COURTNEY MCCUNE

Just got done writing my Friends volleyball story advancing tomorrow’s (Saturday) NAIA national playoff game at No. 14 Bellevue (Neb.) — kind of a cool side note to the whole goings-on is that the mothers of current Falcons Courtney McCune and Jessica Mullen played on the last Friends team to play at nationals … in 1984! Also came away impressed with how Friends coach Martin Ayin has built his team — mainly with local talent. Here’s the key when you recruit locally — you still need to get good local players to fill your roster. Ayin did that.

For Cowley — the Tigers are playing for the national title Saturday at Wisconsin Dells, Wisc., where they’ll take on Illinois Central in the championship match. It’s a 1 vs. 2 final — Cowley is 2 — and Ill. Central beat Cowley earlier this season in five games, although the Tigers are on a 19-match winning streak and beat Parkland 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13 in the semifinals.

TA

Ps. You’re a Killers fan? Wow, me too! LOL — enjoy

ZAC CLARK

The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission banquet is June 26 and there are  a couple of Sunflower Slate-ians up for the men’s and women’s college athlete of the year awards, including Former Wichita North and Butler defensive end Zac Clark, who is battling for a starting spot at Oregon this fall. Cowley has two nominees in men’s tennis player Boomer Saia — son of CC athletic director Tom Saia — and all-everything softball standout Jacey Juden, who is headed to Northwestern Oklahoma State. Butler trackster Leah Thompson is also up for the women’s award.

-TA

JACK CROWDER

Former Wichita Southeast and Cowley standout Jack Crowder is headed to Southern Illinois — I talked to the 6-foot-4 forward tonight and caught him as he was sending his letter of intent back to Carbondale. Also got a chance to catch up with former Cowley and current Hutch CC coach Steve Eck — check out tomorrow’s Eagle for my story on it. What’s that going to be like for JC when he comes back to play in Wichita next year? Goosebumps, people. Goosebumps. Like I said, read Friday’s Eagle for the entire story.

Oh, and to clarify: THE BLOG IS NOT SHUTTING DOWN FOR THE SUMMER. LIKE MY BOY CHARLIE PACE SAID, “I’M ON IT, SAYID.”

I’m out. -TA

Forward to the 1:10 clip below to see Crowder’s dunk against Bishop Carroll his senior year at Southeast.

In other news …. Emporia State senior outfielder Conner Crumbliss was named a second-team NCAA Division II All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and the Daktronics Division II Sports Information Directors.The Ark City product and MIAA player of the year batted .403 with 54 RBIs and led the league with 89 runs. Good for CC. Could a guy like this play for the Wingnuts, or even have a shot at affiliated ball? I’ll have to consult with Jeff Lutz on that one. Think they’ll have him cover the Raven Symone concert this summer? Man I hope so.

Out. TA.

Here’s the Cowley story:

The Cowley College baseball team’s late rallies fell short for the second straight game Tuesday as the Tigers lost 10-7 to Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist in the Juco World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
The loss eliminated Cowley, which finished with a 48-15 record, winning 21 of its final 26 games.
Cowley rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 8-4 to trail by one run on two occasions but never could regain the lead.
“We just never could throw a zero up on the scoreboard to give ourselves a chance,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “The guys battled, and I am proud of them for that. I guess any time you end your season here it has been a good season.”
On Monday, Cowley lost to Santa Fe 10-9, after rallying from a 10-2 deficit.
Ronald Melendez went 4 for 5 for Cowley against Spartenburg. The Tigers leadoff hitter went 8 for 16 in the tourney, driving in four runs and had two homers.
Colt Loehrs went 5 for 11 for the tourney, and Ryan Hege went 4 for 11.
Reliever Calvin Drinnen pitched well, going 8ð innings and allowing three earned runs.

CALEB WILLIAMSON

Here’s the story that I put together (box scores compliments of Gary Karr) for Tuesday’s Eagle on ESU advancing to the NCAA D2 College World Series semifinals and Cowley losing at the NJCAA World Series. ESU coach Bob Fornelli is in the Final 4 with his second team after leading Fort Hays to a runner-up finish in 2000. Caleb Williamson delivered the game-winning hit in this one and man … I love it when my Red Ravens deliver in the clutch. Look for the Tigers to bounce back Tuesday against Spartburg (S.C.) Community College.

