Sports
NCCC’s Wernes doesn’t plan on coming up ‘short’ at World Series
Brian McDowell Sports Editor According to NCCC freshman shortstop Bobby Wernes, for the Panthers to qualify for the JuCo World Series for the second year in a row was an expectation for this team from the start of this season. “It was great season last year, and obviously, me being a freshman, I wasn’t part of that,” Wernes said, “but with everyone, that was the expectation. We wanted to repeat that.” There were some challenges to overcome in...
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Murry and Panthers gearing up for start of JuCo World Series
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Before this NCCC baseball season started, Coach Steve Murry thought he might have a chance to take the Panthers to the NJCAA World Series for the second year in a row if things went right. He knew there would be obstacles to doing this; most of this last year’s impact players had gone on to either Division One or the professional baseball ranks, leaving a young and mostly inexperienced roster at NCCC. “Last year, ...
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Chanute golfers faced many challenges to improve this season
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Chanute golf team’s season came to an end at the Regional tournament in El Dorado on Monday. “It was a little unfortunate that we had to go to a Regional that was packed full of good schools and good teams,” Chanute golf Coach Bill Woodard said. “Some of those schools that were there were 5A or have been 5A and had really strong programs, and had good kids and the scores reflected that.” These solid teams incl...
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Panthers’ Mansur prepared to pitch in the post-season
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Jeremy Mansur has been the number four starting pitcher for the World Series-bound Panthers baseball team this season. Mansur gives the top three pitchers — Chance Sinclair, Jon Furlong, and Jake Johnson-much of the credit for the success that the team has had this season. “When we started the season, our coach was saying we’d go as far as our pitching staff,” Mansur said. “So far in the playoffs, our pitching st...
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Chanute football hosting parents meeting on Monday
New Chanute football coach Jason Feeback will be hosting a parent meeting Monday night at 7 p.m. in the CHS auditorium. This will be an informational meeting with parents about the Comets’ football program, player expectations, and what parents can expect from the team’s coaches. Feeback will be using this meeting to present a summer schedule to parents, along with a Q and A session.
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CHS wins this year’s Rohde SEK All-Sports Award
Chanute High School is the winner of the 2012-13 Martin Rohde Southeast Kansas League All-Sports Award. This is the second time that Chanute has won the award. The first time came in 2006-07. The award is named after the late Pittsburg coach and educator Martin Rohde, who was the Purple Dragons’ head football coach from 1947-60, compiling a record of 79-37-6. This year is the first year that a seven-point scale was used due to the departure...
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Panthers punch second consecutive ticket to JuCo World Series
Brian McDowell Sports Editor WICHITA — Heading into last weekend’s Central District Tournament in Wichita, NCCC baseball coach Steve Murry had scouts tell him that if the Panthers managed to repeat as champions of the event, it would be a “minor miracle.” This means that what happened on Tuesday night could be used as evidence that miracles sometimes happen. Neosho County fought its way to a tournament win with a 7-3 victory over Coffeyville a...
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12 Ks for Gilmore but no Comet hits in Chanute loss at Regionals
Brian McDowell Sports Editor PAOLA — Even though the Chanute baseball team fell in the opening game of Regional play on Monday, Coach Josh Messer classified this contest as a “great baseball game.” “Probably one of the best I’ve been involved in, especially as a coach,” Messer said. Neither the Comets nor their opponents from Paola scored a run in the game’s first seven innings. The Comets squad fell victim to an extra-innings Panther hit an...
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Panthers forced into playoff tiebreaker with loss to Coffeyville
The NCCC baseball team’s hopes of winning a Wichita playoff series that would send the Panthers to the NJCAA World Series for the second year in a row were delayed on Monday night. After winning all three of the weekend games it played at the NJCAA Central District Tournament at Lawrence Dumont Stadium, Neosho County was paired with the Coffeyville Red Ravens in a championship match-up. When these two teams met on Sunday night, NCCC put toget...
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Chanute golf season ends at Regionals
EL DORADO — The season ended on Monday for Chanute’s boys golf team, at Regionals at the Prairie Trails Country Club in El Dorado. The Comets placed 10th at the event with a total team score of 377. Only the top three teams at the Regional tournament qualify for State, which meant that Wichita-Collegiate, Iola and Trinity Academy will be representing this Regional at the State event. “Although we didn’t play quite to our capabilities, there w...
