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At Thursday’s meeting of the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Committee, Suleman Hashmi, President and CEO of Texas General Hospital, announced the facility was nearing completion with construction, inspections and accreditation process. He said it is expected to open for patients in three to five weeks.
The best high school baseball players from 4 states will compete for bragging rights and the attention of collegiate and pro scouts at the inaugural Battle of the Borders All-American Game at QuikTrip Park this weekend, September 30-October 2.
The New Balance All-Americans, invited from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico will play each other in a highly competitive weekend baseball tournament. The tournament will begin with a state against state home run derby Thursday from 5-6:30 pm.
Top baseball prospects - high school juniors and seniors, - will be selected through a nomination process, which includes a vote by a panel of coaches from each state. The event will attract collegiate and professional scouts from across the country. Many of the players have already committed to Division I schools including Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and TCU. Many are expected to be drafted in the 2012 Major League Draft as well.
The Battle of the Borders will give baseball fans, scouts and the news media an opportunity to see the college and professional baseball stars of tomorrow, all together in the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico produce an enormous amount of baseball talent. The Battle of the Borders promises to bring the very best talent from each state together for a western shoot-out and some good old fashioned hardball.
Friday night's schedule features:
Team Louisiana vs. Team New Mexico, 4:30A large crowd is expected for Oklahoma vs. Texas.
Team Oklahoma vs. Team Texas, 7:30 pm
Sunday's schedule at QuikTrip Park will culminate with the Consolation Game at 10:00 a.m. and the first Border War All-America Championship Game at 12:30 p.m.
In his announcement, the Senator encouraged Victor Vandergriff, son of the late Tarrant County Judge Tom Vandergriff, to seek the Senate District 9 seat that State Representative Rodney Anderson of Grand Prairie announced earlier this month that he would be seeking. Vandergriff has not yet announced if he intends to run for the District 9 seat.
Continue reading "State Senator Chris Harris Will Not Seek Re-Election" »
LifeLine Shelter is a charitable organization that’s mission is to reduce homelessness among families of school children in crisis enrolled in the Grand Prairie Independent School District by providing emergency assistance, temporary housing and life skills training for their parents.
Continue reading "Realtor to Host Garage Sale to Benefit LifeLine Shelter" »
Photo must feature Grand Prairie:
Continue reading "Annual Calendar Photo Contest Deadline Approaches" »
The Grand Prairie AirHogs and QuikTrip Park will host Natefest 2011 on Saturday, October 1. The 12-hour concert event benefits the NRH Scholarship Fund.
The concert runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and features artists such as Mark McKinney, Kyle Bennet, Charla & the Trainwrecks, Austin Allsup, Jason Ashley, the Brandon Steadman Band Jason Scott Clark, the Gringo Kings and Steve Helms.
Continue reading "QuikTrip to Host Twelve Hour Benefit Concert Spectacular" »
Open Auditions are set for the Grand Prairie Arts Council’s Holiday Production of Babes in Toyland. Come spend the Holidays with us! Roles for the entire family ages 6 - up, all experience levels.
Auditions:
October 13, 6 - 7:30 pm (children ages 6-12)
October 13, 7:30 - 9 pm (ages 13 - up)
October 15, 1 pm – 2:30 pm (children ages 6-12)
October 17, 2:30 pm – 4 pm (ages 13-up)
Continue reading "Open Auditions Set for "Babes in Toyland"" »
Traffic will be reduced to one lane and diverted off the main lanes at the SH 161 exit ramp. Traffic will remain in one lane through the SH 161 intersection and return to the main lanes on the entrance ramp to IH 20. The signals at SH 161 will be adjusted to remain green throughout the closure to allow main lane traffic to flow freely.
Continue reading "Eastbound Interstate 20 to Close Nightly Through October 1" »
Prizes will be awarded in three age categories:
This year, KaBOOM! honored 151 cities and towns across the country for their commitment to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community.
Continue reading "KaBoom! Names Grand Prairie a Playful City USA" »
Clean up events include:
Continue reading "October is Clean up Month in Grand Prairie" »
Beginning today, Gourmet Food Trucks will setup each Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at City Hall Plaza to serve lunch.
The Grand Prairie Arts Council’s production of the classic Neil Simon comedy, Rumors opens Thursday night at the Uptown Theater
Performances are set for September 22-24 and September 29-October 1 at 8 pm; September 25 and October 2 at 2 pm at the Uptown Theater, 120 East Main Street.
Continue reading "Arts Council’s Production of “Rumors” Opens Thursday" »
Vial of LIFE is a program that allows individuals to provide medical information in advance that can be used by first responders such as firefighters, paramedics and police in the case of an emergency at a home.
