Smith, Ratzlaff sign at Pittsburg High School

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Pittsburg High School student-athletes Matt Smith and Caleigh Ratzlaff signed on Wednesday afternoon to continue their careers in college.

Ratzlaff signs to play softball at Neosho CC in Chanute, Kansas. Smith signs to wrestle at Labette CC.

“It’s pretty close to home and the coach is pretty chill and seems like he will get me right for what I need to do,” Smith says of choosing Labette, “They seem genuine and they’re good guys. They never lied and they told the truth and they know what they’re doing. My goal for my first year will be to start for sure. Once I do that, I want to place at nationals and then go to a four-year college to wrestle.”

“Neosho County was so much different from the other schools that I visited, just because of how their players and coaches approached me,” Ratzlaff says, “I felt like it was a very open-hearted approach. What I was looking for in coaching is basically what I had in my travel team coaches, which is lovingness and encouragement. I really found that with Neosho. I’ve been playing softball since I was four,” Ratzlaff adds, “I was going to be really sad if it just ended this year. I’m so glad that I got reached out to and I made the connections and I got another chance.”

Burdick hits grand slam; Pittsburg sweeps Independence for 6th straight win

PITTSBURG, Kan. – (WATCH) Maddie Burdick hits a grand slam Monday night, helping Pittsburg sweep SEK double-header from Independence 17-3 and 5-1.

The Purple Dragons have now win six straight games.

Four Pittsburg High School seniors sign to college programs

 

PITTSBURG, Ks. – Four Pittsburg High School seniors sign to continue their academic and athletic careers on Wednesday.

GAVEN DEAL – UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARY FOOTBALL

MAKAYLA KELLER – PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY CHEER

MATTSON VACCA – PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY DANCE

HANNAH GRAY – PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY HONORS COLLEGE

Pittsburg girls soccer picks up first win in program history

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Pittsburg High School girls soccer team picked up the first win in program history Tuesday night, beating McAuley Catholic 3-0.

“It was awesome. We’ve just been focused on improving every day and taking our training and what we do into the games. Last night everything just kind of came together,” says head coach Kyle Bockover, “It was nice to see a complete game in all phases.”

“It was just a really different experience to be able to say something good about these games that we go to, instead of having to be like yeah we didn’t win today but maybe next time. This was our next time,” says senior Shi Ross, “This is what we’ve been telling everybody to wait for and it was something that felt really good to be able to talk about at school today.”

Alyssa Hotze scored two goals in the win, while Ross added the other goal for Pittsburg.

“It was a feeling that was unexplainable. I can’t really put it in words,” Ross adds, “Working so hard for this program, working so hard for a win and seeing it finally happen was just a surreal moment.”

“I hope what they played like and what they felt like after the win carries over into future games,” Bockover says, “I hope they take that with them and build on it.”

Pittsburg moves into 1st in SEK with shutout win over Chanute

PITTSBURG, Kan. – (WATCH) Pittsburg tops Chanute 7-0 Monday night to take over 1st place in the SEK.

Jackson Turnbull throws 5 shutout innings for Pittsburg with 10 strikeouts. Turnbull was also 2-3 with 3 RBI at the plate, while Braden Benson adds 2 RBI.

Turnbull homers, Farrington gets go-ahead RBI in Pittsburg’s win over Carl Junction

WATCH: Pittsburg tops Carl Junction 4-3 Friday night.

Jackson Turnbull hits a two-run home run in the 1st inning and Cale Farrington gets the go-ahead RBI single in the 4th for the Purple Dragons.

Carl Junction took a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st before Pittsburg scored the final 4 runs of the game.

“They came out and they had a really good start. We told our guys that it’s a long game. It was the first inning and we have 7 more at-bats,” says Pittsburg head coach Keith Matlock, “Our guys have been pretty good lately of staying up in the dugout, even if we get down early. They understand there’s a lot of baseball left to play and it’s a sport where a lot of things can happen over the period of a game. They just did a nice job of just staying within what we want to do.”

Galena dominates pole vault, Independence’s Burns wins long jump at Columbus Invitational

WATCH: The Galena boys take first, second and third in the pole vault at the Columbus Invitational. Randy Cockerel wins the event with a mark of 12 feet 8 inches. Logan Ward places second hitting 11 feet. Trenton Brookshire rounds out the top three.

In the girls long jump, Independence’s Nala Burns wins the event with a jump reaching 15 feet 9 inches. Alaycia Harris is right on her tail, taking second for Pittsburg with a mark of 15 feet 8.5 inches.

Columbus shuts out Pittsburg in game one; splits doubleheader

WATCH: Columbus picks up their 13th straight win, beating Pittsburg 8-0 in game one. Aubree Saporito throws a shutout in the circle. Pittsburg bounces back, handing Columbus their first loss of the season 6-2 in game two.

Pittsburg’s Rhodes walks it off against Joplin in extras

WATCH: Cooper Hayden ties the game with 2 outs in the bottom of the seventh. Ethan Rhodes gets a shallow hit to center to score Grant O’Doherty from first. Pittsburg walks it off in the ninth inning 2-1 over Joplin.

Pittsburg prepares to face SEK rival Fort Scott in home opener

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Pittsburg Purple Dragons will finally play a home game at Jaycee Ballpark on Friday – after beginning the season with six straight games on the road.

“We love it,” says Pittsburg head coach Keith Matlock on playing at Jaycee, “There’s not many places better to play a baseball game. Especially when the weather is nice and you have a ton of people there. I have a feeling it’s going to have a lot of energy to it.”

Pittsburg will face SEK rival Fort Scott Friday in their first home game.

It will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Tigers topped the Purple Dragons 11-4 in Fort Scott in their first meeting last week.

“They’re just a hard-nosed team,” Matlock says of his league rivals, “I’ve known coach Regan for a long time. The Fort Scott program is always well-coached. They love to play Pittsburg. It’s a rivalry and all of that stuff. They’re not going to beat themselves so you really have to go out and make sure that you take care of your stuff.”

The Purple Dragons are 3-3 in their first six games.

Pittsburg has wins over Chanute, KC-Piper and Field Kindley – and their three losses are to Fort Scott, Blue Valley North and Tonganoxie.

“I think we’ve gotten better each game. I think we’ve started swinging it really well,” Matlock says, “We have to get better on the mound, and I have no doubt that we will. Early on, everybody is a thrower because they have their nerves and everything else, but we’ve talked to them about getting settled in and becoming pitchers now.”

Junior Jackson Turnbull has gotten off to a hot start at the plate for Pittsburg.

In the team’s first six games, Turnbull is batting .524 with 5 doubles, a home run and 8 RBI.

“He’s a big part of our offense. He’s starting to get his timing down and make adjustments. He knows there’s pressure on him. For any kid that age, you’re going to press a little bit early on when you have that pressure. You can tell he’s getting settled in now and has an understanding of what he needs to do.”

Friday’s game will begin at 4:30 PM at Jaycee Ballpark in Pittsburg.