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NCCC baseball pulls to one win away from World Series return
Brian McDowell Sports Editor WICHITA — The NCCC baseball team won its first three games of this weekend’s NJCAA Central District Tournament in Wichita. After putting themselves on the winning side of the bracket with a Friday morning 4-2 victory over Fort Scott, the Panthers took on the Kansas City Kansas Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon and came away with a 5-0 shutout victory. This put the Panthers in a winner’s bracket championship showdo...
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Mental mistakes cost Comet baseball in last regular season games
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The same things plagued the Chanute baseball team in its last regular season doubleheader of the season against Fort Scott on Friday night that have plagued the team all season. “It’s the mental approach to the game,” first-year Head Coach Josh Messer said. He pointed to the first game, which the Comets lost 6-1, in which Fort Scott won the game on a series of Comet errors. “We can’t do that against a good team an...
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Chanute softball ends regular season second in SEK
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Before their softball season started, the Chanute Lady Comets were picked in a pre-season coach’s poll to finish fourth in the conference. Last year, Chanute finished sixth in SEK play. On Friday night, the softball squad was competing with Fort Scott for first. Chanute fell in these last regular-season games 10-4 and 4-0. The team’s record is now 10-8. Still, the team’s coach Maria Hernandez was expressing pride ...
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Comet golf wraps up regular season in Winfield
In its last golf tournament of the year before Regionals, the Chanute boys golf team finished in 12th place in Winfield last Thursday. The golf team scored a total of 387. This tournament featured a few SEK teams and many schools from around the Wichita area. The Winfield tourney was won by Bishop Carroll with a 314. Brady Roush and Troy Reaves tied for 50th at this tournament with each scoring 95 on the course. Freshman Dylan Funk was right ...
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Regional brackets released for Comet baseball and softball
The Chanute varsity baseball and softball match-ups scheduled for Thursday against Fort Scott were postponed until today at 4:30 p.m. at Santa Fe Park. Meanwhile, regional assignments were released for both squads. Chanute’s Santa Fe Park is hosting the softball regionals this year, which will give the Lady Comets home advantage in the games they play. The softball squad will be seeded fifth, and will start regional play with a rematch again...
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Murry and Panthers excited about third consecutive Wichita playoff
Brian McDowell Sports Editor For the third season in a row, the NCCC baseball team has qualified for the NJCAA Region VI Super Regional in Wichita. These playoffs will start at 10 a.m. this morning at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita with a match-up against Fort Scott. The Panthers are the only team in this year’s tournament that has been to the event for three years in a row. The winner of this event earns a trip to the NJCAA World Series...
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Panthers pitcher Johnson will prove key to playoff success
Brian McDowell Sports Editor NCCC Coach Steve Murry cites starting pitcher Jake Johnson as one of the players on the Panthers who has grown up the most this year. “Jake had six inning success a lot of the time,” Murry said, “but when that seventh inning came, it might have become too big for him at that stage of his career. So, he failed a couple of times in the seventh inning.” Murry considers the last couple of innings in any game to be th...
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Panthers returner Ewing ready for Wichita
Brian McDowell Sports Editor NCCC rightfielder Robbe Ewing was a part of last year’s Panthers squad that won the Region VI Super-Final in Wichita to qualify for the NJCAA World Series. This year, he makes his return to the event as one of the team’s leading hitters. “I’ve obvious been there and done that before,” Ewing said, “and that knocks out the nervousness. When we get there and step off the bus, I know what to expect, as far as the stad...
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Lady Comets only allow four hits in doubleheader sweep
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Weather delays gave Chanute’s softball team almost two weeks off after two tough losses to Baxter Springs. However, the squad’s return to the field proved worth the wait on Tuesday afternoon, as the Lady Comets scored 15-0 and 13-1 victories over Coffeyville. Coach Maria Hernandez said that when Baxter Springs started that doubleheader by scoring nine runs in the first inning, that demonstrated to her that her tea...
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Chanute volleyball Coach Petersen hosting summer camps
CHS volleyball coach Gail Petersen, who has guided the Comets to the State tournament for the last two years, will be conducting a volleyball camp for girls this summer. The camps will cover basic volleyball skills and will feature personal instruction from Petersen. The coach has registration sheets available at local schools and at the Chanute Recreation office and she has passed some out at Royster and to the 5th graders at Chanute Elem...
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