Category Archives: Sports

Fort Scott, Sports

Fort Scott Joins Mid America League

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LaRoche Baseball Stadium.
LaRoche Baseball Complex To Serve As Home Field for Team
The Mid America League has announced that Fort Scott, KS has been awarded a franchise for the 2026 season, according to a press release on the City of Fort Scott Facebook page.
The team will play its’ home games at LaRoche Baseball Complex in Fort Scott.
LaRoche Baseball Complex features fixed seating for 500, multiple party and picnic arenas, and an overall seating capacity of 3,500. The facility also features a top-notch locker room/club house area, artificial turf infield and a pro style batting tunnel for players. The ballpark features a full and spacious press box with room for multiple staff, a fixed umpire room, and a full-service concession stand.
“Fort Scott has always been a great baseball town and has a long, rich and storied tradition of baseball in this City”, said City of Fort Scott City Manager Brad Matkin. “LaRoche Sports Complex is one of the best baseball environments in the state of Kansas and this is a wonderful opportunity to provide a safe, affordable place for our local and area families to enjoy a fun, exciting night of baseball entertainment. I want to thank Mark Schuster and Nick Weisenborn from the Mid America Baseball League for their confidence in Fort Scott. We are very excited about this opportunity and can’t wait for Opening Day 2026.”
“The Mid America League is extremely excited to award Fort Scott, KS the 7th MALB Franchise” said Nick Weisenborn, Mid America League Executive Director. “Being a former college athlete in the area I know personally how important sports in this community are, and I can’t wait for our players to experience that passion. We are very grateful to the city of Fort Scott and their partners for letting us use this top-notch facility, LaRoche Baseball Complex. We can’t wait to get a sneak peak of the action it can provide this July.”
To kickoff baseball in Fort Scott, the Mid America League will host a series in Fort Scott on July 11-13 between the Texarkana Rhinos and the Joplin Outlaws. (This will be a great opportunity to show Fort Scott what MAL baseball is like…… “We are very excited to play a home season against the Rhinos in Fort Scott”, said Brian Flynn, former major league and Joplin owner. “To be able to have our players compete in a stadium as nice as LaRoche Baseball Complex is a great opportunity for our athletes.”
The three-day event will be held on July 11-13. Tickets for the series will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, April 5, at 10:00 AM, available at www.joplinoutlaws.com.
Baseball has deep roots in Fort Scott, dating back to its early years. The game evolved during the Civil War, with soldiers playing in camps said Fort Scott Historian Brian Allen. By the late 1800s, Fort Scott had town teams that traveled to compete against other towns. From 1902 to 1906, the city had a minor league team called the Giants, which played in the Missouri Valley League (a level C league), with 14 of its players advancing to Major League Baseball. Prior to 1902, Fort Scott had an unaffiliated minor league team in 1891. Local leagues, often organized by fraternal groups and churches, also played in later years.
In 1903, Fort Scott’s Lon Ury briefly played for the St. Louis Cardinals, recording a hit off Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson. In October 1922, Babe Ruth played a barnstorming game in Fort Scott, hitting a home run and pitching the town team to an 11-9 victory. Later that month, the Kansas City Monarchs defeated the local team 3-2. Over the years, Fort Scott had several baseball venues, including Athletic Park, Harkey Park (now Cameron Heights), and Othick Park, which was made famous by a photograph taken by Gordon Parks.
Beginning today, fans will have the opportunity to submit their name suggestion for the Fort Scott nickname.
Fans simply need to go to www.fortscottbaseball.com to submit their name.
The winner of the contest will receive two (2) season tickets for life for the Fort Scott franchise.
Also, fans interested in season tickets can reserve their space by clicking on the “Request Information on Season Tickets” on the website.
Entertainment, Exercise, Fort Scott, Sports

Ladies Informational Golf League and Sign-up Meeting is March 8

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Sending on behalf of Chamber member Diane Striler

Par Tee Girls Ladies League

Informational & Sign Up Meeting Saturday, March 8th

Woodland Hills Golf Course, 9-10am

At the meeting you can pay your $40 league fee, get a pic for our website, get paired up with a partner (if you don’t already have someone to play with) and meet the other women of the league.

The league will run on Wed. April 30th thru Wed. July 30th.

Morning tee times available or at 5:30pm for a shotgun start.

The season will end with a banquet with a best ball scramble, a catered dinner, and a lot of fun!
Click to contact Diane Striler with any questions!