Enjoy:

ESU gains CWS semifinals; Cowley bows
Eagle staff
The Emporia State baseball team advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II College World Series for the first time in school history with a 5-2 win over Mesa (Colo.) State in Cary, N.C.
Trailing 2-1 in the second inning, Caleb Williamson hit a two-run double that gave the Hornets the lead for good. Emporia State added insurance runs in the fourth and seventh innings while Williamson finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs.
Kenny Burkhead went 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI. Ben Graham was the winning pitcher for ESU, going 6Ð innings while giving up four hits, no earned runs and striking out five.
The Hornets won’t play again until Thursday and won’t know their opponent until Wednesday after games in the losers bracket shake out.
“It’s a lot of time off, but we’re fortunate enough to stay in the winners bracket,” Emporia State coach Bob Fornelli said. “Whoever we play we’ll be ready for. We’re going to go out and watch some games so we’re prepared.”
Fornelli led Fort Hays State to a national runner-up finish in 2000 and took the Hornets to the CWS in 2006. Only one player from that team, outfielder and MIAA player of the year Conner Crumbliss, is still on the ESU roster.
“I was fortunate to get to this point with Fort Hays, but that was a different team, a different time,” Fornelli said. “Even now, Conner is the only kid that played on that 2006 team. This a different group and we’re going to let them do what works for them.”
Fornelli will send Colby Killian to pitch Thursday. Killian, the South Central Regional MVP, has three of the Hornets’ six postseason wins this year.
Fornelli said he was never tempted to save Killian for a possible championship game outing on Saturday.
“I’m not one to gamble at this point,” Fornelli said. “He’s on his normal four days rest so we’ll bring him back.”
Mesa State 020 000 000 — 2 7 2
Emporia State 102 100 10x — 5 11 1
Carma, Davis (4), Bachman (7), Butch (7), Guinn (8) and Vickers; Applehans, Graham (2), Soto (9) and Sharp. W — Graham (8-3). L — Carma (7-4). Save — Soto (12).
ESU batting: Crumbliss 0-3, Wempe 0-4, Burkhead 2-4, Williamson 4-4, Francis 0-2, Lane 1-1, Steinbach 0-1, Sharp 2-4, Dreiling 0-2, White 1-4, Cotton 1-2.
ESU pitching: Applehans 1ð-2, Graham 6Ð-0, Soto 1-0.

Santa Fe (N.M.) 10, Cowley 9 _ Cowley almost dug itself out of a 10-2 deficit after three innings but came up just short at the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
The Tigers will face Spartenburg Methodist (S.C.) at noon today in an elimination game.
“I’m proud of the way our kids battled back, to fight back from that,” Cowley coach Dave Burroughs said. “It was just too big a hole.”
The Tigers had their best chance to retake the lead after Mac Gordon’s three-run home run in the top of the seventh made the score 10-8, then an infield single scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-9.
With runners at first and third and one out in the eighth, Andy Petz grounded into a double play to end the threat.
“You can’t pout, you can’t walk around on your lip,” said Burroughs, who led Cowley to national titles in 1997 and 1998. “We’ve got to forget about it, show up and play baseball. I told our guys after the game that our team in ‘97 lost in this same spot and came back to win it all.”
Cowley 200 120 310 — 9 14 1
Santa Fe 307 000 00x — 10 15 2
Kohlscheen, Maler (3), Webb (7) and Gordon; Merians, McIntyre (7), Cox (8), Mee (9) and Bozeman. W — Merians. L — Kohlscheen. Save — Mee. HR — Cowley: Misialek, Loehrs, Gordon; SF: Broxton, Mathews.
Cowley batting: Melendez 2-6, Ross 2-5, Misialek 1-4, Hege 1-3, Loehrs 2-3, Gordon 3-4, Petz 1-4, Specht 0-4, Bass 1-1, Zeller 1-3.
Cowley pitching: Kohlscheen 2Ð-9, Maler 4-0, Webb 1ð-0.

