WICHITA - The Hays Larks are headed back to the championship game of the NBC World Series as they take down the Lonestar Baseball Club Friday 7-3 in the semifinals at Eck Stadium in Wichita.

After Lonestar scored a single run in the top of the first inning, the Larks scored four times in the bottom of the inning for a 4-1 lead.

Kaleb Duncan got the scoring started with his first of two RBI singles, two batters later Garrett Gruell drove in two with an RBI double and then Houston Russell capped off the inning with an RBI single of his own for a 4-1 Hays lead.

Lonestar made it 4-2 with a run in the top of the second but Duncan’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning made it 5-2 Hays through two.

Lonestar scored a third run in the top of the third for a 5-3 lead.

Hays’ Gruell delivered the first homerun for the Larks at the NBC, a two-run shot to left putting Hays up 7-3.

The Larks (33-8) bullpen would do the rest on their way to a 7-3 win and their second NBC title game appearance in three year.

Luke Spencer earned the win with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out two and allowed four hits. Adrian Najar added two more innings of scoreless relief for Hays.

Duncan, Russell and Gruell each collected a pair of hits for the Larks and Gruell drove in four runs.

WICHITA - The Hays Larks are headed back to the championship game of the NBC World Series as they take down the Lonestar Baseball Club Friday 7-3 in the semifinals at Eck Stadium in Wichita.After Lonestar scored a single run in the top of the first inning, the Larks scored four times in the bottom of the inning for a 4-1 lead.Kaleb Duncan got the scoring started with his first of two RBI singles, two batters later Garrett Gruell drove in two with an RBI double and then Houston Russell capped off the inning with an RBI single of his own for a 4-1 Hays lead.Lonestar made it 4-2 with a run in the top of the second but Duncan’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning made it 5-2 Hays through two.Lonestar scored a third run in the top of the third for a 5-3 lead.Hays’ Gruell delivered the first homerun for the Larks at the NBC, a two-run shot to left putting Hays up 7-3.The Larks (33-8) bullpen would do the rest on their way to a 7-3 win and their second NBC title game appearance in three year.Luke Spencer earned the win with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out two and allowed four hits. Adrian Najar added two more innings of scoreless relief for Hays.Duncan, Russell and Gruell each collected a pair of hits for the Larks and Gruell drove in four runs.

Hays Larks advance to NBC championship game with win over Lonestar

DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run, and the Kansas City Royals won their fifth straight by routing Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers 9-2 on Friday night.

Cole Ragans (8-7) held the Tigers to two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six.

Skubal (12-4) allowed a season-worst five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Skubal, who struck out eight, is 2-9 against the Royals with a 5.05 ERA in 14 games, 12 of them starts.

“They don't have a lot of swing and misses over there, and if you chase them, you can get into some bad counts,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I thought Tarik did a job of pitching to the game situation, but they had a good approach and continued it against our bullpen.”

The Royals chased Skubal in a six-run seventh inning that included nine straight hits, two stolen bases and a wild pitch.

“You can't ever plan for that, for sure, but the approaches were so good, especially once we got going a little bit,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That inning was remarkable.”

The Tigers, who have been outscored 34-7 during a five-game losing streak, took a 2-0 lead on Justyn-Henry Malloy's first-inning homer, but Perez led off the second with a homer off the bricks behind the stands in left-center field to make it 2-1.

“I thought he set the tone for us with the home run,” Quatraro said. “Skubal has no-hit stuff every night, and he goes up there and crushed that slider. That got us right back in the game after they got two."

Perez scored from first on Hunter Renfroe's double in the fourth, and Paul DeJong made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly on his 31st birthday to score Renfroe.

The Royals blew the game open in the seventh. Dairon Blanco and Maikel Garcia singled with one out to end Skubal's night. Bobby Witt Jr. greeted Shelby Miller with an infield single to load the bases.

“You don't want to let anyone see a pitcher for a fourth time, and as the inning developed, we wanted to get a different look to the middle of the order,” Hinch said. “It's frustrating when that doesn't work, and it obviously didn't tonight.”

Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run single, making it 5-2, followed by a double steal and a run-scoring wild pitch. Perez hit an RBI double for his third hit.

Renfroe and Freddy Fermin singled to make it seven straight hits and an 8-2 lead. Beau Brieske gave up singles to Garrett Hampson and DeJong before getting the last two outs.

Wenceel Pérez made a spectacular running catch in the eighth inning to rob Perez of a fourth hit and a possible triple that would have given him a cycle.

The teams play the third game of the series on Saturday with Royals RHP Michael Lorenzen (5-6, 3.81) making his Kansas City debut. Lorenzen was a 2023 All-Star with the Tigers. Detroit, down to two healthy starters, will use its bullpen for another nine innings.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722691930327.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans throws during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans throws during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)</figcaption>
 </figure>DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run, and the Kansas City Royals won their fifth straight by routing Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers 9-2 on Friday night.Cole Ragans (8-7) held the Tigers to two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six.Skubal (12-4) allowed a season-worst five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Skubal, who struck out eight, is 2-9 against the Royals with a 5.05 ERA in 14 games, 12 of them starts.“They don't have a lot of swing and misses over there, and if you chase them, you can get into some bad counts,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I thought Tarik did a job of pitching to the game situation, but they had a good approach and continued it against our bullpen.”The Royals chased Skubal in a six-run seventh inning that included nine straight hits, two stolen bases and a wild pitch.“You can't ever plan for that, for sure, but the approaches were so good, especially once we got going a little bit,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That inning was remarkable.”The Tigers, who have been outscored 34-7 during a five-game losing streak, took a 2-0 lead on Justyn-Henry Malloy's first-inning homer, but Perez led off the second with a homer off the bricks behind the stands in left-center field to make it 2-1.“I thought he set the tone for us with the home run,” Quatraro said. “Skubal has no-hit stuff every night, and he goes up there and crushed that slider. That got us right back in the game after they got two."Perez scored from first on Hunter Renfroe's double in the fourth, and Paul DeJong made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly on his 31st birthday to score Renfroe.The Royals blew the game open in the seventh. Dairon Blanco and Maikel Garcia singled with one out to end Skubal's night. Bobby Witt Jr. greeted Shelby Miller with an infield single to load the bases.“You don't want to let anyone see a pitcher for a fourth time, and as the inning developed, we wanted to get a different look to the middle of the order,” Hinch said. “It's frustrating when that doesn't work, and it obviously didn't tonight.”Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run single, making it 5-2, followed by a double steal and a run-scoring wild pitch. Perez hit an RBI double for his third hit.Renfroe and Freddy Fermin singled to make it seven straight hits and an 8-2 lead. Beau Brieske gave up singles to Garrett Hampson and DeJong before getting the last two outs.Wenceel Pérez made a spectacular running catch in the eighth inning to rob Perez of a fourth hit and a possible triple that would have given him a cycle.UP NEXTThe teams play the third game of the series on Saturday with Royals RHP Michael Lorenzen (5-6, 3.81) making his Kansas City debut. Lorenzen was a 2023 All-Star with the Tigers. Detroit, down to two healthy starters, will use its bullpen for another nine innings.

Salvador Perez homers and doubles and Royals rout Tigers 9-2

DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run, and the Kansas City Royals won their fifth straight by routing Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers 9-2. Cole Ragans (8-7) held the Tigers to two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Skubal (12-4) allowed a season-worst five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight. The Royals chased Skubal in a six-run seventh inning that included nine straight hits, two stolen bases and a wild pitch. Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a two-run homer for Detroit in the first inning.

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Bethancourt and Michael Busch homered in a five-run second inning and the Cubs spoiled the Cardinals’ debut of new acquisition Erick Fedde as Chicago stretched its winning streak to three games with a 6-3 victory over St. Louis. Tyson Miller (3-1), the first of four relievers, earned the victory and Héctor Neris picked up his 15th save as Chicago won its third straight game against its NL Central rivals. The Cubs’ big inning came against Fedde (7-5), who was acquired earlier in the week from the White Sox in a three-team trade. The 31-year-old right-hander gave up the first five runs and six hits and finished with four strikeouts in five innings.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Blake Snell pitched his first career no-hitter on Friday night, striking out 10 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner walked three and threw 114 pitches, 78 for strikes, in his first complete game in 202 major league starts. The 31-year-old Snell recorded the 18th no-hitter in Giants’ franchise history and the third in the majors this season. Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald homered for the Giants.

