a 1.30 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals.

Cardinals: RHP John Lackey (0-0, 6.00) will make his second start of the season on Thursday. He is nine strikeouts shy of 1,800 for his career.

— Associated Press —

Northwest men sign Blue Springs guard Kirk Finley

Posted on April 15, 2015

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University head basketball coach Ben McCollum has announced the signing of Blue Spring High School guard Kirk Finley, who signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday. Finley, a 6-5 guard, was a two-time All-Suburban Gold performer and a two-time all-district performer.

“We are very excited that Kirk will be joining our basketball family,” said McCollum. “He comes off a very successful season at Blue Springs High School under Coach Adam Jones. Kirk is very smart and savvy on both ends of the court. His athleticism and his great feet give him a chance to be a big time defender for us. Kirk will now be able to focus on basketball year round as he played high school baseball during the spring and summer. Kirk is a flat out winner, a great student, a great person off the court and always does whatever it takes to help his team win. That is what stuck out the most for our staff.”

As a senior, Finley averaged 15.0 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game and 5.0 assists per game. He was named MVP of the William Jewell Tournament, earning the Mr. Hustle Award as well. He was named a Missouri-Kansas All-Star. A standout student, Finley carries a 4.04 GPA, is a member of the National Honor Society, has earned Principal’s honor roll accolades each semester and received Accent on academics all four years.

Finley joins North Scott guard Grant Graham (Eldridge, Iowa) and Papillion-LaVista forward Tyler Dougherty (LaVista, Neb.) who committed to the Bearcats in November of 2014.

— NOrthwest Athletics —

Kansas officially signs McDonald’s All-American Carlton Bragg

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

Courtesy of Duncan Scott/DScott@News-Herald.com

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Two weeks after bringing his second state championship to Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Carlton Bragg made his college destination official. The 6-9 power forward will become a Kansas Jayhawk.

On Jan. 8, Bragg invited fans, family and the media to the VASJ campus to announce his decision. With the beginning of the spring signing period running from April 15-May 10, Bragg signed the National Letter of Intent as soon as he was able on Wednesday.

Rated as the nation’s 21st-best prospect on the ESPN100, Bragg narrowed his college potentials to Kansas, Kentucky and Illinois before deciding on KU. A five-star player who averaged 21 points per game during his senior season at VASJ, Bragg was named the Division III Associated Press Ohio Player of the Year on March 24. Adding to that, Bragg is the 37th McDonald’s All-American to sign at Kansas and will join Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden, Jr., as current McDonald’s All-Americans on the Jayhawk roster.

“We’re so excited to have Carlton on board,” head coach Bill Self said. “Norm (Roberts) did a great job in working with Carlton and his family to become part of our KU family. Carlton has great family support with his mother Monica Howard and his uncle Ezra Stokes.”

“Carlton is a legitimate 6-foot-9 inch, scoring and shooting type of power forward,” Self said. “Certainly, he’s one of the more skilled big guys that we’ve signed since we’ve been here. He comes from a great high school program with a great head coach in Babe Kwasniak.”

Known for his length, Bragg is also on the radar for his work on the offensive glass, his finishes in transition, and his explosiveness around the rim. His endurance isn’t too shabby either. Just hours after recording 12 points and a team-high five assists in the state championship game on March 28, the Cleveland native booked it to Chicago for the McDonald’s All-American weekend. While there, he finished second in the skills competition and third in the dunk contest in the Powerade Jam Fest on March 30 before scoring nine points in the MDAA-game on April 1. That game alone displayed his versatility with a breakaway windmill dunk and a long three from the perimeter.

“Babe was an assistant at UMKC and has done a great job with him,” Self continued. “Another great coach and great mentor with him has been Mike Graves (former VASJ assistant). So with Babe, Mike and his AAU coach Michael Duncan (Ohio Basketball Club), they’ve done a great job in developing and mentoring this young man to the point where I think it will be a pretty seamless transition for him into Division I basketball.”