DAVE BURROUGHS

Both Emporia State and Cowley get started with College World Series action Saturday — the Hornets at the NCAA Division II event in Cary, N.C., and the Tigers at the NJCAA in Grand Junction, Colo. And get this — both teams have already faced their first-round opponents this season.

No. 17-ranked ESU faced No. 13 Grand Valley State and lost 12-11 in Pittsburg — but good news — MIAA MVP Conner Crumbliss went 3 for 4 with three runs in the loss. Here’s a link to the full package of CWS preview stuff from the ESU sports info department. They play at 4 p.m. Saturday and you can get live stats through www.ncaa.com and audio through www.kcove.com. If they don’t work, remember, I’m not on the hook. But let me know.

Cowley — ranked No. 3 in the latest poll — lost to first-round opponent Seminole (Okla.) State 7-3 on Feb. 10 in Seminole, Okla., in the Tigers’ third game of the season. Honestly, that they played is more of an ironic wrinkle at this point. It was so long ago I don’t think you can take anything from it. They play at 4 p.m. Saturday, too, and if you can pick it up its on 95.9-FM, or just go to this site. Is this a full-service blog or what?

Can either team make some noise? For sure. The Hornets exploded offensively at the regional, scoring 59 runs in five games, and never count out coach Dave Burroughs and Cowley, which won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998 (they had a dude named Travis Hafner back then, ever heard of him?)

Come back for updates — I’ll be on it tomorrow posting stuff up here as soon as the games are done along with updates from NCAA DII and NJCAA track in Hutchinson. It’ll be Update Saturday.

-TA.

Here’s the situation: Up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, five outs from setting up a winner-take-all game against No. 1 Cal Baptist on Saturday, Friends gives up 2 runs and is batting in the top of the seventh. Runners on second and third with two outs and the Falcons couldn’t come up with a run. That’s the short of it.They also outhit Hastings 10-4. They’ll still play CB Saturday at 1. Tough loss.

In Normal, Ill., at the NJCAA Division II Tournament, Cowley beat Illinois Central 4-0 behind sophomore Jacey Juden’s 13 strikeouts and saw its second game against Blackhawk Community College suspended in the top of the second with the scored tied 0-0. They’ll finish that one Saturday.

I’m out. -TA

KEVIN WEMPE

Three of our area teams were in play today at national tournaments, and two came off with big wins, including Friends University picking up its first national tournament win, 6-5 over Park (Mo.) in Decatur, Ala. More on that later because I just got off the phone with some guy who was impersonating the SID at Friends, and wanted to call the score in. Except for Friends doesn’t have an SID. And he didn’t know much about the game, so he wasn’t doing a good job of faking it.

As for ESU … The No. 17 Hornets beat No. 16 Angelo State 23-0 in the first round of NCAA Division II Tournament South Central Regional in Warrensburg, Mo. No typo. They’re really having it in Warrensburg. Just kidding … yes, that was Twenty-three to nothing. A couple of Hornets had really big days in this berserker outing, with Kevin Wempe and Kenny Burkhead both going 5 for 5 with one home run apiece and 7 RBIs apiece. MIAA player of the year Conner Crumbliss was 4 for 6 with 3 RBIs and 5 runs. They’ll play Nebraska-Omaha Friday at 7.

ANNIE MATTHEWS

As far as Friends … big win. Real big win. They needed that — Tony Segovia told me that they got to Decatur last year, lost the first game, and tumbled to an 0-4 showing after winning 32 straight to get there. This year, they said they were going to have fun and … voila! Friends trailed 6-1 in this one after Park had a 1-0 lead, then Park rallied for 4 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Senior Annie Matthews had 2 RBIs in the win and KCAC player of the year Megan VinZant walked over from shortstop to pick up the save. They play Hastings (Neb.) today at 4:30 p.m.

Here’s where to go if you want to follow the game live.

The Cowley softball team split in its NJCAA Tournament debut, beating Macomb (Mich.) 4-3 behind 10 Ks from Jacey Juden then losing, 3-0, to Kankakee, only mustering three hits. And on the Cowley note, the baseball team won Region VI last night and are headed to Grand Junction.

