Rattlers Lose To Golden Giants

From the Capital Journal:
      The Topeka Golden Giants weathered Rossville’s typical early onslaught, then snapped the Rattlers’ three-game winning streak.
      Cam Huber’s RBI single in the sixth inning broke a five-all tie and began back-to-back two-run innings as the Giants defeated the Rattlers 9-7 in a Mid-Plains League series opener Thursday at Jerry Robertson Field.
      Topeka took the lead in the sixth as Emporia State’s Johnny Hodges reached base on a catcher’s interference call. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Johnathan Mariani, stole third base and scored in front of the Huber single, which was just to the right and under the glove of a diving third baseman. Huber would steal third as well and score on a throwing error by the Rossville catcher to add an insurance run in the sixth.
      Ben Dalke tied the game in the fifth inning with a two-run home run to left field. Dalke’s bomb came with two outs and Lance Barkley on second base — Barkley was hit by a pitch and then stole second base to get in scoring position.
      “A big swing like that energizes people and makes you feel like you are back in the ball game,” Golden Giants coach John Tetuan said. “Baseball is a different game and two runs can feel like 20 runs depending on how the game is going. That swing got us the momentum and we took it from there.”
      Score early and score often had been the mantra for Rossville of late — for the fourth straight night the Rattlers bombarded the field with an early offensive onslaught — but it was unable to hold onto an early lead.
      Rossville scored runs in the first three innings as, in the first, Colton Kooser hit a two-run single and Michael Higgins followed with a run-scoring single of his own. The Rattlers added single runs in the second and third innings with Jonathan Valenzuela-Reece driving in one run and another run scoring on a Topeka error.
      “They hit themselves into three runs in the first inning and then we gave them two runs,” Tetuan said. “We just found a way to get back in the game — locked it down a little, and found a way to finish.”
      Riley Krane drove in two runs for the Golden Giants and shortstop Ryan Ihle scored two runs hitting in the No. 2 hole. Brent Roberts earned the win in relief for Topeka and Ihle pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save.
      Rossville (18-12) played uncharacteristically poor defense, making four errors that led to multiple unearned runs in the loss.
      “The Giants are a good team and are going to battle you for nine innings,” Rattlers coach Tobi Cowdin said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little on defense, giving up some bases and easy runs, but the Giants are going to put pressure on you all game long.”
      Aggressive baserunning by the Giants (17-6) led to a team total of seven stolen bases, four by Huber, the leadoff man. Kooser finished with three hits, two RBIs, two stolen bases and scored a run for Rossville.
      The Rattlers and Golden Giants will play the second of a three-game set at 7 p.m. Friday.
■ The shorthanded Topeka Senators forfeited Friday’s rescheduled game against the Rattlers and will not compete in the postseason. The Senators finished the season with a 9-22 record.
Rattlers  311 000 020 — 7 11 4
Giants    102 022 20X — 9 7 3
Head, Christen (5), Mah (6), Hosey (8) and Nerz, Valenzuela-Reece (6). Heath, Roberts (6), Ihle (9) and Tapia. W — Roberts. L — Mah. S — Ihle. 2B — Rattlers: Schaareman; Giants: Tapia. HR — Giants: Dalke.

Wed Night Game Canceled

    The Rattler game tonight was called because of rain with the Rattlers up 3-0 in the middle of the second inning.

Tobi Cowdin--Mgr Of The Year

TOPEKA - The Mid-Plains League is proud to announce the first of several 2015 award winners, Manager of the Year Tobi Cowdin.

In his second season at the helm of the Rossville Rattlers, Tobi Cowdin has guided the Rattlers as a top competitor this summer after finishing last in 2014. This award, which is based on multiple factors including sportsmanship, record, player and coach interactions and professionalism, was voted on by his fellow teams and managers.

Cowdin, a former summer collegiate player and current Topeka West JV baseball coach, took over the Rattlers last season after his father, Brett Cowdin, passed away. After a rough 2014 season, Cowdin has coached the Rattlers into 2nd place with a 17-11 record thus far.

Tobi Cowdin joins John Tetuan as the second recipient of the award. Tetuan earned the award in the 2014 season with the Topeka Golden Giants.

Congratulations to Coach Cowdin on this achievement.

Mid-Plains League Manager of the Year
2015 - Tobi Cowdin (Rossville Rattlers)
2014 - John Tetuan (Topeka Golden Giants)

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Mid-Plains League

Summer Collegiate Baseball

www.midplainsleague.com

Mid Plains League Standings

    The Rattlers are moving up in the standings and have a good shot at moving into first place.  Their remaining games are against the Senators, Giants and Monarchs and the Rattlers have been playing well in recent games.

