By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

On Saturday, the Rolling Plains Motor Speedway, 1344 Fairground Road, will host its next event — the Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing Series.

Green flag is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.

During the event, RPM will run IMCA Modifieds sponsored by Briney Motorsports, IMCA SportMods sponsored by Walt’s Repair and Machine, IMCA Stock Cars sponsored by Advantage Glass Plus, IMCA Hobby Stocks sponsored by Golden Plains Trucking, IMCA Sport Compacts sponsored by Simpson Farms and Crazy Cruisers sponsored by Radke Implement.

General admission tickets are $10, with free admission for children under 12.

Pit tickets are $25 and $10 for children under 12 with an adult ticket.

Pits will open at 4 p.m., grandstands open at 5 p.m. and hot laps will start at 6 p.m.

After Saturday, RPM’s next event is the Ellis County Fair Championships and Kansas Antique Racers on July 13 and 14.

For a full schedule, current driver standings, or more about the track visit the RPM website by clicking here.

HAYS – The TMP-Marian Monarchs 17U American Legion baseball team split a home doubleheader with Larned on Thursday.

In game one the Monarchs took advantage of four walks, including one with the bases loaded, scored a run on a passed ball, wild pitch and added three straight RBI singles to build an 8-0 lead after the first inning in route to a 9-0 win.

Nick Herrman was one-for-two with a pair of RBI’s and Jace Wentling collected a pair of hits.

Starter Kade Harris pitched five shutout innings and allowed just three hits while striking out four in the win.

In game two the Monarchs took an early 3-0 lead scoring on back-to-back wild pitches and a Kade Harris RBI single in the first inning.

Larned stormed back to take a 4-3 lead in their half of the second inning.

Down 4-3 in the bottom of the second the Monarchs loaded the bases for Tyson Dinkel who singled in a run to tie the game at four. The Monarchs took the lead back on a fielder’s choice and following a run scoring groundout and sacrifice fly TMP led 8-4 through two innings.

Down four the Indians again battled back and tied the game at eight in the top of the fifth taking advantage of three Monarchs errors.

With the game tied at eight Larned pushed across the eventual game winner in the top of the sixth inning on a fielder’s choice as they picked up the 9-8 win.

Dinkel finished two-for-three with an RBI and two runs scored.

Carter Newell suffered the loss for TMP. He allowed five runs, three earned on six hits in three and two-thirds innings.

The Monarchs are 6-8 on the summer.

LIBERAL – Liberal used a four-run third inning to build an early lead and then held off a late Hays Larks rally for a 6-3 win Thursday.

The Bee Jays sent nine to the plate in the third and got a pair of RBI singles and scored two on an error as they built a 4-0 lead.

Hays got a run back in the fourth on a George Southerland RBI single and then added two more in the top of the sixth inning. Herman Yanez drove in the first run of the inning on a fielder’s choice and Max McGuire followed that with an RBI single to cut the Bee Jays lead to 4-3.

In the bottom of the inning the Bee Jays got those two runs back to take a 6-3 lead.

Down three runs the Larks threatened in the seventh and again in the ninth but left the bases loaded as they drop their third game in four tries in Liberal.

Hays starter Michael Gilliland gave up six runs, three earned over five innings and suffered the loss.

Southerland finished two-for-four with an RBI and a run scored.

The loss drops the Larks to 14-4 and 5-3 Kansas Collegiate League Baseball.

They have Friday off ahead of a four-game series with Valley Center.

Saturday is Larkstoberfest and Old Timers night.

You can hear both Saturday and Sundays games on KAYS beginning at 6:45 p.m. each night.

Alex Gordon had a two-run single and Lucas Duda added an RBI single as the Kansas City Royals jumped on Jake Odorizzi in the first inning and beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Gordon had a two-run single and Lucas Duda added an RBI single as the Kansas City Royals jumped on Jake Odorizzi in the first inning and beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 Thursday night.

Glenn Sparkman (2-3) gave up just one run and five hits in a season high-tying seven innings. He walked one and struck out three. Duda, had two hits and scored a run to help the Royals win for the fourth time in five games..

Jake Diekman pitched a perfect eighth and Ian Kennedy got the last three outs for his ninth save in 11 opportunities.

Odorizzi (10-3) came in tied with Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito for the major league lead in wins, but lasted just four innings. He gave up four runs and eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Jorge Polanco homered with one out in the first to put Minnesota ahead.

However, the Royals came right back in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Whit Merrifield doubled and advanced to third on Nicky Lopez’s single to left-center. Gordon then doubled to deep right-center to drive both runners in. With one out, Cheslor Cuthbert grounded to Odorizzi, who threw to third to get Gordon, but Willians Astudillo’s errant throw to first allowed Cuthbert to advance to third. Cuthbert then scored on Duda’s single to right that ended his 0-for-20 slump.

