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Gallagher hits slam for 1st MLB homer, Royals beat A’s

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Cam Gallagher hit a grand slam for his first career home run and second big league hit, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2 on Monday night.

Gallagher’s shot into the left-field seats in the sixth inning marked the first grand slam by a Royals rookie since Paulo Orlando connected in the first game of a doubleheader against Tampa Bay on July 7, 2015.

Jake Junis (5-2), recalled for his seventh stint with Kansas City this season, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks.

The Royals moved into a second-place tie with the idle Twins, five games back of AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Bacon ready to lead FHSU receiving corps

Tyler Bacon led Fort Hays State with 38 receptions last season. With graduation of seniors Isaiah Maxi and Bilal Salat, Bacon is set to lead the wide receiver corps again in 2017. The Quapaw, Okla. native is the only senior in a group that returns junior Kenton Ubelaker and sophomores Layne Bieberle and Andrew Jay who all had at least one reception last season.

With the addition of junior college transfers Monterio Burchfield and Harley Hazlett from Garden City CC, Bacon feels wide receiver could be a strength this season.

Tyler Bacon

Hays High begins football practice

The Hays High Indians football team took the field Monday morning in helmets to open up the fall season. Coach Randall Rath in his third season worked on installing new working parts on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. In all 53 players took the field on the first day of practice.

Coach Randall Rath

Hays is coming off a 2-7 season that did not include a Western Athletic Conference victory. This season will open with back to back home games, the first against Scott City on September 1st. This will also be the last year of district football to qualify for the playoffs as the post season format changes following this year. Hays will still play McPherson, Abilene, and Wamego for chance to go to the 4A-D1 playoffs. This will also be the final season that 4A-D1 exists.

Broncos defensive end Jared Crick latest camp casualty

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Defensive end Jared Crick has been carted off the Denver Broncos practice field after apparently injuring his right leg during run drills Monday.

Crick’s injury comes 48 hours after the Broncos’ other starting defensive end, Derek Wolfe, was carted off the field with a sprained right ankle that could sideline him until the season opener next month.

The Broncos have been hit hard along their rebuilt D-line this summer, losing defensive end Billy Winn to a torn right ACL in their preseason opener last week and Wolfe over the weekend. Also sidelined until September are nose tackle Kyle Peko (foot) and outside linebackers Shane Ray (wrist) and Shaq Barrett (hip).

Also, rookie receiver/returner Carlos Henderson underwent thumb surgery on Sunday.

Merrifield powers Royals past White Sox

CHICAGO (AP) — Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five runs, and the Kansas City Royals pounded the Chicago White Sox 14-6 on Sunday.

Drew Butera had four of Kansas City’s 16 hits, helping the Royals climb back over .500 at 59-58. Jorge Bonifacio hit his 15th homer, and Lorenzo Cain had two hits and two RBIs.

Jason Vargas (14-6) worked six innings to match his career high for wins set in 2012 with Seattle. The left-hander allowed three runs and six hits, struck out seven and walked two.

Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer for AL-worst Chicago, and Avisail Garcia added a two-run double.

Delton named captain at K-State

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder announced Monday that Dalton Risner and Alex Delton will serve as captains for the 2018 season, while Colby Moore will be an honorary special teams captain and Kendall Adams, Duke Shelley, Trey Dishon, Reggie Walker, Skylar Thompson and Alex Barnes will be co-captains.

Risner is a captain for a third-straight season, joined only by Brooks Barta (1990-92), Mark Simoneau (1997-99), Collin Klein (2010-12) and B.J. Finney (2012-14) to hold that distinction. The remaining captains and co-captains were elected to those leadership positions for the first time in their careers.

A product of Wiggins, Colorado, Risner is coming off an All-American season when he was named to the first team by Pro Football Focus and the second team by CBSSports.com. A career 38-game starter – including his last 25 at right tackle – Risner led the Wildcats to a tie for third place in school history in rushing yards per carry (4.98) last season, while they finished seventh in program history with 2,584 total rushing yards.