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres was removed from an 8-5 loss to Toronto by manager Aaron Boone for not hustling, sending a message to the clubhouse of a team that has struggled since mid-June. Torres did not run hard out of the batter’s box on his second-inning drive off the left-field wall, thinking it was a home run, and reached only first base. That cost the Yankees a run when he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Anthony Volpe’s two-out double into the left-field corner in the second.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — There’s nothing new about Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs having a dynamic offense, but this year’s training camp presents a new opportunity for Kansas City to sharpen its attack. Mahomes has to face a defense that was the higher-ranked side of the ball for the Chiefs last season. Last season, Kansas City won its third of the past five Super Bowls with unprecedented balance. Mahomes’ unit was ranked ninth in the NFL and Spagnuolo’s defense was second. The goal for the Chiefs this season is to maintain that consistency on both sides of the ball.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State opened camp on Thursday with the usual towering expectations but also a heavy sense of urgency built up over the three consecutive seasons blown up by losses to Michigan. The Buckeyes finished 11-2 in each of those campaigns but failed each time in their primary mission of beating Michigan and advancing to the Big Ten championship game. Coach Ryan Day insisted the urgency isn’t any greater than in other preseasons during his six-year tenure. He said this year's team will be built with an eye toward making sure its best football is being played in the last few critical games.

UNDATED (AP) — Former Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker is suing the university and school leaders, saying they wrongfully fired him and violated his constitutional rights in response to sexual harassment allegations. His federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Michigan says they undertook an “improper, sham investigation” last year after rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy accused him of sexually harassing and exploiting her. He also says they violated his employment agreement with the school, and he's asking for damages. The Associated Press emailed a Michigan State spokesperson and members of the school’s legal department Thursday seeking comment.

VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — The allegations that Olympic boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting failed an eligibility test for women's competition have been made by only the International Boxing Association. That's also the only governing body that has ever been completely banished from the Olympics. The entire boxing world has already learned to expect almost anything from the Russian-dominated organization, whose untransparent tests have been seized upon by those criticizing the female boxers amid wider clashes about gender regulations and perceptions in sports. The IOC has decades of bad history with the beleaguered governing body, and it has exasperatedly begged non-boxing people to pay attention to the sole source of the allegations against Khelif and Lin.

PARIS (AP) — The Paris Olympics at the halfway mark have brought the world “The Pommel Horse Guy,” a rugby star and social media sensation who wants to be on on reality show “Love Island” and “The Real John Wick” in the form of a 51-year-old Turkish shooter. These Olympics have been full of memorable moments since the dazzling opening ceremony: a gender controversy in boxing, the Seine River was too dirty for the triathlon swim to go on as scheduled and Leon Marchand led France with four golds in four swimming events. And of course, Simone Biles has dazzled while winning two gold medals with more still up for her taking.

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took the lead with a little more than a lap left in a masterpiece of a 10,000-meter race to finish in an Olympic-record 26 minutes, 43.14 seconds in front of a roaring crowd on an electric opening night at the track. The world-record holder raced in the middle of a strung-out pack for most of the 25 laps on the calm, cool evening at the Stade de France. Then he took off, and held the lead over the final 500 meters against a crowd of Ethiopians who set a blistering pace all night. Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi beat American Grant Fisher in a sprint to the line for silver. Fisher’s bronze medal marked the first for the U.S. in the longest race at the Olympic track since Galen Rupp took silver in 2012.

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Bobby Kersee's known as the “mad scientist” for his outside-the-box training methods. He's concocted a winning formula that’s struck gold for some of the biggest stars in track history. Back in the day, he worked with Florence Griffith Joyner, Al Joyner, Gail Devers and his wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. In more modern times, it was Allyson Felix. Now, it’s Athing Mu and McLaughlin-Levrone, who’s his only athlete at the Paris Games. Kersee’s athletes have taken home at least one gold medal in every Olympics since the 1984 Summer Games.

NANTERRE, France (AP) — In another disappointment for the American swim team, Simone Manuel has been eliminated in the preliminaries of the 50-meter freestyle. Manuel posted the 18th-fastest time in the hectic sprint over one length of the pool, not good enough to make it to the evening semifinals. The first Black woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming touched in 24.87 seconds, 0.15 out of the time she needed to crack the top 16 and a whopping 1.02 behind the fastest qualifier, Sarah Sjöström of Sweden. The United States comes into the next-to-last day of the competition with 21 medals but only four golds, falling short of expectations for the world’s dominant swim nation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1721294994442.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run, and the Kansas City Royals won their fifth straight by routing Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers 9-2. Cole Ragans (8-7) held the Tigers to two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Skubal (12-4) allowed a season-worst five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight. The Royals chased Skubal in a six-run seventh inning that included nine straight hits, two stolen bases and a wild pitch. Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a two-run homer for Detroit in the first inning.CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Bethancourt and Michael Busch homered in a five-run second inning and the Cubs spoiled the Cardinals’ debut of new acquisition Erick Fedde as Chicago stretched its winning streak to three games with a 6-3 victory over St. Louis. Tyson Miller (3-1), the first of four relievers, earned the victory and Héctor Neris picked up his 15th save as Chicago won its third straight game against its NL Central rivals. The Cubs’ big inning came against Fedde (7-5), who was acquired earlier in the week from the White Sox in a three-team trade. The 31-year-old right-hander gave up the first five runs and six hits and finished with four strikeouts in five innings.CINCINNATI (AP) — Blake Snell pitched his first career no-hitter on Friday night, striking out 10 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner walked three and threw 114 pitches, 78 for strikes, in his first complete game in 202 major league starts. The 31-year-old Snell recorded the 18th no-hitter in Giants’ franchise history and the third in the majors this season. Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald homered for the Giants.NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres was removed from an 8-5 loss to Toronto by manager Aaron Boone for not hustling, sending a message to the clubhouse of a team that has struggled since mid-June. Torres did not run hard out of the batter’s box on his second-inning drive off the left-field wall, thinking it was a home run, and reached only first base. That cost the Yankees a run when he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Anthony Volpe’s two-out double into the left-field corner in the second.ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — There’s nothing new about Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs having a dynamic offense, but this year’s training camp presents a new opportunity for Kansas City to sharpen its attack. Mahomes has to face a defense that was the higher-ranked side of the ball for the Chiefs last season. Last season, Kansas City won its third of the past five Super Bowls with unprecedented balance. Mahomes’ unit was ranked ninth in the NFL and Spagnuolo’s defense was second. The goal for the Chiefs this season is to maintain that consistency on both sides of the ball.COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State opened camp on Thursday with the usual towering expectations but also a heavy sense of urgency built up over the three consecutive seasons blown up by losses to Michigan. The Buckeyes finished 11-2 in each of those campaigns but failed each time in their primary mission of beating Michigan and advancing to the Big Ten championship game. Coach Ryan Day insisted the urgency isn’t any greater than in other preseasons during his six-year tenure. He said this year's team will be built with an eye toward making sure its best football is being played in the last few critical games.UNDATED (AP) — Former Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker is suing the university and school leaders, saying they wrongfully fired him and violated his constitutional rights in response to sexual harassment allegations. His federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Michigan says they undertook an “improper, sham investigation” last year after rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy accused him of sexually harassing and exploiting her. He also says they violated his employment agreement with the school, and he's asking for damages. The Associated Press emailed a Michigan State spokesperson and members of the school’s legal department Thursday seeking comment.OLYMPICSVILLEPINTE, France (AP) — The allegations that Olympic boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting failed an eligibility test for women's competition have been made by only the International Boxing Association. That's also the only governing body that has ever been completely banished from the Olympics. The entire boxing world has already learned to expect almost anything from the Russian-dominated organization, whose untransparent tests have been seized upon by those criticizing the female boxers amid wider clashes about gender regulations and perceptions in sports. The IOC has decades of bad history with the beleaguered governing body, and it has exasperatedly begged non-boxing people to pay attention to the sole source of the allegations against Khelif and Lin.PARIS (AP) — The Paris Olympics at the halfway mark have brought the world “The Pommel Horse Guy,” a rugby star and social media sensation who wants to be on on reality show “Love Island” and “The Real John Wick” in the form of a 51-year-old Turkish shooter. These Olympics have been full of memorable moments since the dazzling opening ceremony: a gender controversy in boxing, the Seine River was too dirty for the triathlon swim to go on as scheduled and Leon Marchand led France with four golds in four swimming events. And of course, Simone Biles has dazzled while winning two gold medals with more still up for her taking.SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took the lead with a little more than a lap left in a masterpiece of a 10,000-meter race to finish in an Olympic-record 26 minutes, 43.14 seconds in front of a roaring crowd on an electric opening night at the track. The world-record holder raced in the middle of a strung-out pack for most of the 25 laps on the calm, cool evening at the Stade de France. Then he took off, and held the lead over the final 500 meters against a crowd of Ethiopians who set a blistering pace all night. Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi beat American Grant Fisher in a sprint to the line for silver. Fisher’s bronze medal marked the first for the U.S. in the longest race at the Olympic track since Galen Rupp took silver in 2012.SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Bobby Kersee's known as the “mad scientist” for his outside-the-box training methods. He's concocted a winning formula that’s struck gold for some of the biggest stars in track history. Back in the day, he worked with Florence Griffith Joyner, Al Joyner, Gail Devers and his wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. In more modern times, it was Allyson Felix. Now, it’s Athing Mu and McLaughlin-Levrone, who’s his only athlete at the Paris Games. Kersee’s athletes have taken home at least one gold medal in every Olympics since the 1984 Summer Games.NANTERRE, France (AP) — In another disappointment for the American swim team, Simone Manuel has been eliminated in the preliminaries of the 50-meter freestyle. Manuel posted the 18th-fastest time in the hectic sprint over one length of the pool, not good enough to make it to the evening semifinals. The first Black woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming touched in 24.87 seconds, 0.15 out of the time she needed to crack the top 16 and a whopping 1.02 behind the fastest qualifier, Sarah Sjöström of Sweden. The United States comes into the next-to-last day of the competition with 21 medals but only four golds, falling short of expectations for the world’s dominant swim nation.FRIDAY SCORESMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLINTERLEAGUEFinal	Oakland	6	L.A. Dodgers	5	Final	Seattle	10	Philadelphia	2	Final	N.Y. Mets	5	L.A. Angels	1	AMERICAN LEAGUEFinal	Kansas City	9	Detroit	2	Final	Cleveland	8	Baltimore	4	Final	Toronto	8	N.Y. Yankees	5	Final	Minnesota	10	Chicago White Sox	2	Final	Houston	3	Tampa Bay	2	Final	Boston	11	Texas	6	NATIONAL LEAGUEFinal	Chicago Cubs	6	St. Louis	3	Final	San Francisco	3	Cincinnati	0	Final	Atlanta	5	Miami	3	Final	Milwaukee	8	Washington	3	Final	Arizona	9	Pittsburgh	8	Final	Colorado	5	San Diego	2