Thank you to our Chamber Champions listed below!
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Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street | Fort Scott, KS 66701 US
Bourbon County, Fort Scott, Sports

Shane Dennis Inducted Into Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame on Feb. 1

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Shane Dennis. Submitted photo.

Former Wichita State University star baseball player Shane Dennis will be inducted into the 2025 class of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame this Saturday in Wichita.

Dennis was born in Fort Scott and was a standout athlete at Uniontown High School.

“We didn’t have a baseball team at the time,” he said. “I played Legion ball at Fort Scott in the summer,” Dennis said.

While pitching for the American Legion team in Fort Scott, the team won 28 games over three years and struck out 418 hitters in 222 innings, according to the website, http://ksbaseballhof.com.

“He was all-state in both football and basketball.  He once scored 52 points and had 17 rebounds in a single game and set a 1A state record by scoring 90 points in the 1990 1A tournament, including 33 points in the championship game,” according to info on the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame website.

He graduated from U.H.S. in 1990 and became a midweek starter on the Wichita State University baseball team, posting a 5-1 record with a 2.66 earned run average as a freshman for a Shocker team that went to the College World Series final.

As a college sophomore, he won 13 games, struggled as a junior but bounced back to go 9-2 as a senior with a 1.35 ERA, according to the website.

“He was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and by Collegiate Baseball.  Dennis’s career marks for ERA, starts, strikeouts and innings pitched are ranked in the WSU top ten,” according to the website.

Dennis was then drafted in the seventh round by the San Diego Padres program and pitched four seasons in the organization, winning minor league pitcher of the year in 1996.

“In 1997, Dennis pitched the first of two seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japan Pacific League.  He returned to the Padres organization to play his final season for Triple-A Las Vegas in 1999.

“While at Wichita State, Dennis majored in radio/television journalism and served as color commentator on Shocker women’s basketball broadcasts.  In 2001, he returned to Wichita as play-by-play voice for the Double-A Wichita Wranglers before going back to Wichita State as director of baseball operations for 12 years,” according to the website.

Dennis is now part of the WSU baseball broadcast team and hosts a daily sports show, The Shane Dennis Show, on  ESPN Wichita 92.3 radio station.

“I’ve been at ESPN Wichita the last three years, doing Wichita State Baseball and Basketball games,” he said.

Dennis’s father, Don, pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox and was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003, according to the website.

Don Dennis died in 2007 and his mother Betty Dennis lives in Uniontown.

 

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article296142789.html#storylink=cpy

Entertainment, Fort Scott, Sports

Local Stock Car Racers, Bolin and Zimmerman, Are Honored

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Randy Zimmerman, left, and Ron Bolin pose with trophies in a race competition. Submitted photos
Two Fort Scottians will be honored on Feb. 1 by the Ozarks Area Racers in Springfield, MO.
In the fall, the Ozarks Area Racers Foundation announced its 2025 Hall of Fame class, according to a press release.
The 37th annual Ozarks Area Racers Reunion and Hall of Fame Induction will be held Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds E-Plex in Springfield, MO.
Inductees are selected in two categories: Legends (for driving accomplishments) and Pioneers (off-track contributions such as car owners, mechanics, sponsors or media members).
The two honorees from Fort Scott are being inducted for stock-car racing accomplishments.
Ron Bolin
Ron Bolin. Submitted photo.
Ron Bolin died in 2021 and was the second generation in his family to race stock cars. His uncle by marriage, Rick Sharp of Fort Scott, was the first in their family that raced. X was on his vehicle. “It’s considered a number even though it’s a letter,” said Ron’s son, Brian, the third-generation stock car racer.
“I don’t know what got Rick into racing, but from then on, we went to races on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.”
“X JR became his number,” Brian said. “People see it on the side of the car.” The next generation of Bolins then put X in their number, as did the fourth generation.
Ron got his racing start in 1972 and compiled over 400 career victories while winning 20-plus track championships on Ozarks-area and regional speedways, according to a press release.
Randy Zimmerman
Submitted photo. Randy Zimmerman in  Amarillo, Texas at the Dirt Track Speedway. It was his biggest win ever, September 1994, winning $20,000 from left is Amanda Portwood, Billy Portwood, Rhonda Dunn, Leland Zimmerman, Maxine Zimmerman, Doug Potter, Ryan Forester, Donnie Marsh, Melba Marsh, Clara Dunn, Mike Dunn.
Kneeling in Front – Marnie Zimmerman & Randy Zimmerman
 Randy Zimmerman, 62, of Fort Scott,  said he always wanted to race.
“I had a (motorized) mini-bike when I was 9 or 10, then a couple of motorcycles, then got a Camaro and started hot-rodding around town. When I was 13 I started watching others  (at the race car track) and ended up helping Ronnie Bolin a little (with his race car) before I got mine.”
“My Dad had a lathe around and helped me build parts for the race car,” he said.
“We have been blessed to have support with our race program from family, friends, and sponsors,” said Marnie, his wife. “We could not have done any of this without them.”
Zimmerman works at Ward Kraft in research and development, building equipment.
Randy Zimmerman from the U.S. Racing Association website.
He has won championships in many area tracks, including Monett, Lucas Oil Speedway, Springfield Raceway, West Plains Motor Speedway, North Fork Speedway, and Joplin 66. Randy began racing in 1980 and remains active in the sport with feature wins at 31 different tracks in seven states, according to the press release.
Induction Ceremony
Zimmerman and Bolin will be honored at the induction ceremony on Feb. 1 at the fairgrounds in Springfield, MO.
In addition to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, racing memorabilia and race cars from different eras will be on display inside the E-Plex, according to a press release. Promoters from area speedways also will be invited to introduce their track champions from the 2024 season in a “Salute to Champions” prior to the Hall of Fame program.
Zimmerman and Bolin will have their names engraved on a monument in black marble at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
For more info, check out: facebook.com/ozarksarearacersfoundation
Entertainment, Food, Fort Scott, Sports

