2024 KC Astros Cap Off Undefeated Season with Series Sweep of KC A’s in 35+ Division Championship of Kansas City MSBL
Kansas City MSBL, 35+ Division
Kansas City Astros 3, Kansas City A’s 1 (Game two in best-of-three championship series sweep)
The Kansas City Astros finished their 2024 season undefeated with a perfect 26-0 record and claimed the KCMSBL 35+ Division Title with a two-game sweep of the Kansas City A’s in the championship. The championship is the second in a row for the KC Astros and their third in four seasons in the 35+ Division.
In game one of the championship series, the KC Astros rolled to an 11-1 victory led by a dominating pitching performance by Jason Carrillo. The Lefty fanned eight and only surrendered four hits in the complete game effort. Offensively, the KC Astros started their scoring in the bottom of the first inning with Hogan Matson landing the big blow with an RBI triple pushing the early lead to 2-0.
The Astros would end up scoring two more runs in the third, five in the fourth, and another two more in the sixth, ending the game by the ten-run mercy rule. In total, the KC Astros collected 13 hits with Matson having three while also driving in four of the KC Astros runs. Luke Kathol matched Matson’s three hits with three of his own while Josiah Enyart and Clark Jones each collected two.
Game 2 was a much different story, but the result was the same with the KC Astros finishing off the KC A’s to claim the title but by a much tighter score of 3-1. In the top of the second inning, Bryan Bachkora’s two-out, two-run double would end up being the difference in the game. Tyler Burks backed up Bachkora’s double with another two-out double that would end up being all the KC Astros would need.
Luke Kathol was able to work around seven hits by the KC A’s to only allow a single run while striking out five and throwing a complete game victory. The KC A’s biggest threat of the game came in the bottom of the sixth when they led off the inning with a triple and a walk. After a strikeout, Kathol loaded the bases with another walk but was able to retire the final two outs via pop-out and ground out.
Jake Vore, Enyart, Tony Cabello, Casey Hatfield, Tim Beauchamp, Adam Kimberling, and Jones all contributed hits to the Astro’s nine-hit attack.
The KC A’s were by far the biggest challenger for the KC Astros in the 2024 season. In eight battles, three games were won by only one run while another game (championship) was only won by two runs. The KC A’s are a team with a very bright future in the 35+ Division.
For the season, the KC Astros elite offense had seven players who hit over .400 and another seven who hit over .300. The pitching staff only surrendered 46 runs in 26 games and had a team ERA of 1.42.