Saturday Sports Headlines and Scores presented by Barton Community College

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — New Orleans Saints special teams coach Darren Rizzi said he felt like a real estate agent during the early days of training camp, urging kickers to scrap their long-held, deep-ball approach to kickoffs and focus instead on “location, location, location.”

“You’ve got to get the old mentality out of your heads," Rizzi said. "The No. 1 aspect is going to be where that kickoff lands.”

Rams special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn put it this way: "In a kickoff perspective, all of the kickers are rookies.”

Most U.S. kickers have spent their previous playing days — from youth football through college and into the pros — booming the ball as deep as they can. Newly introduced “dynamic” kickoff rules have forced them to quickly change their approach. And the paradigm shift could potentially create more opportunities for foreign foot-sport athletes who want to see how their skills jibe with today's NFL.

“It’s a little more finesse, I guess, than it is just going 10 yards back and a couple steps over and just trying to hit it off the cross bar,” Saints kicker Blake Grupe said.

Grupe will miss “getting a little juiced up, building up into that kickoff,” he said. "Now, you don’t want that extra juice, that extra power you might get from being a little more amped up. You’ve kind of got to slow it all down and really focus on contact, because you don’t want to kick it in the end zone.”

That's because touchbacks now come out to the 30-yard line, as opposed to the 25 in recent seasons. Meanwhile, kickoffs that land short of the 20, or out of bounds short of the goal line, give the receiving team the ball at the 40.

“You’ve got to work that rectangle” between the 20, the goal line and the sidelines, Raiders special teams coach Tom McMahon emphasized. “You can’t, ‘Hey, I’m just going to hit a ball on the ground,’” like a squib kick.

The kickers kick from their own 35, as before. Coverage players have been moved to the opponent's 40, but may not advance until the ball lands. The goal is to increase the number of returns without making it more dangerous.

Grupe, an avid golfer, compares the new kickoff to “one of those tee shots where you can’t hit driver because the water cuts in. You've got to lay it up.”

But kickers don’t want to simply land the ball in the middle of the rectangle, where a returner could catch it with forward momentum.

“You’ve got to get these returners moving sideways,” McMahon said.

The new rule debuted in the Hall of Fame game between Chicago and Houston in Canton, Ohio. Out of eight kickoffs, only one was a touchback. The seven returns ranged from 15 to 31 yards. Average starting field position after kickoffs was the receiving team's 26.

Last season, just 21.8% of all kickoffs were returned.

The rule change could be most significant for kickers like the Giants' Graham Gano, who is 37 and entering his 15th NFL season. But he expressed confidence he could tap into soccer skills from his youth, now that there's a premium on landing the ball in specific spots.

"Whatever they call, I’ll be able to do,” Gano said.

Like Gano, Seattle kicker Jason Myers mentioned tapping into his soccer background, which begs the question about whether athletes from other foot sports — in the U.S. or abroad — might get more serious consideration from NFL special teams coaches.

“Anybody that has a variety of types of kicks is going to be able to benefit from this new rule," said Rizzi, who encouraged the Saints to sign Irishman Charlie Smythe — a Gaelic football player — this offseason to compete with Grupe in camp.

Smythe is part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program that launched in 2017. This year's IPP class also includes rugby and Australian football players.

Rizzi said the new rules “did factor in” when the Saints signed Smythe.

“It’s more similar to what he was doing (in Ireland) than what the NFL used to be doing," Rizzi said. "He’s kicked a number of different kicks.”

Smythe suspects the new rule is “definitely something that will help me in the long run.”

“I feel like it’s helped me already,” he continued. “I’ve got a lot of different ways I can kick the ball and hopefully I’ll be able to show that.”

There could also be opportunities for other position players who happen to kick well, such as Kansas City safety Justin Reid, who was already the Chiefs' emergency kicker. That's because special teams coaches figure a rule that creates more returns raises the probability of kickers having to tackle.

So, the Chiefs are considering Reid for at least some kickoffs.

"As long as the ball is in play and we have the extra guy running down there like a heat-seeking missile, good things are going to happen,” Reid said.

Coaches said touchbacks will now be more situational plays, such as at the end of a half or game, when teams try to reduce the chance of a big return that could lead to a quick scoring opportunity. Teams protecting leads might also opt more for touchbacks.

“If we do move on from trying to hit touchbacks, it’d be a little sad," Rams kicker Joshua Karty said. “It was fun trying to just go out there and boom the ball every single time.”

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — New Orleans Saints special teams coach Darren Rizzi said he felt like a real estate agent during the early days of training camp, urging kickers to scrap their long-held, deep-ball approach to kickoffs and focus instead on “location, location, location.”“You’ve got to get the old mentality out of your heads," Rizzi said. "The No. 1 aspect is going to be where that kickoff lands.”Rams special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn put it this way: "In a kickoff perspective, all of the kickers are rookies.”Most U.S. kickers have spent their previous playing days — from youth football through college and into the pros — booming the ball as deep as they can. Newly introduced “dynamic” kickoff rules have forced them to quickly change their approach. And the paradigm shift could potentially create more opportunities for foreign foot-sport athletes who want to see how their skills jibe with today's NFL.“It’s a little more finesse, I guess, than it is just going 10 yards back and a couple steps over and just trying to hit it off the cross bar,” Saints kicker Blake Grupe said.Grupe will miss “getting a little juiced up, building up into that kickoff,” he said. "Now, you don’t want that extra juice, that extra power you might get from being a little more amped up. You’ve kind of got to slow it all down and really focus on contact, because you don’t want to kick it in the end zone.”That's because touchbacks now come out to the 30-yard line, as opposed to the 25 in recent seasons. Meanwhile, kickoffs that land short of the 20, or out of bounds short of the goal line, give the receiving team the ball at the 40.“You’ve got to work that rectangle” between the 20, the goal line and the sidelines, Raiders special teams coach Tom McMahon emphasized. “You can’t, ‘Hey, I’m just going to hit a ball on the ground,’” like a squib kick.The kickers kick from their own 35, as before. Coverage players have been moved to the opponent's 40, but may not advance until the ball lands. The goal is to increase the number of returns without making it more dangerous.Grupe, an avid golfer, compares the new kickoff to “one of those tee shots where you can’t hit driver because the water cuts in. You've got to lay it up.”But kickers don’t want to simply land the ball in the middle of the rectangle, where a returner could catch it with forward momentum.“You’ve got to get these returners moving sideways,” McMahon said.The new rule debuted in the Hall of Fame game between Chicago and Houston in Canton, Ohio. Out of eight kickoffs, only one was a touchback. The seven returns ranged from 15 to 31 yards. Average starting field position after kickoffs was the receiving team's 26.Last season, just 21.8% of all kickoffs were returned.The rule change could be most significant for kickers like the Giants' Graham Gano, who is 37 and entering his 15th NFL season. But he expressed confidence he could tap into soccer skills from his youth, now that there's a premium on landing the ball in specific spots."Whatever they call, I’ll be able to do,” Gano said.Like Gano, Seattle kicker Jason Myers mentioned tapping into his soccer background, which begs the question about whether athletes from other foot sports — in the U.S. or abroad — might get more serious consideration from NFL special teams coaches.“Anybody that has a variety of types of kicks is going to be able to benefit from this new rule," said Rizzi, who encouraged the Saints to sign Irishman Charlie Smythe — a Gaelic football player — this offseason to compete with Grupe in camp.Smythe is part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program that launched in 2017. This year's IPP class also includes rugby and Australian football players.Rizzi said the new rules “did factor in” when the Saints signed Smythe.“It’s more similar to what he was doing (in Ireland) than what the NFL used to be doing," Rizzi said. "He’s kicked a number of different kicks.”Smythe suspects the new rule is “definitely something that will help me in the long run.”“I feel like it’s helped me already,” he continued. “I’ve got a lot of different ways I can kick the ball and hopefully I’ll be able to show that.”There could also be opportunities for other position players who happen to kick well, such as Kansas City safety Justin Reid, who was already the Chiefs' emergency kicker. That's because special teams coaches figure a rule that creates more returns raises the probability of kickers having to tackle.So, the Chiefs are considering Reid for at least some kickoffs."As long as the ball is in play and we have the extra guy running down there like a heat-seeking missile, good things are going to happen,” Reid said.Coaches said touchbacks will now be more situational plays, such as at the end of a half or game, when teams try to reduce the chance of a big return that could lead to a quick scoring opportunity. Teams protecting leads might also opt more for touchbacks.“If we do move on from trying to hit touchbacks, it’d be a little sad," Rams kicker Joshua Karty said. “It was fun trying to just go out there and boom the ball every single time.”

