Sandra (Brown)(61) Black Passes Away

    Sandra Mae Black, 73, passed away Sunday, June 11, 2017..
    Sandra was born Nov. 18, 1943, and was the daughter of Ralph Leroy Brown and C. Jean Brown. She attended Rossville High School and became a travel agent and later a homemaker. Sandy had a variety of interests and hobbies. She was a member of a quilting club, enjoyed gardening, needlepoint knitting and crocheting. By far her biggest interests were her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were the stars of her life. She was over and above the most generous person in memory.        
    Survivors: Sandy is survived by her husband of 31 years, Russ Black; her sister, Janice Groom of Amarillo, TX; brothers, Larry and Randy of Topeka, Kan.; her children, David Boyd of Round Rock, and Jeff Boyd of Fort Worth; stepsons, Ian Black of Fort Worth and Skyler Black of Crestview, Fla.; she has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 
     Memorial Service: 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Mount Olivet Chapel. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Humane Society in your community. Sandy had a special place in her life for her Scotties, Westie and Daschund

Murray To Play At Cowley CCC

Sammie is pictured seated between her parents, Shane and Tina Murray, and with her brother Tyler.

Rossville High School senior Sammie Murray signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her softball career at Cowley County Community College.  Murray follows former Lady Dawg Heidi Nitsch, who helped lead Cowley to the NJCAA World Series this spring.  Murray, a mainstay in the Rossville lineup since transferring to RHS for her junior year, seamlessly shifted to left field this spring after playing third base as a junior.  The move in the field did not affect her hitting, as she posted career highs in batting average (.377), on base percentage (.429) and slugging percentage (.623).  Murray also pitched during her career, posting six wins as a junior.  Sammie’s versatility in the field and overall athleticism will be extremely helpful as she battles for playing time at Cowley this fall.

Hill To Play For Wesleyan

Amanda is pictured seated with her parents, Brian and Deanna Hill. 

Standing behind are RHS Head Basketball Coach Michael Bell, sisters Caila and Breanna, Asst. 

KWU Coach  Bay’lee Purdy, Head KWU Coach Ryan Showman , and Asst. KWU Coach Tyler Smith.

    Rossville's Amanda Hill signed a letter of intent with Kansas Wesleyan of the KCAC on Wednesday, May 3rd, to play basketball for the Lady Coyotes of Salina.  Amanda was a four year starter for the Lady Dawgs and was a key component on the turnaround and success the Lady Dawgs have had in recent times.  As a senior, Hill averaged over 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists a game for the 20 -3 Dawgs.  Amanda was a three time all Mid-East League pick, three time tournament MVP of the Chapman Fighting Irish Classic, and on the All-Tournament team at Jeff County North the past two years.  Hill was 3A honorable mention her sophomore year, 2nd team 3A her junior year, and 1st team 3A her senior campaign.  Amanda was also selected to play in the NEK All-Star game at Highland Community College where she was named the game MVP.  She will be playing in the prestigious KBCA All-Star game on June 25th in Salina Kansas.
    Amanda Hill ended her career with over 1,300 points and 465 rebounds.  She was a prolific scorer and shooter, her senior year she shot over 50% from the field, 44% from 3-point line, and 81% from the free throw line.   All of this was accomplished while she was seeing the opponent’s best defender and defense set up to contain and minimize her.
    Coach Michael Bell states that "Amanda was a great player, teammate, and student for Rossville High School.  She will be sorely missed by our team next year.  All of Amanda's success is a direct correlation to her hard work and dedication she puts into the sport.  Amanda is what they call a gym rat, always in there working on her game before and after practice.  It was an honor to coach her these last four years and we at Rossville wish her nothing but the best of luck at Kansas Wesleyan University."

Shinn Twins Sign With Highland

Pictured from left to right: 

brother Scott Shinn, mother Dianna Shinn, Sara Shinn, and Lora Shinn.

Rossville High School softball seniors Sara and Lora Shinn have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their careers at Highland Community College.  The Shinn twins have been mainstays in the Lady Dawgs lineup for their entire career, and have saved the best for their senior year.  Sara led the Dawgs with ten home runs and was second in RBI’s with 36, both career highs.  Lora batted a career high .486 and reached base safely in half of her plate appearances.  Both sisters also helped anchor Rossville’s defense, with Sara patrolling center field while Lora served as the starting catcher.  Sara and Lora have both showed great leadership during their senior year and helped the Lady Dawgs to a perfect 17-0 regular season title, second straight Mid-East League title, 2nd place finish at state, and 22-1 season record.  Their tremendous work ethic and athletic ability will help them be ready to step in and compete right away at Highland.

Rattlers Wed. Game Postponed

The Rattlers Wed. game at Sabetha has been changed to Sat. to be a part of a double header starting at 5:00 PM.  

Rattlers Lose Tue Night

    The Rattlers lost to the Liberty Monarchs 18-13 on Tue. night.

Former Rattler Floyd Drafted By Royals

In the 10th round, with the 300th overall selection, the Kansas City Royals drafted Kansas State pitcher Jordan Floyd. He is a left-handed pitcher who has also played for the Rossville Rattlers and the Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds.

During Floyd’s senior season with the Wildcats, he appeared in 21 games and had a (2-3) record while posting a 5.04 ERA. He struck out 30 batters in 30.1 innings pitched.

Floyd played for the Rossville Rattlers during the league inaugural season in 2014.

Jordan was drafted out of Shawnee Heights High School in 2013 by the New York Yankees in the 25th round. Floyd decided to get his education and went on to a stellar career at Kansas State.