Delton, a native of Hays, Kansas, played in seven games in 2017 with four starts, throwing for 637 yards and three touchdowns on 49-of-85 aim, while rushing for 500 yards on 100 carries with eight scores. He came off the bench in the Cactus Bowl to rush for a K-State bowl record 158 yards and three scores en route to Offensive MVP accolades.

Moore, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship following the 2017 season, has been a valuable member of all special teams units throughout his career. He played in every game as a junior, tying for team-high honors with six tackles on kickoff coverage. A native of Argyle, Texas, Moore is a two-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 performer.

(Kansas State Sports Information)

Cabrera’s 2-run homer lifts Royals over White Sox

CHICAGO (AP) — Melky Cabrera hit a go-ahead, two-run homer against his former team in the eighth inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 Saturday night to stop a five-game losing streak.

Cabrera, acquired from Kansas City on July 30, homered with one out off Aaron Bummer (1-3) and drove in Lorenzo Cain, who led off the inning with a walk and Chris Beck. Cabrera has an eight-game hitting streak.

Scott Alexander (3-3) won after allowing a two-run, two-out single in the seventh to Leury Garcia that put Chicago ahead 4-3.

Fort Hays State football holds first scrimmage of fall

The Fort Hays State football team held their first fall scrimmage Saturday morning at Lewis Field Stadium. The scrimmage lasted about one hour and featured offense vs. defense. Junior quarterback Jacob Mezera took all the first team snaps on offense while reserve quarterbacks Jacoby Williams and Brad Schencker shared snaps for the second team offense. The defense did their job early. Despite no live tackling being allowed, the first and second team defenses held both offenses to just two Brandon Brown field goals in the first five possessions.

The second team offense broke the trend when Williams threw a five-yard touchdown to a leaping J.J. Lewis in the left corner of the endzone on 4th and goal.

 

On the following drive, Mezera hit sophomore Charles Tigner on a three-yard touchdown pass on 1st & goal.

The final touchdown score was a 25 yard run from scrimmage by Molijah Gilbert, a freshman running back from Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Brandon Brown went 5/5 on field goals during the scrimmage, three of which were over 40 yards including a 47-yard field goal.

Tiger coach Chris Brown was pleased with how his defense started out the scrimmage…

Sophomore receiver Andrew Jay talked about the talent at the receiver position and the work they put in over the summer…

Junior quarterback Jacob Mezera has a lot of talent around him…

The Tigers are coming off of back-to-back postseason appearances and will open the season on Thursday, August 31st against Missouri Southern at Joplin Missouri.

Smith, Mahomes solid before 49ers rally past Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Smith led the Chiefs to a quick touchdown and first-round pick Patrick Mahomes II had an impressive debut, before the San Francisco backups led the 49ers to a 27-17 victory over Kansas City in their preseason opener Friday night.

Smith hit speedster Tyreek Hill for a 32-yard gain on the first play of the game, and Spencer Ware capped a 75-yard march with a short TD run to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.

It was the only series for Smith, who finished 4 of 6 for 48 yards.

Mahomes checked in for the first time late in the second quarter, drawing perhaps the biggest roar of the night. The 10th overall draft pick had a long completion wiped out by a penalty on his first play, but later capitalized on a blocked punt with a short touchdown throw to fellow rookie Marcus Kemp.

Mahomes was 7 of 9 for 49 yards as he duels with Tyler Bray for the No. 2 job.

San Francisco rookie C.J. Beathard hit Kendrick Bourne for a 46-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, then found him for a tying two-point conversion. The Chiefs promptly fumbled the ball back and Beathard added a short TD pass to Tyler McCloskey with 10:41 left to give the 49ers the lead for good.

Beathard, a third-round pick, outplayed both quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart.

Brian Hoyer did little to make new 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan feel good about giving the longtime NFL journeyman the starting job at the onset of training camp. He was 1 of 4 for three yards in two offensive series, going three-and-out on both of them.

Barkley was first off the bench and led San Francisco to a pair of field goals, playing roughly two quarters. He was 10 of 17 for 168 yards without any major mistakes.