New kickoff rules mean abandoning old habits, but also new opportunities

Maxwell Award
Outstanding player in college football: 	DJ Giddens and Avery
Johnson

Paul Hornung
Award:	Most versatile player in college football Dylan Edwards

Wuerffel Trophy
Award for community service:	Austin Moore

MAXWELL AWARD
Presented to the college player of the year by the Maxwell Football
Club

Previous K-State
Preseason Candidates: Darren Sproles (2004), John Hubert (2013),
Tyler Lockett (2014), Jesse Ertz (2017), Alex Barnes (2018), James
Gilbert (2019), Skylar Thompson (2020 and 2021), Deuce Vaughn (2021
and 2022), Adrian Martinez (2022), Will Howard (2023)

Finalists:
Michael Bishop (1998), Collin Klein (2012)

PAUL HORNUNG
AWARD Presented to the most versatile player in college football

Previous K-State
Preseason Candidates: Daniel Thomas (2010), Tyler Lockett (2013
and 2014), Tramaine Thompson (2013), Byron Pringle (2017), Phillip
Brooks (2021), Malik Knowles (2022), Phillip Brooks (2023)

WUERFFEL TROPHY
Premier award for community service

Previous K-State
Preseason Candidates: Dante Barnett (2015 and 2016), Dalton
Risner (2017), Denzel Goolsby (2019), Skylar Thompson (2020 and
2021), Will Howard (2022 and 2023)

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722609890507.jpeg" alt="Kansas State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Kansas State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>K-State's 2024
Watch List MembersAward	Player(s)	Award
DescriptionMaxwell Award
Outstanding player in college football: 	DJ Giddens and Avery
Johnson	Paul Hornung
Award:	Most versatile player in college football Dylan Edwards	Wuerffel Trophy
Award for community service:	Austin Moore	MAXWELL AWARD
Presented to the college player of the year by the Maxwell Football
ClubPrevious K-State
Preseason Candidates: Darren Sproles (2004), John Hubert (2013),
Tyler Lockett (2014), Jesse Ertz (2017), Alex Barnes (2018), James
Gilbert (2019), Skylar Thompson (2020 and 2021), Deuce Vaughn (2021
and 2022), Adrian Martinez (2022), Will Howard (2023)Semifinalists:
Jake Waters (2014)Finalists:
Michael Bishop (1998), Collin Klein (2012)PAUL HORNUNG
AWARD Presented to the most versatile player in college footballPrevious K-State
Preseason Candidates: Daniel Thomas (2010), Tyler Lockett (2013
and 2014), Tramaine Thompson (2013), Byron Pringle (2017), Phillip
Brooks (2021), Malik Knowles (2022), Phillip Brooks (2023)WUERFFEL TROPHY
Premier award for community servicePrevious K-State
Preseason Candidates: Dante Barnett (2015 and 2016), Dalton
Risner (2017), Denzel Goolsby (2019), Skylar Thompson (2020 and
2021), Will Howard (2022 and 2023)

K-State's 2024 Watch List Members

VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has landed in the middle of a divide about gender in sports after her Italian competitor, Angela Carini, pulled out seconds into their bout at the Paris Olympics.

Outcry has come from conservatives like former U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing unspecified and untransparent eligibility tests for women's competition from the now-banned International Boxing Association.

Khelif was assigned female at birth and it says so on her passport, which is the International Olympic Committee's threshold for eligibility for boxing because of the rift between the sport's governing body and the IOC.

Khelif is a formidable athlete with respected fighting skills, contending in top international events — including major amateur boxing tournaments over the past six years, such as the Tokyo Olympics. She's won a few regional gold medals.

But Khelif was decidedly not known as a dominant champion, an overpowering physical specimen or even a particularly hard puncher at her weight — not until this week in Paris.

Khelif defeated Carini in just 46 seconds Thursday, with the Italian boxer's tearful abandonment of the fight leading to innumerable portrayals of Khelif as an unstoppable punching machine whose presence threatens the health of her opponents.

The reality, to those who actually watch or participate in Olympic-style boxing, is quite different. Here's what to know about Khelif and the controversy:

Born in 1999, Khelif is from rural northwestern Algeria. Her father initially didn't approve of girls participating in boxing, but Khelif said she gave up soccer as a teenager to pursue her new passion, even though she had to travel 10 kilometers each way to the gym.

Khelif eventually caught the attention of Algeria's national team, making her major tournament debut in 2018 with a first-round loss at the AIBA — now the International Boxing Association — world championships. She lost five of her first six elite-level bouts, but improved and excelled.

Khelif was one of Algeria's first three Olympic women's boxers sent to Tokyo three years ago. She won her opening bout but lost her second to eventual gold medalist Kellie Harrington of Ireland.

She also raised her profile by doing well in the next two world championships, and she even became a UNICEF national ambassador early this year.

Why was she disqualified from the world championships?

Khelif reached the final of the 2023 world championships before she was abruptly disqualified by the IBA, which cited high levels of testosterone in her system. The circumstances of that disqualification have been considered highly unusual ever since it happened, and Khelif called it “a big conspiracy” at the time.

She had previously competed without issues and was disqualified by the sport's governing body only after she defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva in the 2023 tournament. The IBA is controlled by Umar Kremlev, who is Russian and brought in the state-owned energy supplier Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the governing body’s operations to Russia.

This week, the IOC described it as “a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA” in which Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan “were suddenly disqualified without any due process.” Lin was suspended for failing to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.

The reasons for the two disqualifications are extremely murky, as is almost always the case with the IBA. The governing body has revealed little about the nature of the tests, including what was tested and who tested it. This lack of transparency would be unacceptable in major Olympic sports, and the IBA has been banned from the Olympics since 2019.

The IOC noted Thursday that the boxing association's own documents say the decision was made unilaterally by the IBA's secretary general. Those documents also say the IBA went on to resolve at a meeting that it should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing” after it had already disqualified the two fighters.

Why is there outcry about Khelif competing?

Trump, Meloni and others like "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling have complained about Khelif being allowed to compete.

For the political far-right in Italy, which has been targeting issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, Khelif’s participation was just the latest evidence of “woke” culture infecting sport. Meloni, who met Friday with IOC President Thomas Bach, warned “ideology” taken to extremes can discriminate and harm women’s rights.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters Friday that there has been “a lot of misinformation around on social media particularly, which is damaging.”

Boxing in Paris is being run by a special IOC-appointed unit that the Olympic body says is applying rules, including eligibility decisions, that are based on the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro following the split with the sports governing body.

The IOC insisted this week that no scientific or political consensus exists on gender and fairness issues. It gave updated guidance to sports governing bodies in 2021.

Several sports bodies have updated their eligibility rules since the Tokyo Olympics were held in 2021, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union. They all decided to bar athletes from women’s events who have transitioned from male to female and went through male puberty.

