Print edition: 
Master blaster
Arvada (Colo.) Colts designated hitter Adam Bies made the most of not having to wear himself out in the field in his team's 7-5 victory over the Clarinda (Iowa) A's, smashing a two-run home run in the sixth inning off relief pitcher Josh White with his team up 5-4.
"I was joking before I came up that I was happy that I was DHing today because it's been crazy hot," Bies said. "When I came up I was looking change-up the whole time and (White) tried to throw me a couple of fastballs before he tried to throw the change-up on the inner half and I was able to square up on it."
Newman's own
Clarinda A's starting pitcher and Newman senior-to-be Kyle Burkhardt was the hard-luck loser in his team's loss to the Colts, giving up seven hits and striking out four in five innings before he turned the ball over with a 4-3 lead and two men on base. Burkhardt, a Topeka native, went 5-7 with a 4.82 ERA and led the Jets with 75 strikeouts this season after pitching his first two years at Highland Community College.
"My arm felt good, but my legs were about done after five innings," Burkhardt said. "I had a lot of people come out to watch me pitch today so that was a lot of fun... just wish we could have had a little different result."
Burkhardt is one of three Jets on the Clarinda roster this summer. Pitcher Gage Daniels and first baseman Corey Cowan also play for the A's.
"Having those two around has been great," Burkhardt said. "Just to be able to bond a little bit more before the school year starts is a big plus. Summer ball is a lot of fun, but playing for my school is really important to me."
Short on innings, long on offense
A pair of run-rule games started off Tuesday, with the Derby Twins smashing the Pueblo (Colo.) Collegians 14-1 in five innings and Arvada (Colo.) Walker Transmission defeating the Katy (Texas) Collegians 14-2 in seven innings.
Derby first baseman Ryan Walterhouse and Walker first baseman Zach Gonzalez had monster days at the plate.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Walterhouse, a senior-to-be at Indiana State, was a perfect 4 for 4 with three runs and three RBIs. Combined with a 2-for-4 performance and a home run in Derby's first game, Walterhouse upped his NBC batting average to .750.
Gonzalez, an NJCAA All-Region II player at Northern Oklahoma this spring, went 3 for 5 with six RBIs and smashed a grand slam in the top of the sixth inning that flew over the temperature sign in left field and almost made it into the Metropolitan Baptist Church parking lot. Gonzalez is signed to play for the University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma, an NAIA school.
Outta here
The losing teams in the first two games, Katy and Pueblo, were eliminated after going 0-2 at the NBC. Both teams also share the same mascot, the Collegians.
Feel the heat
The field thermometer in the bullpen reached 140 degrees at 5:20 p.m., causing a slight problem... only because that was the highest temperature the thermometer was capable of reading. Real temperature at the time was 113, just one degree from tying the highest recorded temperature in Wichita history and shattering the all-time mark for the day of 108.
—Tony Adame