Congratulations to Jordan and best of luck at the next level!

http://www.wibw.com/content/sports/K-States-Jordan-Floyd-drafted-by-the-Kansas-City-Royals--428288033.html

Brett Cowdin Memorial Night Thur.

Brett Cowdin Memorial Night and Biking Across Kansas at Joe Campbell Stadium this Thursday, June 15! 
Join us for great fun and food! Concession stand opens at the stadium at 5 PM!  Game starts at 7 PM.
Specials include grilled cheese dinner, brats, chili dogs, burgers, ice cream sundaes and more! 
Be there early to get your seats.

For more info about BAK, go to:  https://bak.org/

New Willard Bridge Photos

Liberty Monarchs Win

    Despite out-hitting the Monarchs 13-12,  the Rattlers came up short on the scoring, losing 16-5 on Monday night.

   

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
LBRT	0	1	2	1	1	0	5	6	X	16	12	1
RTTL	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	X	5	13	4

    The two teams tangle again on Tue. evening in Liberty, MO.

Willard Bridge Closed

Shawnee County Commissioner Shelly Buhler said Monday she was “really happy” the day had come that the deteriorating Willard Bridge was being closed after 62 years of use.  That bridge was built to replace the old bridge that was taken out by the 1951 flood.  

Concern about the bridge’s condition started in 2009, when a study  said if one of the bridge’s eight steel pins failed, it would collapse without warning. 

The replacement bridge, just east of the old bridge that was closed Monday,  was started in Jan. 2016 and should be open in 90 days, said county public works director Tom Vlach

Rattlers Win Against Topeka

From the Capital-Journal:

Getting off to a slow start this season with one win in the first six games, the Rossville Rattlers were waiting to put things together.

It all fell into place Saturday with a five-run first inning and a stellar pitching performance from Tom Skoro as the Rattlers beat the Topeka Golden Giants 6-3 at Joe Campbell Stadium, avoiding a sweep in the Mid-Plains League series.

“What I’ve been proud about with these guys is we’ve really been working hard in (batting practice),” Rattlers manager Tobi Cowdin said. “I kept telling them it was going to show up in the game eventually and it felt real good to put everything together tonight and have a good game.”

Skoro, a left-hander from Kansas State, allowed two runs on two hits in six innings, striking out nine and walking two. He silenced a Topeka lineup that produced 30 runs and 32 hits in the first two games of the series, combining with relievers Jimmy Larson and Caleb Littlejim for a three-hitter.

“He was using good pace,” Cowdin said of Skoro. “He kept hitters guessing with the pace he was using and he was getting his fastball and curveball over for strikes which kept their hitters off-balance all night long.”

The Rattlers (2-5) took control with a five-run first inning against Topeka starter Cameron Kay, highlighted by Carter Young’s three-run home run. Jordan Maxson had an RBI double as Rossville sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning.

“We’ve been behind the eight ball all season so far in the first inning so it felt good to get that lead and put a little pressure on the Giants for once,” Cowdin said.

Kay lasted only 12/3 innings, giving up five runs on six hits with five walks. Relievers Jarod Cooper and Jack Banks put the wraps on the Rattlers but the Giants (4-4) couldn’t overcome a 6-0 deficit against Skoro, who gave up a solo home to Carson Green in the third inning.

Dylan Watts, the Rattlers’ right fielder, was 4-for-5 at the plate.

“A game when the total runs don’t add up to 30 is pretty good here at the Joe,” Cowdin said. “The way the wind was blowing, I never would have thought that would happen but Skoro came out and really pitched well.”

Topeka           001 001 010 — 3  3  2

Rossville       510 000 00x — 6 10 1

Kay, Cooper (2), Banks (5) and Hoover. Skoro, Larson (7), Littlejim (9) and Maxson. W — Skoro. L — Kay. Sv — Littlejim. 2B — Topeka: Owen. Rossville: Maxson. HR — Topeka: Green. Rossville: Young.

‪  The Rattler hard hat went  to Pitcher Tom Skoro 

who got the win by going 6 innings, 

striking out 9, and giving up only 2 runs. 

Christian Roduner (16) All-Jayhawk League

Rossville graduate Christian Roduner, a freshman at Colby Community College, was recently named to the All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference first team as the utility player.

Roduner hit .320 for Colby with 37 RBIs, six home runs and 11 stolen bases.

This summer,  Roduner is playing for the Topeka Golden Knights. 

Topeka Wins Friday Night

  The Topeka Golden Giants  built an early lead with 5 home runs in the first five innings, then used a small-ball approach to keep the Rossville Rattlers at bay with a 13-5 victory.  Rossville native Christian Roduner hit a solo homer  for Topeka in the fourth.
   The Rattlers  got in the act when Terrance Spurlin belted a two-run homer in the sixth and Aaron Dees hit a solo shot in the seventh to cut Topeka’s lead to 8-5.  But Topeka added five more runs in the top of the eighth to seal the victory.

  Topeka …    011 … 320 … 150 … —      13 … 13 … 3

Rossville … 000 … 112 … 100 … —        5 …   7 … 1

Ebert, Wulfkuhle (7), Greenwood (8), Marreel (9) and Green. Fragano, Steffensmeier (6), Middendorf (8), Brown (8) and Hartter. W — Ebert. L — Fragano. 2B — Topeka: Passino. Rossville: Williams. HR — Topeka: Owen, Webb, Waterbury 2, Roduner. Rossville: Spurlin, Dees.

The three game series will conclude Sat. night at Joe Campbell Stadium.

Additional details of the game can be read at:  http://cjonline.com/sports/2017-06-09/waterbury-homers-twice-power-golden-giants-past-rattlers

You can see some video of the game at:

http://ksnt.com/2017/06/09/golden-giants-power-past-rattlers-for-friday-night-win/