— KU Sports Informatoin —

Show-Me State Games Shelter Insurance Torch Run coming to St. Joseph

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

The Show-Me State Games and Shelter Insurance® are hosting a Torch Lighting Ceremony and Run in St. Joseph on Tuesday, April 21, in preparation for the 2015 Show-Me State Games. The event will begin at 11 a.m. at the Pony Express Museum.

The event will begin with a brief Torch Lighting Ceremony at 11 a.m., including speakers from the Show-Me State Games and Shelter Insurance®, as well as Mayor Bill Falkner. St. Joseph residents will then run the Torch around the Museum and surrounding area.

The Show-Me State Games is an annual Olympic-style sports festival offering more than 40 sports for Missourians of all ages and ability levels, taking place June 12-14, July 17-19 and July 24-26 in Columbia. The torch will be traveling across Missouri during the months leading up to the GAMES . The full schedule includes: Joplin on April 13, Springfield on April 14, Kansas City on April 20, St. Joseph on April 21, Hannibal on April 29, Cape Girardeau on May 4, St. Louis on May 4 and St. Charles on May 5. The Torch will be run in Jefferson City and Columbia on July 17, reaching its final destination, Mizzou Arena, for the Opening Ceremonies kicking off at 7 p.m.

— Show-Me State Games Release —

Western men’s golf ends in sixth place at the Washburn Invite

Posted on April 14, 2015April 14, 2015

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri Western men’s golf team claimed sixth place at the Washburn Invitational Tuesday. The Griffons finished with a score of 904 after three rounds of golf in the twelve team fiel.

Two Missouri Western golfers finished the tournament in the top-25 individually. Scott Sheldon set the pace with a 225 in three rounds of golf scoring a one over 72 in his final round and placed tied for 19th. Ryan Hand was the other Griffon in the top-25, finishing tied for 21st with a score of 226.

Corey Knight and Jacob Rudosky finished the tournament with a 229 and 230, respectively.

Central Missouri won the team title with a score of 850 and Northeastern St. finished second, tallying a score of 889.

Zach Tucker of Northeastern St. won the individual title with a score of 209.

The Griffons will tee-off at the MIAA championships on Monday, April 20 in Lawrence, Kansas at the Alvamar Golf Course.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest softball splits with Truman State Tuesday

Posted on April 14, 2015April 14, 2015

The Northwest Missouri State softball team split Tuesday’s doubleheader with Truman State in Maryville.

The Bearcats won a back-and-forth affair in game one, coming out on top 11-9 in nine innings.

Northwest rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to take momentary lead, but eventually fell short in the nightcap, 9-8.

The Bearcats are now 20-20 on the year, while the Bulldogs move to 27-9 this season.

In game one, Abigail Gilson crushed a pair of home runs, including a walk-off two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth. Gilson finished with four RBI.

Jessica Rawie finished 2-for-3 with a home run, Rebecca Maher reached base three times and scored three runs, Baylee Scarbrough finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs and one RBI, and Stephanie Mark hit her 11th home run of the season and finished with two RBI.

Abbie Vitosh earned the win after giving up one earned run over two innings pitched.

In game two, Kendle Schieber started for the Bearcats, recording seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. The junior added two RBI at the dish.

Mark was 4-for-4 with two runs in the contest, Maher finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBI, and Chantel Adams added a home run and drove in two runs.

Northwest will return to the diamond on Friday when they host Central Missouri in a crucial MIAA doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Griffons’ Caindec named MIAA Pitcher of the Week

Posted on April 14, 2015April 14, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western junior Weston Caindec has been named the MIAA/AstroTurf Pitcher of the Week.

Caindec went 2-0 in two starts last week, pitching 10 innings and allowing just two runs on 11 hits. The junior struck out four and walked just one. On Sunday, Caindec helped MWSU clinch a four-game series win over second-place Nebraska-Kearney.

On the season, the Las Vegas native is 3-0 with a 4.26 ERA. He’s appeared in 12 games with two starts. In 31.2 innings, Caindec has struck out 21 batters and walked 11. He’s the second MWSU pitcher to win the award this season. Richard Peoples took home the honor earlier in the year.

— MWSU Sports Information —