Bray was first off the bench for Kansas City. He had an 83-yard TD pass to Chris Conley wiped out by offensive pass interference, then had an errant throw picked off. The fifth-year quarterback, who has yet to appear in a regular-season game, finished 5 of 8 for 63 yards.

HYDE’S BACKUP: Running back Carlos Hyde carried twice for San Francisco before giving way to Matt Breida and Joe Williams, a pair of rookies competing for the No. 2 job. Williams appeared to do more with fewer chances, showing impressive burst in the open field.

FICKEN DOES KICKIN: Sam Ficken handled kicking duties for Kansas City while Cairo Santos deals with a groin injury. The former Penn State star hit a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter.

AILING CHIEFS: All-Pro S Eric Berry did not suit up after missing several practices with a heel injury. He was joined on the sideline by DE Chris Jones, LB Tamba Hali and NT Bennie Logan, all of whom are dealing with knee injuries. TE Travis Kelce also was out with swelling in his knee. Chiefs coach Andy Reid has been optimistic that all of them will be ready for the regular season.

SUFFERING NINERS: The 49ers were without a pair of starters in the secondary with FS Jimmie Ward (hamstring) on the PUP list and CB Dontae Johnson sidelined with a concussion. DT DeForest Buckner left after the first series with an ankle injury. On offense, starting LG Joshua Garnett (ribs) and rookie TE George Kittle (hamstring) were not available.

Anderson homers, Lopez strong in debut as ChiSox top Royals

CHICAGO (AP) — Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run, seventh-inning rally, Reynaldo Lopez pitched six strong innings in his White Sox debut and Chicago won its fourth straight, 6-3 over the sliding Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Mike Moustakas belted a pair of deep solo shots to give him 34 homers, but the Royals lost their fifth straight and 10th in 12.

Adam Engel’s second triple of the game drove in the tiebreaking run in the seventh. Yolmer Sanchez had two RBIs and Kevan Smith doubled in a run as the AL-worst White Sox kept rolling following a three-game sweep of league-leading Houston.

Aaron Bummer (1-2) pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth to earn his first major league win. Kansas City starter Danny Duffy (7-8) allowed five runs and seven hits in his second straight loss.

Larks Boston named NBC All-American

WICHITA, Kan. – The 2017 NBC All-Americans all had important hands in advancing their teams through the 83rd NBC World Series powered by Westar Energy.

Advancement, or winning, played a huge factor in shaping the 2017 All-American Team as the Cheney Diamond Dawgs and Mulvane Patriots played the most games in the World Series and wound up with the most representatives.

Here is the All-American team for the 83rd NBC World Series powered by Westar Energy:

Catchers (2):
Dalton Dinkel (Mulvane Patriots) earned the Just Block It Catcher Award after throwing out all four attempted base stealers against him. Dinkel had a NBCWS high 56 putouts as well. Dinkel also held his own at the plate with a whopping .417 average, scoring five times and driving in six while helping to advance the Patriots through the First Week, Win & In, and the Championship pool play rounds.

Caleb Cox (Mulvane Patriots) was just as productive offensively as his teammate, smashing a .533 average with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Cox posted the highest slugging percentage of any catcher throughout the 16 day stretch.

First Baseman (1):
Jake Levin (Everett Merchants) put on a show in the addidas Home Run Derby with moonshots to finish in second place out of the fourteen participants. In game, Levin was a stabilizing force in the middle of the Merchants’ lineup on their way to a runner-up finnish. Levin drove in four runs for Everett while leading all first baseman with a .438 average and a .471 on base percentage.

Second Baseman (1):
Hank LoForte (Santa Barbara Foresters) served as an ignitor for the Foresters three wins, tallying a .533 average while scoring four runs. LoForte reached base ten times in seventeen plate appearances while swiping a pair of bases. He also registered nearly five assists per game, plenty of them beyond the realm of routine, two more than any other infielder in the World Series.