The Royals added another run in the fourth. Duda got his second single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Humberto Arteaga, who made his major league debut Thursday. Duda scored on a double by Martin Maldonado.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins C Mitch Garver started Thursday’s game but left after the seventh inning with left heel soreness. … OF Byron Buxton is traveling with the club, though he’s not eligible to return from the 10-day injured list until Tuesday. He went on the IL on Tuesday, retroactive to last Saturday, with a right wrist contusion. Manager Rocco Baldelli said, “Judging by the way that he’s moving around and everything that he’s doing, everything’s going very well.”

Royals 3B Hunter Dozier finished a three-day rehab in Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday. He’s been on the 10-day injured list since June 3 (retroactive to May 31) with a right oblique strain. He was expected to return to Kansas City on Thursday for the birth of his child. He’s expected to head to Triple-A Omaha to continue the rehab through the weekend. Manager Ned Yost did not have an update on Dozier’s status.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins recalled RHP Kohl Stewart from Triple-A Rochester and optioned RHP Sean Poppen to Rochester. The Twins played 17 innings against Boston on Tuesday. The Twins are near the end of a 13-day stretch without a day off. They’ll be off June 24 following this four-game series.

Royals SS Adalberto Mondesi was placed on the 10-day IL with what Yost called a “very minor” right groin strain. Yost said it was more precautionary than anything. He was replaced on the roster by SS Arteaga from Triple-A Omaha. Arteaga, 25, is in his ninth season in the Royals’ system since being signed as a 16-year-old non-drafted free agent in 2010. Yost said he liked everything about Arteaga’s game. “His defense has always been spectacular for me, wherever I put him – third, short or second,” he said. “He’s developed into a very nice offensive player.”

UP NEXT

LHP Martin Perez (7-3, 4.09 ERA) will get the start for Minnesota. He’ll face Royals RHP Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.33 ERA) in the second game of the four-game series.

FHSU University Relations

Fort Hays State junior Brandon Ball was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team for At-Large Sports as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday. Earning Second Team honors, Ball is one of just 45 student-athletes nationally in NCAA Division II recognized on the At-Large Team, chosen from several sports that are part of the at-large category. Men’s sports included in the at-large category include wrestling, fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and water polo.

Ball is a Technology Studies major at Fort Hays State. He carries a 3.80 cumulative GPA (3.77 at the time of the nomination as noted below). CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America programs are voted on based off both a student-athlete’s athletic and academic accomplishments.

Recently, Ball was a men’s finalist for the MIAA Ken B. Jones Award. The annual award recognizes the conference’s male and female student-athletes of the year, combining athletic and academic accomplishments along with campus/community service.

Ball is one of the top wrestlers in NCAA Division II. He held the No. 1 ranking at 141 pounds from February 4 all the way through to the NCAA Championships at the end of the 2018-19 season. He entered the NCAA Championships undefeated at 24-0 and won his first three matches before dropping an overtime decision in the semifinals. He went on to earn All-America honors with a fourth-place finish, completing the year at 28-2 overall. In the process, Ball ran his career record at FHSU to 114-21. Ball is a two-time All-America performer for FHSU and a three-time national qualifier. He finished sixth in the nation at 141 pounds in 2017.

Though this award is for Ball’s accomplishments as a member of the wrestling team, he also competes as a pole vaulter for the FHSU Track and Field team. His top mark this season was 14-feet, 11.5 inches.

This is Ball’s first Academic All-America honor from CoSIDA. He is also a three-time member of the NWCA Division II All-Academic Team. Ball is the 49th CoSIDA Academic All-America selection in FHSU history and joins Connor Shedeed of football as Fort Hays State’s two Academic All-America selections by CoSIDA in 2018-19. He is the first Tiger wrestler to receive the honor since Jon Inman in 2016.

HAYS – Trey Riggs and Palmer Hutchison each drove in a run late with a sacrifice fly to help the Hays Eagles Senior American Legion baseball team rally for a 4-2 win over Great Bend Wednesday at Larks Park.

Great Bend got the scoring started in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead but the Eagles answered right back in the fourth, scoring a run on an error and a William Sennett RBI single to go up 2-0.

Hutchison’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning put Hays up 3-1 and then after the Chiefs scored a run in the top of the seventh Riggs drove in the Eagles fourth run on a sacrifice fly putting Hays up 4-2.

Five Hays pitchers combined to allow just two runs on six hits. Brock Lumus pitched three innings of scoreless relief and earned the win. Brady Kreutzer pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

Kreutzer’s appearance wasn’t without issue though. After throwing 102 pitches on Saturday against Rossville he was required to wait four days before pitching again so he should not have been allowed to pitch again until Thursday.

The American Legion rules state that when the player violates the pitch count rule the player and the coach are ineligible until reinstated by the Kansas American Legion Baseball Committee.

The Eagles improve to 13-4 with the win and are at the Hooper Showcase in McPherson this weekend. They are scheduled to play Pratt and Liberal on Friday.