World Athletics also tightened rules last year to include testosterone testing for some athletes legally identified as female at birth though with a medical condition that leads to some male traits.

Carini's unusual actions aside, it's highly unlikely anyone else in the women's 66-kilogram division thinks Khelif is unfightable.

“I'm not scared,” her next opponent, Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary, said Thursday. They will face off Saturday. “I don't care about the story or social media.”

Khelif is a medal contender in a sport where the Olympic draw can often determine the semifinal field by randomly pitting top fighters against each other too early in the competition.

But Khelif isn't yet considered to be at the level of defending Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey or 2023 world champion Yang Liu of China, the top two seeds in Paris.

What do other fighters think about Khelif?

Opinions about Khelif's presence in Paris have ranged widely, often directly correlated with awareness of the news cycle raging outside the athletes' village.

Marissa Williamson Pohlman of Australia lost to Khelif in the Netherlands last May, and she said Khelif was particularly strong.

“I did notice it, but you just keep fighting, though, don't you?” Williamson Pohlman said. “It's just a part of the sport. All you want to do is win, so you just keep chucking punches.”

Khelif also received support from peers like Amy Broadhurst, the accomplished Irish amateur who beat Khelif in the 2022 IBA world championships.

“Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat,’” Broadhurst wrote on social media. “I (think) it’s the way she was born &amp; that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been (beaten) by 9 females before says it all.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722609205453.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Algeria's Imane Khelif, reacts after defeating Italy's Angela Carini in their women's 66kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Algeria's Imane Khelif, reacts after defeating Italy's Angela Carini in their women's 66kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher)</figcaption>
 </figure>VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has landed in the middle of a divide about gender in sports after her Italian competitor, Angela Carini, pulled out seconds into their bout at the Paris Olympics.Outcry has come from conservatives like former U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing unspecified and untransparent eligibility tests for women's competition from the now-banned International Boxing Association.Khelif was assigned female at birth and it says so on her passport, which is the International Olympic Committee's threshold for eligibility for boxing because of the rift between the sport's governing body and the IOC.Khelif is a formidable athlete with respected fighting skills, contending in top international events — including major amateur boxing tournaments over the past six years, such as the Tokyo Olympics. She's won a few regional gold medals.But Khelif was decidedly not known as a dominant champion, an overpowering physical specimen or even a particularly hard puncher at her weight — not until this week in Paris.Khelif defeated Carini in just 46 seconds Thursday, with the Italian boxer's tearful abandonment of the fight leading to innumerable portrayals of Khelif as an unstoppable punching machine whose presence threatens the health of her opponents.The reality, to those who actually watch or participate in Olympic-style boxing, is quite different. Here's what to know about Khelif and the controversy:Who is Imane Khelif?Born in 1999, Khelif is from rural northwestern Algeria. Her father initially didn't approve of girls participating in boxing, but Khelif said she gave up soccer as a teenager to pursue her new passion, even though she had to travel 10 kilometers each way to the gym.Khelif eventually caught the attention of Algeria's national team, making her major tournament debut in 2018 with a first-round loss at the AIBA — now the International Boxing Association — world championships. She lost five of her first six elite-level bouts, but improved and excelled.Khelif was one of Algeria's first three Olympic women's boxers sent to Tokyo three years ago. She won her opening bout but lost her second to eventual gold medalist Kellie Harrington of Ireland.She also raised her profile by doing well in the next two world championships, and she even became a UNICEF national ambassador early this year.Why was she disqualified from the world championships?Khelif reached the final of the 2023 world championships before she was abruptly disqualified by the IBA, which cited high levels of testosterone in her system. The circumstances of that disqualification have been considered highly unusual ever since it happened, and Khelif called it “a big conspiracy” at the time.She had previously competed without issues and was disqualified by the sport's governing body only after she defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva in the 2023 tournament. The IBA is controlled by Umar Kremlev, who is Russian and brought in the state-owned energy supplier Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the governing body’s operations to Russia.This week, the IOC described it as “a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA” in which Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan “were suddenly disqualified without any due process.” Lin was suspended for failing to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.The reasons for the two disqualifications are extremely murky, as is almost always the case with the IBA. The governing body has revealed little about the nature of the tests, including what was tested and who tested it. This lack of transparency would be unacceptable in major Olympic sports, and the IBA has been banned from the Olympics since 2019.The IOC noted Thursday that the boxing association's own documents say the decision was made unilaterally by the IBA's secretary general. Those documents also say the IBA went on to resolve at a meeting that it should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing” after it had already disqualified the two fighters.Why is there outcry about Khelif competing?Trump, Meloni and others like "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling have complained about Khelif being allowed to compete.For the political far-right in Italy, which has been targeting issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, Khelif’s participation was just the latest evidence of “woke” culture infecting sport. Meloni, who met Friday with IOC President Thomas Bach, warned “ideology” taken to extremes can discriminate and harm women’s rights.IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters Friday that there has been “a lot of misinformation around on social media particularly, which is damaging.”Boxing in Paris is being run by a special IOC-appointed unit that the Olympic body says is applying rules, including eligibility decisions, that are based on the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro following the split with the sports governing body.The IOC insisted this week that no scientific or political consensus exists on gender and fairness issues. It gave updated guidance to sports governing bodies in 2021.Several sports bodies have updated their eligibility rules since the Tokyo Olympics were held in 2021, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union. They all decided to bar athletes from women’s events who have transitioned from male to female and went through male puberty.World Athletics also tightened rules last year to include testosterone testing for some athletes legally identified as female at birth though with a medical condition that leads to some male traits.Is Khelif too good for Paris?Carini's unusual actions aside, it's highly unlikely anyone else in the women's 66-kilogram division thinks Khelif is unfightable.“I'm not scared,” her next opponent, Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary, said Thursday. They will face off Saturday. “I don't care about the story or social media.”Khelif is a medal contender in a sport where the Olympic draw can often determine the semifinal field by randomly pitting top fighters against each other too early in the competition.But Khelif isn't yet considered to be at the level of defending Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey or 2023 world champion Yang Liu of China, the top two seeds in Paris.What do other fighters think about Khelif?Opinions about Khelif's presence in Paris have ranged widely, often directly correlated with awareness of the news cycle raging outside the athletes' village.Marissa Williamson Pohlman of Australia lost to Khelif in the Netherlands last May, and she said Khelif was particularly strong.“I did notice it, but you just keep fighting, though, don't you?” Williamson Pohlman said. “It's just a part of the sport. All you want to do is win, so you just keep chucking punches.”Khelif also received support from peers like Amy Broadhurst, the accomplished Irish amateur who beat Khelif in the 2022 IBA world championships.“Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat,’” Broadhurst wrote on social media. “I (think) it’s the way she was born &amp; that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been (beaten) by 9 females before says it all.”

Who is Imane Khelif? Algerian boxer facing gender outcry

By MIKE COURSON Great Bend Post

The vast majority of Barton Community College's 60 national championships have come in track and field or cross country. It should come as no surprise, then, that former Cougar athletes have been a mainstay in past Olympic Games. In 2004, 13 former Cougars competed in Athens, bringing home more medals than 44 nations, including five golds. Cougar Track and Field Coach David Schenek calls the tradition a great recruiting tool.

"When you're recruiting really high-level athletes, you can use that and say we've had these Olympians come through here whether it be the jumps, the throws, the sprints, it doesn't matter," he said.

On the other hand, Schenek also said the school's success can be intimidating for young athletes. It's a balancing act for recruiters to determine when or when not to mention the 40-plus Olympians who have competed at Barton.

"There are kids who come in here and still are a little developmental and they're still trying to figure out what their full potential is," said Schenek. "We like having kids like that out here as well. We love to develop kids and see them move on and do some great things, whether they're Olympians or not." 

Three former Cougars will compete soon in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. On Aug. 3, Jhonny Renteria will run in round one of the 100m dash for Columbia. Renteria set a Columbian national record of 9.97s in the event in June. That time would only tie him for third in Barton history, just ahead of American record-holder Tyson Gay, who posted a 10.01 while a Cougar in 2003. Gay's 2009 time of 9.69 remains the American record. Renteria saw limited time at Barton because of COVID but did place fifth in the indoor 60m dash to help the Cougars to a national runner-up finish in the 2019-20 season.

Joveinny Mota will represent Venezuela in round one of the 100m hurdles on Aug. 7. Mota was a four-time NJCAA All-American at Barton in 2019 and 2020. She set an indoor school record in the 60m hurdles, and her outdoor 100m hurdle time of 13.25s ranks No. 2 in BCC history. She is the only Lady Cougar since 1999 to run under 13.3s. 

