Wingnuts open second half with loss WICHITA — The Wichita Wingnuts opened the second half of the American Association season with a 4-1 loss to the St. Paul Saints Monday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The Wingnuts were the first-half winner of the Northern Division to earn a playoff spot. A Brent Krase home run and another run on an error put the Saints up 2-0 in the second inning. Michael Thompson replied for Wichita with an RBI single. Jeff Eure and Andrew Schmiesing each had an RBI for St. Paul in the seventh inning. Jacob Butler, Alex Fonseca, Eure and Schmiesing each had two hits for the Saints. Greg Porter and Michael Thompson each went three for four for Wichita. Brandon Kintzler, 7-2, went seven innings for the win, allowing eight hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. Kerry Lightenberg pitched the ninth inning for the save, his 10th of the season. Brad Davis, 4-4, went six innings in the loss, allowing one earned run on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts. The two teams play again at 7:05 p.m. today. WINGNUTS SIGN PITCHER — Wichita signed right-handed pitcher Joe D’Alessandro Monday after purchasing his contract from Washington, Pa., of the Frontier League. D’Alessandro opened the season with Lancaster of the Atlantic League, where his was 1-1 with a 4.43 earned-run-average in 18 games with 15 strikeouts. D’Alessandro played with Washington last season, posting four saves with a 2.52 ERA, walking 12 and striking out 26. D’Alessandro was drafted by the New York Mets in the 23rd round in 2005. He played for Savannah of the Carolina League in 2007. For his career, he has 71 strikeouts in 76 innings. Wichita released pitcher Ronnie Morales. St. Paul 020 000 020 —4 10 0 Wichita 010 000 000 —1 9 1 Kintzler (W, 7-2), Bille 8, Lightenberg (S, 10) 9 and Knazek; Davis (L, 4-4), Salazar 7, Young 8, Torres 9 and Muich. HR — SP: Krause (7). Time — 2:43. Attendance — 2,216. Area player begins Kansas Amateur HUTCHINSON — Blair Koehn of Newton is among the 40 players in the field of the 87th Kansas Women’s Golf Association Amateur Championships, which begin today at the Highland Golf Course in Hutchinson. The tournament is three days and 54 holes. The course length is 5,672 yards. Hole-in-one shot at Pine Bay course GOESSEL — Some Fourth of July fireworks were shot at the Pine Bay Golf Course in rural Goessel when Jeremy Jordan sank a hole-in-one Saturday. Jordan used a hybrid club to ace the 173-yard second hole. Witnesses were Will Goertzen of Lawrence, Daniel Krebs of Bel Aire and Brad Berg of McPherson. WSU student takes honor ST. LOUIS — Brooke Demo of El Dorado was named the Missouri Valley Conference Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2008-09 school year. Demo is a pole vaulter for the WSU track team. She is the granddaughter of Wilma Peters of Newton. The award is given based on academic achievement, athletic performance, service and leadership. Friends names new women’s soccer coach WICHITA — Victor Garcia-Bebek has been named the women’s soccer coach at Friends University. He serves as the executive director of coaching for FC Barcelona Kansas. He succeeds Alan Shepherd, who led the Falcons for the past three years. “I am very excited to be a part of a great athletic program at Friends University,” Garcia-Bebek said. “I will work hard to bring the women’s soccer program back to the top of the KCAC.” A native of Lima, Peru, Garcia-Bebek played for Newman University beginning in 2001, helping lead the Jets to a Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference title and a second-place finish in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Region IV play. He played in Britain before coming to Newman. He founded the New Soccer Academy (now FC Barcelona KS) in 2006. He holds both a BA and MBA from Newman. HCC to host golf tournament HUTCHINSON — Hutchinson Community College is hosting a golf tournament at 1 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Prairie Dunes Country Club. Registration begins at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m. Dinner, awards and an auction begins at 6 p.m. The tournament is a four-player “Shamble” format with a shot-gun start. Everyone hits a tee shot and the teams choose the best drive. From that point, each player plays his own ball until it is holed. The top two now let scores will be counted. The tournament is open to the first 25 teams. For more information, call the HCC athletic department at (620) 665-3594. Shaun Hill football camp slated PARSONS _ The Parsons Police Officers Association is sponsoring the Shaun Hill Youth Football Camp from 9 a.m. to noon July 13 through 15 at Parsons High School. Hill is a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. The early entry deadline is Friday. For more information, call Neil Springer at (620) 421-7060 or e-mail nspringer@parsonsks.com. USGA senior qualifying opens WICHITA — Qualifying for the United States Golf Association 2009 Senior Amateur will be Aug. 12 at the Flint Hills National Country Club in Andover and the Falcon Lake Golf Course in Basehor. Qualifiers advance to the USGA Senior Championships Sept. 12 through 17 at the Beverly Country Club in Chicago. The tournament is open to golfers 55 and older by Sept. 20 and a handicap not to exceed 7.4. Golf carts are permitted. Registration is available at www.usga.org/championships.
