Metro Sports Report

KCC baseball wallops Johnson County

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The Kirkwood baseball team erupted for nine runs  in the third inning Saturday and whipped Johnson County, 16-10, in the  second game of their four-game weekend series.

The second game of Saturday's scheduled doubleheader was postponed and  will be played as part of a twinbill on Sunday.

Izaya Fullard went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs  for Kirkwood (1-1). He also scored three times. Brandon Sanchez belted  a home run and collected three RBIs. Cal Clark socked a solo homer.

Max McCay went 3-for-5 for the Eagles. Taylor Jackson scored three  runs. Clark and Chili Moseley had two hits. Ellison Hanna had two RBIs.

Kirkwood drops opener at Johnson County

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The Kirkwood baseball team began the season Friday afternoon with a 7-4 loss at Johnson County.

The Eagles scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull within 4-3, but Johnson County responded with three unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-3 advantage.

Kirkwood scored in the top of the ninth for the final tally.

The Eagles committed six errors in the ballgame, including two by all-star shortstop Korry Howell.

Starting pitcher Cameron Leff allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings. Cameron Cowan struck out eight batters in 3 2/3 innings in relief, but was the victim of the three unearned runs in the eighth.

Taylor Jackson and Kal Youngquist had two hits for Kirkwood. Izaya Fullard, Chili Moseley and Max McCay had RBIs.

Howell leads KCC baseball into new year

When Korry Howell was selected in the 19th round of the Major League draft last June as a freshman, it looked like the Kirkwood baseball team would need a new shortstop for the 2018 campaign.

Fortunately for the Eagles, Howell had a different idea and Kirkwood Coach Todd Rima has never stopped smiling.

Howell declined to sign with the Kansas City Royals and will be starting for Kirkwood when it opens the season with a four-game series at Johnson County Community College this weekend.

The opener is set for Friday at 2 p.m., with a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.

"I think Korry wants to continue to develop and feels that college is important to him, his education is important to him," Rima said before leaving for the road trip to Kansas. "I think he also believes that he's a guy that with another year of development could go a lot higher in the draft. Now he's got an unbelievable option."

Howell can sign a pro contract after he's drafted again this June, or he could honor his commitment to the Iowa Hawkeyes and go play for Rick Heller in Iowa City next year as a junior.

No. 2 Eagles clinch tie for title

The Kirkwood women's basketball team has five sophomores in the starting lineup who helped the Eagles win the national title last year.

Their next five players are darn good, too.

The second-ranked Eagles got another big boost from their reserves Wednesday night and dumped Southeastern, 82-57, to clinch at least a tie for the ICCAC conference title.

Kirkwood has a three-game lead over NIACC with three games left in the regular season. The Eagles swept the season series from NIACC, so even if the race ends in a tie - which it won't - the Eagles have already clinched the No. 1 seed for the regional.

Coach Kim Muhl has a deep and talented roster, from top to bottom. Not only did the Kirkwood reserves smoke the SCC subs 49-7 in bench points Wednesday, they also outscored their own starters 49-33.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Kirkwood's starting lineup played the No. 2 unit in practice, especially if they took it seriously for 40 minutes.

"I think the next-5 would beat the top-5," said freshman Mackenzie Jenkins, who's part of that No. 2 group.