Mota went on to run for the University of Arkansas before transferring to the University of Kansas last year. In July, running at the NCAA West Prelims, Mota reset her Venezuelan national record in the 100m hurdles at 12.66s. Mota also represented Venezuela at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore. where she finished sixth in her round-one heat in 13.12.

In the field, Ana Da Silva will throw the shot put for Brazil on Aug. 8. She holds the BCC outdoor hammer record at 58.61m, and is third in school history in the outdoor shot (16.08m), both set in 2021. She was a two-time national shot put champion at Barton. After Barton, Da Silva earned indoor First-Team All-American honors at the University of Georgia in 2022, and won the SEC outdoor shot put title that same year. She sat out the 2024 season but will throw for the Bulldogs again in the 2024-25 season.

Fred Moudani was another Olympic hopeful. He set the BCC outdoor record in the shot put in 2021 and was national runner-up before moving on to the University of Cincinnati. He won the French national title in 2023 and placed 15th at the World Championships in Budapest last August but has been sidelined in 2024 with an injury.

"He was at the World Championships last year but he hurt his wrist so he was unable to compete this year," Schenek said. "He's from France so, for him, it's kind of bitter to see everything back home going on and he's unable to compete."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722554512066.jpeg" alt="Former Barton Cougar Yovienny Mota, seen here at the 2024 KU Relays, will run for Venezuela in the Olympic Games in Paris.&nbsp; (photo by Mike Courson)" />
 <figcaption>Former Barton Cougar Yovienny Mota, seen here at the 2024 KU Relays, will run for Venezuela in the Olympic Games in Paris.&nbsp; (photo by Mike Courson)</figcaption>
 </figure>By MIKE COURSON Great Bend PostThe vast majority of Barton Community College's 60 national championships have come in track and field or cross country. It should come as no surprise, then, that former Cougar athletes have been a mainstay in past Olympic Games. In 2004, 13 former Cougars competed in Athens, bringing home more medals than 44 nations, including five golds. Cougar Track and Field Coach David Schenek calls the tradition a great recruiting tool."When you're recruiting really high-level athletes, you can use that and say we've had these Olympians come through here whether it be the jumps, the throws, the sprints, it doesn't matter," he said.On the other hand, Schenek also said the school's success can be intimidating for young athletes. It's a balancing act for recruiters to determine when or when not to mention the 40-plus Olympians who have competed at Barton.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722611011786.jpeg" alt="Jhonny Renteria" />
 <figcaption>Jhonny Renteria</figcaption>
 </figure>"There are kids who come in here and still are a little developmental and they're still trying to figure out what their full potential is," said Schenek. "We like having kids like that out here as well. We love to develop kids and see them move on and do some great things, whether they're Olympians or not." Three former Cougars will compete soon in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. On Aug. 3, Jhonny Renteria will run in round one of the 100m dash for Columbia. Renteria set a Columbian national record of 9.97s in the event in June. That time would only tie him for third in Barton history, just ahead of American record-holder Tyson Gay, who posted a 10.01 while a Cougar in 2003. Gay's 2009 time of 9.69 remains the American record. Renteria saw limited time at Barton because of COVID but did place fifth in the indoor 60m dash to help the Cougars to a national runner-up finish in the 2019-20 season.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722611041461.jpeg" alt="Ana Da Silva" />
 <figcaption>Ana Da Silva</figcaption>
 </figure>Joveinny Mota will represent Venezuela in round one of the 100m hurdles on Aug. 7. Mota was a four-time NJCAA All-American at Barton in 2019 and 2020. She set an indoor school record in the 60m hurdles, and her outdoor 100m hurdle time of 13.25s ranks No. 2 in BCC history. She is the only Lady Cougar since 1999 to run under 13.3s. Mota went on to run for the University of Arkansas before transferring to the University of Kansas last year. In July, running at the NCAA West Prelims, Mota reset her Venezuelan national record in the 100m hurdles at 12.66s. Mota also represented Venezuela at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore. where she finished sixth in her round-one heat in 13.12.In the field, Ana Da Silva will throw the shot put for Brazil on Aug. 8. She holds the BCC outdoor hammer record at 58.61m, and is third in school history in the outdoor shot (16.08m), both set in 2021. She was a two-time national shot put champion at Barton. After Barton, Da Silva earned indoor First-Team All-American honors at the University of Georgia in 2022, and won the SEC outdoor shot put title that same year. She sat out the 2024 season but will throw for the Bulldogs again in the 2024-25 season.Fred Moudani was another Olympic hopeful. He set the BCC outdoor record in the shot put in 2021 and was national runner-up before moving on to the University of Cincinnati. He won the French national title in 2023 and placed 15th at the World Championships in Budapest last August but has been sidelined in 2024 with an injury."He was at the World Championships last year but he hurt his wrist so he was unable to compete this year," Schenek said. "He's from France so, for him, it's kind of bitter to see everything back home going on and he's unable to compete."

Three former Cougars carrying on Olympic tradition at Barton

LAWRENCE, Kan. - With football season just around the corner, Kansas football will host its 2nd Annual Lawrence Kickoff Party presented by the Drive to Zero Coalition and Kansas Department of Transportation, Folds of Honor as well as adidas.

New this year, the event will take place at South Park on Mass St. on Saturday, August 24 from 5:00-8:00 p.m., coinciding with the Downtown Lawrence Welcome Back Jayhawks Weekend where you will be able to shop inside and outside at participating stores and enjoy various street performers throughout the day from 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Admission to the all-day event is free.

The Lawrence Football Kickoff Party is the last of three football kickoff events, the first one taking place in Wichita on August 6th and the second one taking place at Corinth Square in Prairie Village on August 16th. 

The Kickoff Party marks less than a week prior to Kansas' season-opener against Lindenwood and will feature live music from the Mikey Needleman Band, tailgating games, food trucks, inflatables, face paintings, balloon artist and other activities. This family-friendly event will be one you don't want to miss out on.

Fans will have the opportunity to hear from Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold, Director of Athletics Travis Goff and more on a main stage built on the street towards the south end of South Park. Kansas fans will also have the opportunity to shop the latest KU merchandise within a Rally House pop-up shop.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722608907606.jpeg" alt="Kansas Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>LAWRENCE, Kan. - With football season just around the corner, Kansas football will host its 2nd Annual Lawrence Kickoff Party presented by the Drive to Zero Coalition and Kansas Department of Transportation, Folds of Honor as well as adidas.New this year, the event will take place at South Park on Mass St. on Saturday, August 24 from 5:00-8:00 p.m., coinciding with the Downtown Lawrence Welcome Back Jayhawks Weekend where you will be able to shop inside and outside at participating stores and enjoy various street performers throughout the day from 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Admission to the all-day event is free.The Lawrence Football Kickoff Party is the last of three football kickoff events, the first one taking place in Wichita on August 6th and the second one taking place at Corinth Square in Prairie Village on August 16th. The Kickoff Party marks less than a week prior to Kansas' season-opener against Lindenwood and will feature live music from the Mikey Needleman Band, tailgating games, food trucks, inflatables, face paintings, balloon artist and other activities. This family-friendly event will be one you don't want to miss out on.Fans will have the opportunity to hear from Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold, Director of Athletics Travis Goff and more on a main stage built on the street towards the south end of South Park. Kansas fans will also have the opportunity to shop the latest KU merchandise within a Rally House pop-up shop.

KU to host 2nd Annual Lawrence Kickoff Party Aug. 24

NEW YORK (AP) — The World Series could extend into November for the fourth straight year and will start on a Friday for the third consecutive time.

AL Division Series will have an extra scheduled off day between Games 1 and 2, a format that allows a team to have the same pitchers start Games 1 and 4, and Games 2 and 5 on normal four days’ rest. Last year, NL Division Series had the extra off day.

Major League Baseball said Thursday the Series will start on Oct. 25, putting a possible seventh game on Nov. 2. The Series went into November for the first time in 2001, when the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused the regular season to end a week later than originally scheduled. The latest a Series game has been played was Nov. 5, when Houston beat Philadelphia in Game 6 in 2022.

Before 2022, the World Series had not started on a Friday since 1915.

All four best-of-three Wild Card Series are scheduled for consecutive days from Oct. 1-3.

Twelve teams make the playoffs under the format that began in 2022. The top two teams in each league get first-round byes, while the No. 3 seed faces No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5. The higher seed will be home in each best-of-three series.

In the best-of-five Division Series, the top seed plays the 3-vs.-6 winner and the No. 2 seed plays the 4-vs.-5 winner. The Division Series will have the familiar format of the higher seed home for Games 1 and 2, and, if necessary, Game 5.