The kit includes a large, labeled, red and white capsule looking container to hold a medical form which has been filled out stating the health status of the individual and current medications being taken. The container is placed in the refrigerator, usually recommended to be on the top shelf of the door, because it has been shown that the refrigerator's contents are preserved in the event of a fire.
Continue reading "Fire Department Begins Vial of LIFE Program" »
Deputy Fire Chief C. J. Grippen said the fire that went two alarms was contained in one, twenty bay, metal building.
The fire is still under investigation, Grippen said. The cause and loss estimate has not been determined.
Continue reading "Two Alarm Fire Damages Building at Traders Village" »
The unpredictable Texas weather put a premature end to Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation's blockbuster entertainment weekend Sunday night when the free End of Summer Bash concert’s headliner, Texas Country singer/songwriter Cory Morrow, had to be cancelled because of storms moving into the area.
The weekend started off on a bad note when weather caused a power outage in Grand Prairie’s downtown area forcing an hour and half delay starting The Stars from The Platters, The Coasters, The Drifters and Temptations Salute show at the Uptown Theater.
Continue reading "Weather Puts Early End to Weekend’s Concert" »
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Showers and thunderstorms will remain in the forecast through tonight.
An approaching cold front and upper level disturbance will bring a decent coverage of rainfall to the region. Rain chances are between 30 and 60 percent for North Texas.
Some of the thunderstorms could be strong to severe with gusty winds and marginal severe hail possible.
Police said Jose Cruz Mancilla, 41, of Grand Prairie was driving a 2002 Ford Expedition westbound on Dickey road when he ran a stop sign at Highway 161 while attempting to continue west on SW 14th Street.
A 2002 Chevrolet Venture van operated by Billy Bannister, 71, of Grand Prairie was southbound on Highway 161 in the center lane when it collided with the passenger side of the Expedition, causing it to overturn.
Continue reading "Elderly Grand Prairie Women Dies in Highway 161 Crash" »
Friday night’s performance by The Stars from The Platters, The Coasters, The Drifters and Temptations Salute was the first sellout of the season for the Uptown.
Despite a power outage in the downtown area that kept the crowd in the dark for more than an hour and a half, almost everyone waited out the delay to hear lead singer Myles Savage deliver his smooth rendition of the harmony rich classic hit songs of the popular groups of the 50s and 60s.
The Crossing church kicked off its drive-thru breakfast Friday. The free breakfast will be each Friday from now through November 18.
Setup in the UA Theater parking lot near the intersection of South Carrier and Westchester, the church gives out free muffins, granola bars and juice to anyone that drives through.
Continue reading "Church Kicks Off Free Drive-Thru Breakfast" »
Hayes was riding a 1998 Kawasaki motorcycle northbound on Belt Line Road at about 8:15 p.m. Monday when he collided with a 2011 Chevrolet driven by Delores Castillo of Cedar Hill.
Sergeant Eric Hansen, Traffic Division, said Castillo pulled out in front of Hayes when she attempted to turn south onto Belt Line from La Fiesta Drive and told investigators that she didn’t see the motorcycle.
Continue reading "Grand Prairie Man Dies from Injuries in September 12 Motorcycle Crash" »
In a press release Anderson said, “Texas is at a critical point in history and we have a choice to make, we can go down the same road that gets us the same results with a career politician, or we can take the path less traveled and actually make a meaningful impact on our state by electing a Senator who understands that he works for us, the people of Texas.”
Continue reading "State Representative Rodney Anderson Seeks State Senate Seat" »
GobFest 2011 is scheduled for Saturday, November 12.
Continue reading "The Grand Prairie Arts Council Wants to Make You a Star" »
Army MSgt. Tom Hawarden and SSgt. Diana Hawarden, parents of nine-year-old Anna Hawarden, paid the Florence Hill Elementary School student a surprise visit in her classroom Wednesday morning.
The Hawardens, who just returned from a year of duty in Iraq, said Anna was the first of their five children to visit.
Continue reading "Soldier Parents Surprise Daughter at School" »
Swanson now has an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million that will be offered next spring.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
Participating schools will receive 15 cents every time an active Spirit Debit card is used to make a purchase. With more than 1,100 active card-carrying Spirit Debit cardholders, Texas Trust Credit Union anticipates giving away $75,000 this school year to the schools enrolled in the program. Schools will receive a check each month for cardholders' previous months purchases.
By Josh Hirsch
They did it the hard way, falling behind two games to none to St. Paul Saints in the 2011 American Association Championship Series, but the Grand Prairie AirHogs found a way to complete their comeback, getting 6 2/3 strong innings from Jason Jennings and several timely hits to beat the Saints 8-5 in Game 5 at QuikTrip Park, earning the 2011 championship crown.