Care to Share Golf Tournament: Golf, Auction, Raffle, Live Music on July 27

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Sending on behalf of Chamber Member

Care to Share “The Sharing Bucket”…

Join Care to Share for a fun filled day while supporting your favorite golfer and Care to Share THIS Saturday, July 27th starting at 7am!

*A Community Smashburger lunch & Brickstreet BBQ Dinner, both requesting a freewill donation!

*Silent and Live Auction Items

*50/50 Raffle

*Live music featuring Vic Vaughan & Souled Out, 6-9pm.

If you like to golf, eat, drink, dance or just want to support Care to Share–this event is FOR YOU!

First round of the tournament starts at 7am, with the second round starting at 1pm!

If you can’t make it and want to donate–click here!
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street | Fort Scott, KS 66701 US
 
Fort Scott Community College, Sports

The Fort Scott Community College Softball Team is leaving for Nationals at 11:00 a.m.

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Sending on behalf of Chamber Member

Fort Scott Community College…

SPREAD THE WORD!

The Fort Scott Community College Softball Team is leaving for South Carolina for Nationals!

11:00am – load up at Arnold Arena on the campus of Fort Scott Community College

11:15am – head downtown on National

The girls will be dropped off at Memorial Hall (bus following) walk downtown, take a right on Wall Street and walk to the new Historic Fort Scott Sign to take a picture before leaving town!

Good luck at Nationals!

#DEFENDTHEFORT
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street | Fort Scott, KS 66701 US
 
Bourbon County, Entertainment, Fort Scott, Sports

REDI on the Green Golf Tournament Woodland Hills Golf Course Friday, April 19

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Sending on behalf of Chamber Member Bourbon County Regional Economic Developement, Inc (REDI)…

REDI on the Green!

REDI on the Green Golf Tournament

Woodland Hills Golf Course

Friday, April 19th

Check in: 9:00am

Tee off: 10:00am

$60.00 per player

$240.00 team of 4

Lunch will be provided for golfers

GOLF CARTS ARE LIMITED

100% of all proceeds goes to support local scholarships

Register now at redi-on-the-green.perfectgolfevent.com

Games:

Hole-In-One

4-Player Shootout

Longest Drive

Putting Contest

Closest to the Pin

Potential Hole-In-One Prizes:

$10,000

$100,000 Shootout

Scotty Cameron Phantom X Putter

Yeti Tundra 75 Hard Cooler

Bushnell Pro X3 Rangefinder

Guaranteed Prizes:

(2) Winners for $100 towards a round of golf anywhere in the US or Spa Day

(1) Winner 7 Night Resort Stay for 2

1st & 2nd place pay out to flight A & B

Deadline for sponsors is April 5th!
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members below!
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Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701
Entertainment, Fort Scott, Sports