AL Division Series start on Oct. 5, have an off day followed by a game on Oct. 7, then switch to the other cities on Oct. 9-10. After another travel day, Game 5s would be played Oct. 12.

NL Division Series also will start Oct. 5-6 followed by travel day and switch to the other sites for games on Oct. 8-9. Game 5s would be Oct. 11.

NEW YORK (AP) — The World Series could extend into November for the fourth straight year and will start on a Friday for the third consecutive time.AL Division Series will have an extra scheduled off day between Games 1 and 2, a format that allows a team to have the same pitchers start Games 1 and 4, and Games 2 and 5 on normal four days’ rest. Last year, NL Division Series had the extra off day.Major League Baseball said Thursday the Series will start on Oct. 25, putting a possible seventh game on Nov. 2. The Series went into November for the first time in 2001, when the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused the regular season to end a week later than originally scheduled. The latest a Series game has been played was Nov. 5, when Houston beat Philadelphia in Game 6 in 2022.Before 2022, the World Series had not started on a Friday since 1915.All four best-of-three Wild Card Series are scheduled for consecutive days from Oct. 1-3.Twelve teams make the playoffs under the format that began in 2022. The top two teams in each league get first-round byes, while the No. 3 seed faces No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5. The higher seed will be home in each best-of-three series.In the best-of-five Division Series, the top seed plays the 3-vs.-6 winner and the No. 2 seed plays the 4-vs.-5 winner. The Division Series will have the familiar format of the higher seed home for Games 1 and 2, and, if necessary, Game 5.AL Division Series start on Oct. 5, have an off day followed by a game on Oct. 7, then switch to the other cities on Oct. 9-10. After another travel day, Game 5s would be played Oct. 12.NL Division Series also will start Oct. 5-6 followed by travel day and switch to the other sites for games on Oct. 8-9. Game 5s would be Oct. 11.

MLB announces postseason schedule

PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles huddled with Sunisa Lee. She looked to her husband Jonathan Owens in the stands. Lost in the moment. And maybe a touch frantic.

The American gymnastics star knew she was trailing Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and Algeria's Kaylia Nemour through two rotations during the Olympic all-around final Thursday.

After a sloppy uneven bars that included a mistake Biles can never remember making in competition, she sat in a chair, closed her eyes, ignored the sea of cameras around her and attempted to refocus.

She and Lee tried to do the math. How bad was it? They weren't sure. It had been a long time since it was this tight.

Biles checked with Owens, who reassured Biles that she was fine, even though she was in third. His wife of 15 months might not have believed him in the moment.

“I've just never been so stressed before,” Biles said.

Maybe because she hadn't been pushed — not in a long time anyway — the way Andrade pushed inside an electric Bercy Arena.

Yet the jitters eventually faded. The 27-year-old who is redefining what a gymnast can do and how long she can do it went to work.

One stoic beam routine and one floor exercise that is unlike anything ever done in her sport later, Biles found herself accepting a gold medal from IOC president Thomas Bach for a second time, this time with Lee standing next to her with a bronze.

Eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Biles was a teenage prodigy. Now, she's an icon. One who remains peerless even when she's not perfect.

Biles now has nine Olympic medals, six of them gold. And while she says she doesn't keep track of these things, she sort of does. The GOAT necklace she rocked in the aftermath isn't a coincidence, even if she maintains she's just “Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, that loves to flip.”

Maybe, but she's also the third woman to become a two-time Olympic champion, joining Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union in 1956 and 1960 and Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1968. Oh, and the oldest to finish atop the all-around podium since then 30-year-old Maria Gorokhovskaya of the Soviet Union won the first-ever Olympic all-around in Helsinki in 1952.

The sport then is not what it is now. The days of “little girls in pretty boxes” are long gone. Biles has fueled that transformation one performance at a time. There's a reason stars like the U.S. men's basketball team and Kendall Jenner flock to watch her Thursday.

When Biles tried to downplay her impact, Lee corrected her.

“Honestly Simone, I think a lot of it has to do with you,” Lee said.

Even if her 39th world or Olympic medal didn't come as easily as most of the 38 before it.

She misjudged a transition on uneven bars, the weakest of her four events, letting go of the upper bar too soon and forcing her to reach for a larger-than-expect gap.

While she didn't fall — Biles muscled her way back into the routine — it blunted her momentum and led to major deductions that left her behind Andrade through two rotations.

Biles responded with a largely wobble-free 14.566 on the balance beam, the highest of the night among the 24 finalists, while Andrade was forced to do a major balance check during her slightly easier set that dropped her down to second heading into floor exercise, Biles' signature event.

Andrade, the silver medalist behind Lee in 2021, needed the best floor set of her life to catch Biles. It didn't quite happen. Andrade stepped out of bounds at one point, a minor problem but enough to create plenty of wiggle room for Biles.

“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more,” Biles said. “I’m tired. Like, she’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close.”

Biles incorporated music from pop icons Taylor Swift and Beyonce into her current routine, a 75-second set that began with the opening bars of Swift's hit “Ready For It?" and featured the hardest tumbling done by a woman in the history of the sport.

When she was done — sealing gold that served as a redemption of sorts three years after pulling out of multiple finals in Tokyo to focus on her mental health — Biles sprinted to hug Lee just off the podium and blew kisses to the cameras that have become fixtures wherever she goes under the Olympic rings.

After the final score was announced, Biles and Lee — both Olympic champions — bolted onto the floor, waving an American flag.

Lee, the Tokyo winner with Biles sidelined, is the first to win gold in all-around one Games then earn another medal in the next since Comaneci in 1976 and '80. She did it despite spending much of the last 15 months dealing with multiple kidney diseases that left her return to the Games very much in doubt.

“I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it because I didn’t think that I could," Lee said.

While there may be more medals on the way — Biles is in three event finals later in the Games — the all-around puts her into the conversation as perhaps the greatest American Olympian ever.

She's a vocal advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and the importance of proper mental health. She met virtually with her therapist before the Americans won gold in the team final on Tuesday. They kept their regular Thursday appointment too.

Biles relied on the internal work she's done over the years after that rocky bars routine. She sat with her legs crossed on a chair in her blue sequined leotard and joked she was “praying to every single God out there.”

In reality, she was trying to re-center herself. And then she moved on. It's what she does.

Biles has said repeatedly over the last three years that what happened in Tokyo is a part of her past, not her present, and if critics have a problem with it, that's their issue, not hers.