Each team went down in order in the first, and the AirHogs got a pair of two-out hits but failed to score in the second. But Grand Prairie broke the deadlock in the third, starting with a leadoff walk by Saints starter Todd Mathison (1-1) to Danny Figueroa. Stephen Douglas then launched a triple to centerfield to put the AirHogs on the board. With the St. Paul infield in, German Duran's single through the left side on the first pitch made it 2-0.
Michael Maruska, 52, was riding a 2010 Honda Gold Wing three-wheel motorcycle northbound on Lake Ridge Parkway at about 4:40 p.m. on September 6 when he collided with a 2002 Honda Odyssey van at the intersection.
Continue reading "Midlothian Man Dies From Injuries in September 6 Crash" »
Police spokesman Detective Lyle Gensler, said police received a tip late Sunday night that the suspect was in an apartment at 1902 Houston Street.
After confirming the information and obtaining an address, the SWAT team secured the perimeter of the location and arrested the suspect around 6:30 a.m. The suspect offered little resistance.
Continue reading "Police Arrest Suspect Wanted in Limestone County Murder" »
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth said Monday morning that highs in North Texas are expected to climb to or eclipse record levels today and Tuesday.
Highs today should reach 100-degrees and the record high on Tuesday is expected to be shattered as the high climbs to around 105 degrees, five degrees above the current record.
If the temperature reaches 100 degrees today, it will tie the all time record for number of 100 degree days in a year at 69.
Continue reading "100-Degree Weather Returns, Record Highs Expected" »
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| David Espinosa launches the second of his two home runs Sunday as the AirHogs beat the St. Paul Saints 10-3 to force a game five in the championship series. Photo by Brad Barton |
After struggling offensively for their last four playoff games, the Grand Prairie AirHogs bats broke out on Sunday afternoon, with David Espinosa leading the charge with a pair of home runs, one from each side of the plate, as the Grand Prairie AirHogs beat the St. Paul Saints 10-3 in front of 428 fans at QuikTrip Park, tying the American Association Championship Series at two games apiece, setting up a decisive Game 5 on Monday night.
Continue reading "Espinosa Homers Twice as AirHogs Force Game 5" »
Apparently lightning can strike three times, as for the third time in as many home playoff games for the Grand Prairie AirHogs, John Alonso was the final batter and David Espinosa scored the winning, run, this time on an 11th inning single to beat the St. Paul Saints 3-2 and force a fourth game in the best-of-five American Association Championship Series in front of 1,059 fans at QuikTrip Park.
St. Paul, which still leads the series two games to one, scored first on Saturday night when Shane Costa hit a home run with one out in the first off Josh Rainwater, the first homer of the playoffs and second in 53 games this season for Costa. .
Continue reading "Alonso's 11th-inning Hit Keeps AirHogs Alive" »
The Grand Prairie Fire Department responded to a one alarm fire in the 2600 block of Graham around noon today.
The fire caused considerable damage to the structure.
According to police, Ortiz was driving a 2009 Ford F-150 pickup southbound on U. S. 287 when the truck struck a guardrail. After the collision, the pickup went down an embankment, into a creek and overturned.
Continue reading "Midlothian Man Dies in Early Saturday Morning Car Crash" »
North Mesquite proved to be too much for South Grand Prairie Friday night at the Gopher-Warrior Bowl ruining the Warriors Homecoming.
The Warriors managed to score only twice, a 41-yard Johnny Armijo field goal in the first quarter and a 2-yard Jared Jackson touchdown pass to Kelvin Brigham in the second quarter.
The North Mesquite offense was too potent for the Warriors’ defense, scoring 29 points in the game.
Continue reading "Warriors Lose Homecoming 29-9 to North Mesquite" »
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| Winston Minix speaks to a group of representative from various local businesses about Dubiski Career High School's innovative business-school partnership programs. Photo by Steve Adams/GPISD |
On Thursday, representatives from many local businesses got the opportunity to learn about Dubiski Career High School’s innovative programs that partners the school, its students with local businesses.
Winston Minix, Internship Coordinator, laid out the plan that includes businesses as an important part of student’s education.
The programs, setup to give students “real world” experiences, allows seniors to work at local businesses as an unpaid intern for five weeks, Minix said.
Continue reading "Dubiski Career High School Announces Business Partnership Programs" »
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| Larry Cheshier (center), Beazer Homes, cuts the ribbon at Thursday's ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by members of the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce Branding Irons. © 2011 - Bob Fitch/Grand Prairie Reporter |
Members of the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce Branding Irons hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday at Beazer Homes’ latest development in Mira Lagos.
The development has 54 lots available and features homes sized 2054 to 4511 square feet, priced at $199,990 to $270,990.
Beazer Homes USA, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the top ten homebuilders in the United States with operations in 16 states across the country building high performance homes, called eSMART.