Par Tee Girls Start Their Third Golf Season

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Some of the Par Tee Girls. Submitted photo.
The Par Tee Girls Golf League is a group of women who look forward to getting together regularly, enjoying companionship, and playing a little golf while they are at it, said organizer Diane Striler.
Diane Striler. Submitted photo.
“This will be the third year for the Par Tee Girl league at Woodland Hills,” Striler said. “Last year we had roughly 55 women sign up for the league from Fort Scott, Nevada, and the Mound City area.”
“We are a very casual league encompassing women of all skill levels,” she said.  “I encourage women to come out and play, even if they have never played before. A lot of our members are beginners. I always tell women if they want to learn to play, this is a great way to start.  If you don’t set the time aside to play regularly, it’s hard to improve.”
Submitted graphic.
Striler has golf lessons scheduled for April, before the league starting.
“So women can get a little more comfortable before hitting the course,”  she said.  “The lessons are only $20 each and are perfect for beginners and a great refresher for avid players.”
Their season goes from May 1 to July 31.
“Each week we have a different game that we participate in, whether it’s for the longest drive, straightest drive or longest putt, etc. Women can keep track of their scores if they want, but that is not required. I ask members to keep track of their putts though.”
“At the end of the night, we tally our putts and pay ten cents for each,” she said. “The winner of the game that night receives half of the putt money, and I save the rest for our banquet tournament on July 31.”
On July 31 there is a four-person best ball scramble.
“Afterward, we have a catered dinner and give out prizes for the top three teams, for games on each hole and we each receive a league gift.”
Submitted graphic.
“This year our league will also host three different dates when a restaurant or food truck will serve dinner at Woodland Hills,” she said. “Along with our league, the community will be invited to join us at the course for a night of good company, food, and some music.”
The dates scheduled are:  May 8th – Brickstreet BBQ,  June 5th – Taco Azul,  and July 10th- Aunt Toadies.
Striler will post more information as the dates get closer.
Some of the Par-Tee Girls. Submitted photo.
Bourbon County, Schools, Sports, Youth

St.Martin’s Academy Rugby Players: David VS Goliath Story

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The St. Martin’s Academy Rugby Team.Top, from left to right: Finn Burch, Prosper Owen, Will Van De Ryt, Robbie Ritson, Joseph Moleski (Captain), Benedict Sullivan (Co-Captain), Berkely Nordhus, Ben Walsh, Colin Egger.
Bottom, from left to right: Sam Egger, Ben Skinner, Patrick Mulholland, Peter McDonald, Ethan Blakie, Liam Pluta. Submitted photo.

Saint Martin’s Academy is a Catholic boarding school for boys that combines classical academics with a practical work program on a sustainable farm. and is located southwest of Fort Scott.

It seems they have some athletes as well.

“We are the reigning Kansas State Rugby Champions, ” said school headmaster Daniel Kerr. ” Currently, we are ranked #9 in the country for all schools of any size according to the Goff Rugby Report.”

Saint Martin’s Academy rugby players, the Kingfishers, beat the Thomas Aquinas Saints, Overland Park, who had won state the previous 14 years in a row in May 2023.
“We are currently 9-1, having already defeated three reigning state champions: Missouri Champion SLUH (St. Louis University High School) by a score of 34-17; Pennsylvania Champs Gregory the Great by a score of 47-3; Tennessee Champs Germantown by a score of 44-7,” Kerr said.  “We will play reigning Oklahoma State Champs Bixby on March 16th on our home field.  Our one loss was to the #3 ranked Club Team, Woodlands by a score of 8-15.”
“We received … an invitation this year, a couple of weeks ago, from the governing body of USA Rugby and will be headed to Elkhart, Indiana to compete against the best teams in the country from May 23rd-25th,” Kerr said.  “Nearly all the teams there will be from schools with several thousand students.  For us to be in that league having only 68  students total is an extraordinary accomplishment.  Most of the teams will have more boys in their rugby program than we have in our entire school body.  It’s a true Hoosiers story – David vs. Goliath.”
The athletes ages are from 14-18, and are all students at St. Martin’s.

“To be a rugby player at St. Martin’s Academy is to be part of something larger than yourself,” said Coach John Prezzia.  “It’s to be a band of brothers; a small group of young men united in the forge of intense battle amongst each other, where they are truly, ‘ironing sharpening iron’. This creates a bond amongst them that is so tight, that every one of them is completely willing to sacrifice all of himself for the sake of each brother next to him, and the team as a whole”

“This unity of purpose and toughness is how we continually punch above our weight, and with only 68 boys total enrolled at the school, we can compete with the very best teams in the country,” he said. “We have just been invited to the National Tournament…and are currently in the planning and fundraising phase. The boys have worked unbelievably hard to get to this level, and are incredibly excited to compete with the best.”