League	GP	W	L	T	W %	RF	RA
Midwest Athletics	30	19	11	0	.633	158	107
Rossville Rattlers	28	17	11	0	.607	170	136
Junction City Brigade	33	19	14	0	.576	154	111
Topeka Golden Giants	32	16	16	0	.500	180	174
Liberty Monarchs	26	12	14	0	.462	158	159
Baldwin City Blues	32	14	18	0	.438	182	235
Topeka Senators	31	9	22	0	.290	125	179

 

Rattlers Get 5-0 Victory Tue.

From The Capital-Journal

Drew Scrimsher bested Corey Wright in a Mid-Plains League pitcher’s duel Tuesday at Jerry Robertson Field, with the Rossville Rattlers earning a 5-0 victory over the Topeka Senators.

Scrimsher, who plays for Emporia State, threw six scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits while walking five batters and hitting two. His success came on the ground as he got the Senators to roll into 11 groundball outs.

“I threw ground balls and got out of there pretty quick each inning,” Scrimsher said. “Like every night we got solid defense. That is the goal every time going out — keep the pitch count down and let your defense work behind you.”

Scrimsher got in just one jam. After a long break with Rossville scoring four runs, he hit a batter and walked two to load the bases with no outs. Reliever Taylor Mah entered the game and struck out the first batter he faced before inducing a game-ending double play.

“Everybody wants one of those side-arm guys who can come in and get a groundball out,” Senators coach Chris Graves said. “He (Mah) did a great job. We faced him earlier at Rossville and he was strong then, too.”

Kansas State’s Wright threw five innings of one-run ball for Topeka, allowing a single tally in the first inning. Wright hit the first batter of the game, Jacob Head, who would go on to steal second base then score in front of a double by Cade Bunnell.

“Corey threw lots of strikes,” Graves said. “He tried to do a little too much in the first inning and on an 0-2 count he hit the lead off guy, but after that he settled down.”

Rossville (17-11) posted a four-run seventh inning against reliever Dayton Pomeroy to account for the final margin. Jeff Christen and Michael Higgins each hit two-run singles in the seventh for the Rattlers.

“It was a really well-pitched game by both guys,” Rattlers coach Tobi Cowdin said. “Both guys did a good job of keeping the ball in the zone and making the hitters put the ball in play. Both defenses played well. It was just a good, low-scoring game.”

Head, an incoming Washburn freshman, scored two runs.

Center fielder Brian O’Bannon had a single and steal for the Senators, who fell to 9-20 with the loss.

The two teams will meet at 7 p.m Wednesday. It will be the Senators’ final home game of the season.

Rattlers (17-11) 100 000 4 — 5 6 1

Senators (9-20) 000 000 0 — 0 2 0

Scrimsher, Mah (7), and Higgins. Wright, Pomeroy (6) and Srna. W — Scrimsher. L — Wright. 2B — Rattlers: Bunnell.

Last Games And Dinner

      The Rattlers play their  last regular season home games against the Liberty MOnarchs Sunday July 19th at 3pm and 5pm.  After the game they will  be having their  annual post game potluck dinner and Venom awards. Anyone interested in participating in the potluck dinner should email rossvillerattlers@gmail.com for more information.

Rattlers Triumph Monday Night

From the Capital Journal:

Zach Holmes returned to his high school ballpark to lead the Rossville Rattlers to a 16-3 Mid-Plains League victory over the Topeka Senators on Monday at Jerry Robertson Field.

Holmes, a graduate of Shawnee Heights, threw five innings of one-hit ball to earn the victory for the Rattlers. With the win, Rossville improved to 16-11 on the season.

The Rossville starting pitcher, who plans to begin his freshman season at Cloud County Community College this fall, recorded three strikeouts and induced six groundball outs. He walked one and hit a batter. He gave up two runs— only one of which was earned.

“I was just going out there and trying to throw strikes,” Holmes said. “I just really wanted to fill up the zone. My slider was working pretty good and it always helps to have a secondary pitch to go to.”

The Rattlers struck first with a run in the second inning. Colton Kooser singled to right field, stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly hit by catcher Matthew Nerz.

Kooser went on to have a solid offensive night, hitting two doubles as part of a 4-for-4 performance at the plate. He also drew a walk and scored four runs.

“I just felt really relaxed at the plate today,” Kooser said. “Pitchers were throwing strikes and that just makes it easier to make contact.”

Oklahoma State catcher Michael Higgins continued his hot summer. Higgins crushed a fastball offered up by reliever Jesse Correll in the sixth inning for a three-run home run. It was Higgins’ sixth home run of the season and tied him for the all-time season home run record in the history of the Rossville program.