Third Baseman (1):
Adam Brown (Mulvane Patriots) was among the most clutch hitters throughout the World Series, delivering RBI when Mulvane needed them most. Brown was one of only two players in the entire World Series to get to double digits in RBI, driving in 10 with 11 hits. Brown finished with three doubles and struck out just one time in 33 at bats.

Shortstop (1):
Alex Lyon (Wellington Heat) displayed spectacular instincts in the field without committing an error and lead all shorstops with a .455 batting average while also driving in 8 runs. He was a primary force in the Wellington lineup and an anchor defensively for the Heat in the field.

Outfield (3):
Tresten Kennard (Cheney Diamond Dawgs) swatted the baseball around Lawrence-Dumont Stadium en route to a World Series high 11 RBI. Kennard powered the middle of the Diamond Dawgs Lineup on their way to a Series high 8 wins while scoring eight times and hitting a pair of doubles and a pair of triples. Kennard finished with nine games played and a .448 average.

Nik Gonzalez (Northwest Boom) was an offensive lightning round for the lone representative from Arizona. Gonzalez fell a homer shy of the cycle but still roped three doubles and a triple while posting a .923 slugging percentage, the highest of the 2017 World Series. Gonzalez finished with seven hits in thirteen at-bats (.538) and scored five times in just three games.

Colton Barrington (Austin Shockers) was perhaps the biggest standout on an Austin Shockers team that earned the Best Offensive Team award. Barrington went 7-15 (.467) while scoring five times and driving in four runs in just four games.

Utility (2):
Landon Riker (Seattle Studs) sparked the Seattle Studs lineup to the tune of a 5-10 World Series. Riker was a constant threat on the bases, driving in three runs and walking three times as well.

Jacob Boston (Hays Larks) was in the middle of the fray for the Larks no matter where he hit or played defensively. Boston logged time in both the outfield and infield for Hays while still roping a .474 average, driving in four and scoring three times. Boston also delivered a pair of doubles.

Designated Hitter (1):
Brennan Fontenot (Great Bend Bat Cats) delivered just about every time he was at the plate for the Bat Cats, swatting a .471 average with five extra base hits. Fontenot’s .941 slugging percentage led all hitters.

Pitchers (5):
Blair Henley (Santa Barbara Foresters) was dominant in his turn to start for the Santa Barbara Foresters. Henley tossed seven scoreless inning and scattered four baserunners while punching out seven hits.

Bradley Demco (Cheney Diamond Dawgs) came in key situations for the Diamond Dawgs throughout the World Series and delivered almost every time. Demco was nearly unhittable in his first three appearances while he racked up two wins, a save, and 19 strikeouts in twelve innings of work.

Dalton Shelberg (San Diego Force) had a start for the ages in the San Diego Force’s 17 inning marathon to open up Championship Week. Shelberg tossed ten scorless innings, only allowing one hit and two walks while striking out 8. Despite earning the combined shutout effort, Shelberg still only lasted half of the game but was the primary reason the Force were able to capture the win.

Ryan Semon (San Diego Waves) played a crucial role in helping the Waves win their pool during Championship Week. Semon tossed seven scoreless innings over two relief outings while picking up one save and only allowing five baserunners.

Pete Irvin (Everett Merchants) kept the Everett Merchants in winning position in all of three starts. Irvin worked around hits, while starting half of the Merchants games. Irvin tossed 14 innings and posted 12 strikeouts.

Manager (1):
Pat Hon (Cheney Diamond Dawgs) led a Cheney team that remained unbeaten from the very opening day of First Week all the way until the semifinals on August 5th. The Diamond Dawgs notched 8 wins and survived two elimination games.

NBC Baseball

FHSU adds offensive line depth for 2017

One area of emphasis for the Fort Hays State coaching staff this off season was offensive line. Season-ending injuries to freshman Pat Kelly and Brandon Gonzales left the Tigers thin up front.

Kelly and Gonzales are back along with returning starters Travis Talley and Donald Blackmon and Romello Burke. Add in two junior college transfers and eight high school freshman and the Tigers have much added depth.

Senior Travis Talley leads the group with 15 career starts, the most among any on the offensive line.

Travis Talley

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