She's moved on to bigger things. Like setting a standard that may never be reached. In her gymnastics for sure, and maybe others too. When trying to count the number of active Olympians who have stood atop their sport for 11 years and counting, no math is required.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722592526715.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Simone Biles, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal during the women's artistic gymnastics all-around finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Simone Biles, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal during the women's artistic gymnastics all-around finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)</figcaption>
 </figure>PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles huddled with Sunisa Lee. She looked to her husband Jonathan Owens in the stands. Lost in the moment. And maybe a touch frantic.The American gymnastics star knew she was trailing Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and Algeria's Kaylia Nemour through two rotations during the Olympic all-around final Thursday.After a sloppy uneven bars that included a mistake Biles can never remember making in competition, she sat in a chair, closed her eyes, ignored the sea of cameras around her and attempted to refocus.She and Lee tried to do the math. How bad was it? They weren't sure. It had been a long time since it was this tight.Biles checked with Owens, who reassured Biles that she was fine, even though she was in third. His wife of 15 months might not have believed him in the moment.“I've just never been so stressed before,” Biles said.Maybe because she hadn't been pushed — not in a long time anyway — the way Andrade pushed inside an electric Bercy Arena.Yet the jitters eventually faded. The 27-year-old who is redefining what a gymnast can do and how long she can do it went to work.One stoic beam routine and one floor exercise that is unlike anything ever done in her sport later, Biles found herself accepting a gold medal from IOC president Thomas Bach for a second time, this time with Lee standing next to her with a bronze.Eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Biles was a teenage prodigy. Now, she's an icon. One who remains peerless even when she's not perfect.Biles now has nine Olympic medals, six of them gold. And while she says she doesn't keep track of these things, she sort of does. The GOAT necklace she rocked in the aftermath isn't a coincidence, even if she maintains she's just “Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, that loves to flip.”Maybe, but she's also the third woman to become a two-time Olympic champion, joining Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union in 1956 and 1960 and Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1968. Oh, and the oldest to finish atop the all-around podium since then 30-year-old Maria Gorokhovskaya of the Soviet Union won the first-ever Olympic all-around in Helsinki in 1952.The sport then is not what it is now. The days of “little girls in pretty boxes” are long gone. Biles has fueled that transformation one performance at a time. There's a reason stars like the U.S. men's basketball team and Kendall Jenner flock to watch her Thursday.When Biles tried to downplay her impact, Lee corrected her.“Honestly Simone, I think a lot of it has to do with you,” Lee said.Even if her 39th world or Olympic medal didn't come as easily as most of the 38 before it.She misjudged a transition on uneven bars, the weakest of her four events, letting go of the upper bar too soon and forcing her to reach for a larger-than-expect gap.While she didn't fall — Biles muscled her way back into the routine — it blunted her momentum and led to major deductions that left her behind Andrade through two rotations.The deficit didn't last.Biles responded with a largely wobble-free 14.566 on the balance beam, the highest of the night among the 24 finalists, while Andrade was forced to do a major balance check during her slightly easier set that dropped her down to second heading into floor exercise, Biles' signature event.Andrade, the silver medalist behind Lee in 2021, needed the best floor set of her life to catch Biles. It didn't quite happen. Andrade stepped out of bounds at one point, a minor problem but enough to create plenty of wiggle room for Biles.“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more,” Biles said. “I’m tired. Like, she’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close.”Biles incorporated music from pop icons Taylor Swift and Beyonce into her current routine, a 75-second set that began with the opening bars of Swift's hit “Ready For It?" and featured the hardest tumbling done by a woman in the history of the sport.When she was done — sealing gold that served as a redemption of sorts three years after pulling out of multiple finals in Tokyo to focus on her mental health — Biles sprinted to hug Lee just off the podium and blew kisses to the cameras that have become fixtures wherever she goes under the Olympic rings.After the final score was announced, Biles and Lee — both Olympic champions — bolted onto the floor, waving an American flag.Lee, the Tokyo winner with Biles sidelined, is the first to win gold in all-around one Games then earn another medal in the next since Comaneci in 1976 and '80. She did it despite spending much of the last 15 months dealing with multiple kidney diseases that left her return to the Games very much in doubt.“I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it because I didn’t think that I could," Lee said.While there may be more medals on the way — Biles is in three event finals later in the Games — the all-around puts her into the conversation as perhaps the greatest American Olympian ever.Yet she's also far more than that.She's a vocal advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and the importance of proper mental health. She met virtually with her therapist before the Americans won gold in the team final on Tuesday. They kept their regular Thursday appointment too.Biles relied on the internal work she's done over the years after that rocky bars routine. She sat with her legs crossed on a chair in her blue sequined leotard and joked she was “praying to every single God out there.”In reality, she was trying to re-center herself. And then she moved on. It's what she does.Biles has said repeatedly over the last three years that what happened in Tokyo is a part of her past, not her present, and if critics have a problem with it, that's their issue, not hers.She's moved on to bigger things. Like setting a standard that may never be reached. In her gymnastics for sure, and maybe others too. When trying to count the number of active Olympians who have stood atop their sport for 11 years and counting, no math is required.

Simone Biles makes history with second all-around Olympic gymnastics title

AMERICAN LEAGUEEast DivisionW	L	Pct	GBBaltimore	65	45	.591	—New
York	65	45	.591	—Boston	57	50	.533	6½Tampa
Bay	55	53	.509	9Toronto	50	59	.459	14½Central DivisionCleveland	66	42	.611	—Kansas
City	61	49	.555	6Minnesota	59	48	.551	6½Detroit	52	58	.473	15Chicago	27	84	.243	40½West DivisionHouston	56	52	.519	—Seattle	57	53	.518	—Texas	52	57	.477	4½Los
Angeles	47	62	.431	9½Oakland	45	65	.409	12NATIONAL LEAGUEEast DivisionW	L	Pct	GBPhiladelphia	65	43	.602	—Atlanta	59	49	.546	6New
York	57	51	.528	8Washington	49	60	.450	16½Miami	40	69	.367	25½Central DivisionMilwaukee	61	47	.565	—St.
Louis	56	53	.514	5½Pittsburgh	55	53	.509	6Cincinnati	52	56	.481	9Chicago	53	58	.477	9½West DivisionLos
Angeles	63	46	.578	—San
Diego	59	51	.536	4½Arizona	58	51	.532	5San
Francisco	54	56	.491	9½

MLB Standings

DETROIT (AP) — Vinnie Pasquantino homered twice, Seth Lugo gave up just four hits over eight strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 7-1 on Thursday night.

Bobby Witt Jr. also homered for the Royals, who are 4-0 on their current road trip. Detroit has lost four in a row and been outscored 25-5 in those games.

“Vinnie is a run producer and he's had some big games for us lately — following up the homer yesterday with two today,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Bobby was in a mini-slump for him — he was 0 for 2 before he hit the homer and double.”

Lugo (13-5) gave up one run, struck out three and walked one after going 1-3 in July. He is 7-0 with a 1.31 ERA in nine starts against the AL Central this season.

“The game plan was just to attack hitters,” Lugo said. “I want the ball and I'm in a great place physically. I wanted the ninth, but (Quatraro) made the smart play there.”

Keider Montero (1-5) allowed four runs on six hits in a career-high seven innings. The rookie, one of Detroit's only two healthy starting pitchers, allowed three runs before he got an out, but settled down.

“We made an adjustment to the pitching plan after that inning,” he said through an interpreter. “We knew they were sitting on the slider, so we went to the fastball and the change to keep them off balance.”

Maikel Garcia started the game with a single and stole second and third without throws. Witt walked and Pasquantino lined his 13th homer into the right-field stands for a 3-0 lead.

“With a runner on third and no one out, I'm just trying to get the ball in the air,” Pasquantino said.

Bligh Madris got the Tigers on the board with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, but Freddy Fermin's RBI single gave Kansas City a 4-1 lead in the seventh.

“Lugo is an All-Star and he's smart,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He's got a ton of pitches that he can use and he feeds off early-count overaggressiveness.”

Witt and Pasquantino hit back-to-back homers in the eighth off Brenan Hanifee. It was Pasquantino's first multi-homer game, coming in the same stadium where he hit his first major league homer on July 1, 2022.

“It was nice to jog around the bases this time instead of getting tagged out at second,” said Pasquantino, whose first homer only came after a replay review. “It's nice to have two great memories here.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722591825641.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Kansas City Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino (9) is greeted in the dugout after a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Kansas City Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino (9) is greeted in the dugout after a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)</figcaption>
 </figure>DETROIT (AP) — Vinnie Pasquantino homered twice, Seth Lugo gave up just four hits over eight strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 7-1 on Thursday night.Bobby Witt Jr. also homered for the Royals, who are 4-0 on their current road trip. Detroit has lost four in a row and been outscored 25-5 in those games.“Vinnie is a run producer and he's had some big games for us lately — following up the homer yesterday with two today,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Bobby was in a mini-slump for him — he was 0 for 2 before he hit the homer and double.”Lugo (13-5) gave up one run, struck out three and walked one after going 1-3 in July. He is 7-0 with a 1.31 ERA in nine starts against the AL Central this season.“The game plan was just to attack hitters,” Lugo said. “I want the ball and I'm in a great place physically. I wanted the ninth, but (Quatraro) made the smart play there.”Keider Montero (1-5) allowed four runs on six hits in a career-high seven innings. The rookie, one of Detroit's only two healthy starting pitchers, allowed three runs before he got an out, but settled down.“We made an adjustment to the pitching plan after that inning,” he said through an interpreter. “We knew they were sitting on the slider, so we went to the fastball and the change to keep them off balance.”Maikel Garcia started the game with a single and stole second and third without throws. Witt walked and Pasquantino lined his 13th homer into the right-field stands for a 3-0 lead.“With a runner on third and no one out, I'm just trying to get the ball in the air,” Pasquantino said.Bligh Madris got the Tigers on the board with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, but Freddy Fermin's RBI single gave Kansas City a 4-1 lead in the seventh.“Lugo is an All-Star and he's smart,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He's got a ton of pitches that he can use and he feeds off early-count overaggressiveness.”Witt and Pasquantino hit back-to-back homers in the eighth off Brenan Hanifee. It was Pasquantino's first multi-homer game, coming in the same stadium where he hit his first major league homer on July 1, 2022.“It was nice to jog around the bases this time instead of getting tagged out at second,” said Pasquantino, whose first homer only came after a replay review. “It's nice to have two great memories here.”Witt added an RBI double in the ninth.“He's an incredible player and he's the face of baseball going forward — at least part of the face,” Hinch said. “He gets on base, he has power, he has speed — he's a generational player for a reason.”TRAINER'S ROOMThe Tigers, who only had 23 players on the active roster after the trading deadline, activated SS Javier Báez from the bereavement list and selected Hanifee and LHP Sean Guenther from Triple-A Toledo. Detroit will have 11 relievers for the four-game Royals series.UP NEXTThe teams play the second of the four-game series on Friday night, with Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (12-3, 2.35) facing LHP Cole Ragans (7-7, 3.37).