I’m out. -TA

ESU SOFTBALL: MIAA CHAMPS

The Emporia State and Cowley softball teams both affirmed their places as the top teams in their respective leagues — once again — by winning the MIAA and Region VI tournaments. It was the Hornets’ sixth straight MIAA title and sends ESU to San Angelo, Texas, for the South Central Regional of the NCAA Division II Tournament where they’ll face … wait for it … No. 25 Nebraska-Omaha! Yes, the same team they had to beat twice to win the MIAA tourney. That starts May 15. And I’m obliged to shout out NW alumni …  as usual (unless, of course, you’re Chris Harper bagging on U of O chicks)  with ESU’s Jill Peters hitting a home run in Game 1 of the title bout. Here’s another stat to mull over … ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner is 24-2 all-time at the MIAA tourney and 18-1 as ESU coach. That ain’t bad, people.

JACEY JUDEN

Cowley — ranked No. 3 — shut out Fort Scott 4-0 in the Region VI District D finals at TRYC in Wichita on Monday, getting a shutout from super soph Jacey Juden, the reigning Jayhawk East pitcher of the year who won her 13th straight while three-hitting the Greyhounds. For their efforts, the Tigers head to Normal, Ill., May 16 for the NJCAA DII Tournament after missing out a year ago. Juden also had an RBI single, which would be all the run support she needed. Here’s my Cowley quick fact: They’ve hit 72 home runs this year. Seriously.

Now, the fanboy in me asks … what if ESU and Cowley played? Who would win? Would it even be close?

-TA

ED HARGROVE

The gentleman above has won more games than you have.

Don’t feel bad, though, because he’s Ed Hargrove. And we’re not.

Hargrove — in his 25th season as the Cowley softball coach — picked up win No. 900 (followed immediately by No. 901) on Wednesday against Independence. The No. 3-ranked Tigers are tearing up the Jayhawk again this year, they’re 36-5 overall and 18-0 in league play with a five-game lead over Johnson County with eight games to play in the regular season.

All seriousness — 900 wins is a lot. Consistency and being able to stay in one place for a long time and build something — regardless of your profession — is a pretty underrated trait in our society.

Can anybody say 1,000?

Here’s part of the release from Cowley SID Rama Peroo:

Hargrove wins 900th game as Lady Tigers inch closer to another conference title

Continuing its dominance in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College softball team remained unbeaten in conference play with wins of 21-0 and 8-1 Wednesday at Independence Community College. With the wins, Cowley head coach Ed Hargrove reached the 900-win plateau with the victory in game one. The Tiger softball players recognized their coaches accomplishment with a celebration in between games.
“The players, and especially this group of sophomores, have taken a lot of pride in helping me get to that total,” Hargrove said. “This signifies the success of the program and the players we have had.”
The Lady Tigers, winners of 12 games in a row, are now 36-5 overall and 18-0 in the Jayhawk East. Cowley holds a five-game lead in the conference with eight games remaining.
“Highland is the biggest threat to us staying undefeated in the conference,” Hargrove said.
Against Independence, Kashilia Young went 5-for-5 with a home run and five runs batted in as Cowley won the opener 21-0 in five innings of play. Young has raised her batting average 35 points over the past 10 games as she is batting .521 on the season.
“She has really started to get her swing back over the past few games,” Hargrove said.
The Lady Tigers also got home runs from Jacey Juden, Breayle Tackett, and Rachel Burton in the victory. The homer by Burton was the reserve outfielder’s first of the season.
“It was good to see something really positive happen for Rachel,” Hargrove said.
Sarah Hocker, Taylor Cantillon and Ashley Spencer added three hits a piece as Cowley finished with 22 hits in the game. Juden (12-4) earned the win on the mound by allowing only two hits and no runs in five innings pitched. Juden struck out 10 and walked one.
“She has been throwing lights out of late,” Hargrove said.
Cowley had to fight much harder to win the second game as they led only 1-0 through the game’s first five innings of play. However, Sarah Smith’s three-run homer in the top of the sixth inning started Cowley on its way to an 8-1 win.
“That home run by Sarah kind of busted it open for us,” Hargrove said.
Kashilia Young added her 20th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh inning. Spencer improved to 17-0 on the season by tossing a complete game three-hitter. Spencer struck out nine and walked none.
“Ashley has exceeded our expectations, we know what we are going to get from her every time out,” Hargrove said.