“If they throw him a fastball and he gets wood on it, it usually travels a pretty long ways,” Rattlers coach Tobi Cowdin said. “He’s just fun to watch, is a great kid and we’re sure glad to have him.”

Higgins finished with four RBIs and two runs scored. Every batter in the Rossville lineup either scored or drove in at least one run. Cade Bunnell and Collin Scribner joined Higgins and Kooser in scoring multiple runs in the contest.

“The guys came out on an extremely hot day, maybe the hottest day of the season and really just played a good game,” Cowdin said. “We had a good batting practice and put together a really good game. I’m really proud of them and it was just a really fun day.”

The Senators (8-19) managed just five hits. Chase Knott and Corey Wright each had one RBI in the loss.

The two teams will meet in Game 2 of a three-game set Tuesday with a first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

Rattlers 010 514 5 — 16 14 3

Senators 000 111 0 — 3 5 3

Holmes, McGreevy (6) and Nerz. Woodcock, Correll (6) and Srna. W — Holmes. L — Woodcock. 2B — Rattlers: Kooser 2, Bunell. 3B — Rattlers: Bunell, Christen. HR — Rattlers: Higgins.

Rattlers Roll To 16-3 Win

    The Rattlers disposed of the Topeka Senators with a barrage of 18 hits and 16 runs in seven innings while the host team managed only 3 runs.

Rattlers     0 1 0 5 1 4 5       16    18    2
Senators    0 0 0 1 1 1 0        3      6     4

     The Rattler offense was led by Cade Bunnell (3B) with 3 hits, 2 runs, and 1 RBI;  Michael Higgins (DH) with 1 hit (a home run), 2 runs and 4 RBI; Colton Kooser (LF) with 3 hits, 4 runs, and 1 RBI; Matthew Nerz (C) with 2 hits, 1 run and 2 RBIs.
      Zach Holmes pitched the first 5 innings allowing 2 hits, 2 R(1 ER), 3 strikeouts and 1 walk.  Derrick McGreevey pitched the final two innings allowing 4 hits, 1 ER, no walks, and 2 strike-outs.

Mid Plains League Standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	W %	RF	RA
Midwest Athletics	26	18	8	0	.692	151	82
Rossville Rattlers	26	15	11	0	.577	149	133
Junction City Brigade	33	19	14	0	.576	154	111
Liberty Monarchs	23	12	11	0	.522	131	129
Topeka Golden Giants	29	13	16	0	.448	155	167
Baldwin City Blues	28	10	18	0	.357	156	216
Topeka Senators	27	9	18	0	.333	122	158

Rattlers Next Six Games.

    The Rossville Rattlers will be playing in Topeka at the Jerry Robertson Field for the next six nights at 7:00 PM.  Mon-Thur the opponent will be be Topeka Senators.  Thur-Sat.,  it will be the Golden Giants.   The MPL season is nearing the end.  Time to get out there to support the Rattlers and see some good baseball.

    The Senators and Golden Giants are in the bottom half of the league.  If the Rattlers do well against these two teams,  they could possibly move into the lead as they are only three games out of first according to currently posted standings.

TCF Tractor Pull Aug. 9

Rossville 1909 Baseball Team

The 1909 Rossville Base Ball team managed by I.B. Wilt. Back row players, left to right, are "Frog" Baird, Frank or Melvin Hartzell, Cy Higginbotham, Jack Parr, and Guy Berkey. Front row players, left to right, are Charles Berkey, Pete Cless, Fred Hook, and Clarence McPherson. This photograph is provided by the Rossville Community Library and the Kansas Historical Society.

Rattlers Lose Night Cap to Monarchs

    The Rattlers allowed six runs in the top of the sixth inning to fall behind 9-2.  However,  a seventh inning rally of five runs brought them to within two runs, which were stranded on base at the end of the game.

Liberty        0   2   0   0   1   6   0      9    10    3
Rattlers       0   0   0   1   1   0   5      7      7    0

    Colton Kooser (2b) led the offense with two hits and three RBIs.  Alex Head (LF) added two RBIs.
    Tyler Davis pitched four innings allowing five hits, two runs, one walk and seven strike-outs.       Bryce Girdner pitched one inning allowing two hits, one run, one walk, and two strike-outs.  Jake Hozey pitched the last two innings allowing three hits, four runs, two walks and three strike-outs.   The published pitching  stats show only seven runs allowed,  but there were actually nine.   When Jake Hozey replaced Girdner in the fifth inning with no outs,  there were two base runners.  Those two runners scored,  but did not count as earned runs or runs against Hozey,

Rattlers Defeat Monarchs

    The Rattlers defeated the Liberty Monarchs in game one of the Sat. night double header 7-2.