This Sat, June 22nd is RACE DAY at @RPM_SP33DWAY! All 5 IMCA classes plus cruisers will be on the track. Hot Laps are at 6PM and races follow. General Admission for kids 12 & under is FREE thanks to Lone Wolf Services & Francis Urban Tank Service. #VisitHays #Racing #KSBucketList pic.twitter.com/cA6B7urRMj

— Visit Hays (@HaysCVB) June 20, 2019

LIBERAL – The Liberal Bee Jays used a pair of big innings to upend the Hays Larks 10-3 Wednesday night in Liberal in game three of their four-game set.

In their half of the second the Bee Jays plated five runs on six hits off Larks starter Mason Myhre.

In all Myhre allowed six runs, five earned on eight hits in three innings and suffered the loss.

Down 5-0 through two innings the Larks scored a single run in the top of the third when Jarrod Belbin walked, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a passed ball and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.

Liberal got the run back in the fourth and added four more in the seventh to take a 10-1 lead.

In the Larks half of the ninth Wyatt Divis walked and scored on an error and Belbin drove in a run on a RBI groundout to cut the Liberal lead to 10-3. But two batters later a ground out ended the Larks threat giving Liberal the 10-3 win.

The Larks drop to 14-3 and 5-2 in the Kansas Collegiate League. The two teams will wrap up the series Thursday in Liberal.

Domingo Santana hit two home runs in a game for the third time this season, Marco Gonzales won his third straight start and the Seattle Mariners avoided an embarrassing series sweep with an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals

SEATTLE (AP) – Domingo Santana hit two home runs in a game for the third time this season, Marco Gonzales won his third straight start and the Seattle Mariners avoided an embarrassing series sweep with an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

Santana, who had five RBIs, and Daniel Vogelbach hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead and they went on to snap Kansas City’s three-game winning streak. The Mariners had been outscored 15-4 by the Royals in the first two games of a series between last-place teams.

Seattle jumped on starter Brad Keller (3-9) immediately. Mallex Smith doubled to open the bottom of the first and J.P. Crawford walked before Santana hit his first home run of the day to left-center field. Vogelbach followed with his 18th of the season, off the Hit It Here Cafe in the second deck.

It was the eighth time this year the Mariners, second in the majors in homers, have gone back-to-back.

Seattle showed some of the small-ball potential of its new young lineup in the fourth after Dylan Moore singled to start the inning. Keller hit Smith with a pitch, then gave up run-scoring singles to Crawford and Santana before Vogelbach’s sacrifice fly made it 7-1.

Keller didn’t return for the fifth after giving up nine hits and throwing 97 pitches.

Santana added a solo home run, his 15th of the season, in the sixth and finished with three hits. The top three batters in the order – Smith, Crawford and Santana – each scored two runs.

Gonzales (8-6) scattered six hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out five. It was his third straight victory after going 0-6 in his previous seven outings.

HERNANDEZ RESULTS

An MRI showed nothing out of the ordinary in RHP Felix Hernandez’s injured shoulder, Seattle manager Scott Servais said. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner is expected to begin working out again soon. Servais said Hernandez could pick up a ball in a few days for light tossing. Hernandez left a minor league appearance Friday night after experiencing fatigue in his shoulder and strained lat. He’ll throw bullpens before making another minor league start.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: SS Adalberto Mondesi was out of the lineup with tightness in his right groin. He’s day to day.

Mariners: RHP Sam Tuivailala threw 30 pitches Tuesday in his first bullpen since taking a step back in his return from Achilles tendon surgery. The reliever said he didn’t feel any of the muscle tightness in his arm that sidetracked his return last month. Tuivailala will report to Class A Everett where he will work out of the bullpen for three or more games until he earns a move to Triple-A Tacoma, Servais said.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Glenn Sparkman (1-3, 4.01 ERA) will face the Twins on Thursday night for the second time this week after giving up five runs and five hits in five innings of a loss last Saturday.

Mariners: Servais said he will likely use an opener Thursday and then turn to Wade LeBlanc (3-2, 6.20 ERA) in the series opener against Baltimore.

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State University’s women’s basketball team announced the addition of Cassidy Haufler for the upcoming 2019-20 season. A 6-foot, 1-inch post player, Haufler is a sophomore transfer from Cloud County Community College where she played one year and earned All-KJCCC East Division Honorable Mention honors.

Haufler finished the 2018-19 season at Cloud County averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. She averaged 12.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Haufler pulled down 314 rebounds in 31 games for the Thunderbirds, ranking second in the KJCCC for rebounding. She ranked 15th in the conference in scoring and scored in double figures 22 times with a season high of 23 points. She reached double figures in rebounds in 15 games with a season high of 21. Haufler posted 13 double-doubles on the season.

Prior to college, Haufler was a standout athlete at Centralia High School in both basketball and volleyball. She was a three-time all-state selection in both sports and named the 1A Division I Player of the Year in volleyball by the Kansas Volleyball Association as a senior. She helped Centralia to three state championships in volleyball and one in basketball during her prep career.

Fort Hays State has added four players for the upcoming season. Below is the list of additions.