We got the invite last Tuesday, and when I announced it to the boys, they just about brought the house down with their hooting and hollering,” Prezzia said. “It was a pretty special way to kick off this journey to try and bring a Rugby National Title back to Fort Scott.”

 

The St. Martin’s Academy Rugby Team prays before playing. Submitted.
John Prezzia has been the head coach of the Kingfishers, since 2022.
He was the assistant rugby coach at Gregory the Great Academy in Elmhurst, PA before taking the helm as head coach for the Kingfishers in 2022, Kerr said.
Prezzia is a native of Pittsburg, PA, where he wrestled collegiately for Wisconsin.  He and his wife Michaela were married last summer and are expecting their first child in April.
About Rugby:
“Rugby, a “barbarian’s sport played by gentlemen”, was invented in Rugby, England in 1823 when William Webb Ellis picked up a soccer ball and ran with it,” Kerr said.  “It is the progenitor of American football.  For example, the name ‘touchdown’ comes from the rule in rugby where you have to physically touch the ball down in the endzone for the score to count.  Rugby combines the fluidity and continuous play of soccer with the physicality and roughness of American football.  There are 15 players on the field and like soccer, they play both offense and defense as the ball changes possession.  Like American football, the aim is to carry the ball across the opponents goal line and touch the ball down in the opponents end-zone or ‘try zone’.  A ‘touchdown’ is called a ‘try’ in Rugby.  A try is worth 5 points and the subsequent conversion kick is worth 2 points.”
Exercise, Fort Scott, Sports

New Website for Fort Scott Recreation Allows Registrations/Payments Online for Convenience

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The Fort Scott Recreation Center has a new website through RecDesk.
  “The benefit of the new website change is that it allows people to do anything they could from our front desk on their phone or computer at their convenience,” Lucas Kelley said. “This new website also allows for online registrations and payments. This will also help with late registrations… We just switched over to this website on December 26th.”
Kelley is the FSRC recreation director and the Buck Run Community Center Manager.
Buck Run Community Center is located at 735 Scott Avenue and can be contacted at 620.23.0386.
Lucas Kelley, submitted photo.

“People can access it by going to brcc.recdesk.com.,” he said. “Here they will be able to view all of our programs, facilities available to rent, fitness memberships, current league standings/schedules, a calendar of events, and a preview of our Facebook page.   We just switched over to this website on December 26th. When getting to the website users will have to create an account and add their household.”
Programs starting here shortly are: The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Challenge, Tiger Kids Cheer, Taekwondo Lessons, Soul Fusion/Adult Fitness Classes.
Buck Run Community Center, 735 Scott Avenue.
Fort Scott, Schools, Sports, Youth

2023 Fall Extravaganza is November 20: Shopping To Support the Swim Team

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Fort Scott Middle School.

The annual 2023 Fall Extravaganza is Monday,  November 20 from 5-8 p.m. at the Fort Scott Middle School. The event began in 2009.

“Fort Scott High School Swimming is sponsoring the event,” said Madeline Martin, the swim coach for both boys and girls teams.
“The purpose of the event is to help our swimmers raise money to attend the 2024 Summer Olympic Swim Trials as well as bring an opportunity to town to support local businesses.”

“We have 56 booth spaces this year, a few more than last year in addition to several new vendors,” Martin said.

On  Facebook: https://fb.me/e/NkwvKmyf

Below is a list of vendors for the event:

About FSHS Swim Teams

“We have 11 boys coming out this year through our cooperative agreement with Frontenac and Pittsburg (school districts),” Martin said. “This girl’s season I am planning on 15+ girls from our COOP with Pittsburg, Frontenac, Arma, Colgan, and Humboldt ( school districts).”

The swim team practices from Monday-Friday in Pittsburg at the YMCA.

“Boys swimming has been active in Fort Scott since the winter of 2019 and then girl’s season began the spring of ’20 but was cut short due to COVID,” she said. “Angie Kemmerer began coaching the team and this will be my third year as swim coach.”

The money raised from booths at the Fall Extravaganza will allow the student-athletes to go to the Summer Olympics in Indianapolis, Indiana in June 2024.

“We are going to be spectators at the Summer Olympics,” she said. “The kids are excited to go watch some of their favorite athletes in person and watch a high-level competition in person.”