Continue reading "Chamber of Commerce Hosts Ribbon Cutting at Beazer Homes in Mira Lagos" »
Light-hitting Jake Krause drove in the eventual winning run with a seventh-inning single, and the St. Paul Saints got a pair of two-out insurance runs in the ninth inning, as they beat the Grand Prairie AirHogs 5-2 at Midway Stadium on Thursday, taking a commanding two games to none lead in the best-of-five American Association Championship Series.
Grand Prairie got ahead with runs in the first and third, but did not score again against four St. Paul pitchers. Danny Figueroa led off the game with a triple and scored on Stephen Douglas's infield single. Cesar Nicolas drove an RBI double to right-center off Alberto Rolon in the fourth to give Grand Prairie a two-run cushion, but Rolon held the AirHogs off the board until he departed with two outs in the seventh.
AirHogs starter Tim Brown (0-1) was brilliant the first three innings, facing the minimum nine hitters while getting nine ground balls and a caught stealing. But after getting the first out of the fourth, Adam Frost singled, and Ryan Patterson lined a sinking shot to right. Douglas dove for it and it hit off his glove, allowing Frost to score from first and Patterson to go to second. Ole Sheldon came up and lined the first pitch he saw into center to score Patterson and tie the game.
The game remained tied into the late innings, and Rolon departed with runners at the corners and two outs in the seventh. Julio DePaula (2-1) came on and got Chris McMurray on a groundout to third to end that inning, and the Saints got the lead for good in the bottom half.
Jason Cooper led off with a double and went to third on Aharon Eggleston's sacrifice bunt. Krause came in to the at-bat with two hits in his first 26 playoff tries, but lined a single up the middle to make it 3-2. St. Paul got two more with two outs in the eighth, on a base hit by Richard Mercado and an error, and Tyler Walker closed things out with a scoreless ninth to get his first save of the playoffs.
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| Tim Anderson - President of Traders Village Markets and Allan Hughes -General Manager Traders Village Grand Prairie, look on as part of the new family thrill ride "Pharaoh's Fury" is installed. Photo by Traders Village |
Traders Village announced today the opening, this Saturday, September 10, 2011, of its newest two attractions, PHARAOH’S FURY and THE FREEFALL.
“We are pleased to premiere these family-oriented rides as part of our on-going expansion of the family entertainment section of our market,” says Tim Anderson, president of Traders Village Markets.
Featuring a masthead that resembles the famous Egyptian Pharaoh, “King Tut,” PHARAOH’S FURY sweeps like a pendulum, racing back and forth in an arc that soars five stories above the 100+ acre market.
Continue reading "Pharaoh's Fury Sails into Traders Village" »
Tommy Tran, 22, of Carrollton and Choung Tran, 27, of Grand Prairie, were last seen going under the water while swimming near a boat in the area of Estes Point south of Lynn Creek Park.
Members Grand Prairie Police and Fire Departments have conducted daily searches for the bodies since Sunday.
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| Party guests get caught up in a messy situation in the Grand Prairie Arts Council’s production of Rumors. Cast members include Cindy Newton, Travis Cook, Keith Head, Rose Anne Holman, Jon Morehouse, Dana Harrison, Adam Wallman, Staci Ingram, Steve Adams and Denise Rodrigue. Photo by Libby Clawson |
By Libby Clawson
At a large, tastefully appointed Sneden's Landing townhouse, the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. Though only a flesh wound, four couples are about to experience a severe attack of Farce. Gathering for their tenth wedding anniversary, the host lies bleeding in the other room and his wife is nowhere in sight. His lawyer, Ken and wife Chris must get "the story" straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions and mis-communications mount, the evening spins off into classic farcical hilarity. Rumors is rated PG-13 for strong adult language and humor.
Continue reading "Rumors - A Classic Neil Simon Comedy" »
In their four-game Division Series win against Wichita, the Grand Prairie AirHogs pitchers allowed the leadoff runner to reach base 16 times in 26 innings. While the AirHogs were able to mostly get around that problem against Wichita, the St. Paul Saints were not so forgiving on Wednesday, jumping on Grand Prairie starter Jason Jennings for five runs in the first three innings, with the leadoff man reaching and scoring in all of them, winning Game 1 of the best-of-five American Association Championship Series 7-1 at Midway Stadium.
The AirHogs got a leadoff walk to Stephen Douglas to start the game, but he was stranded at third and Grand Prairie did not get another baserunner against Saints starter Todd Mathison (1-0) until the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, Jennings (0-1) allowed a single to Adam Frost to start the first, with the St. Paul second baseman swiping second before Shane Costa's RBI single put St. Paul on top. Richard Mercado singled to start the second, Jason Cooper's double sent him to third and Aharon Eggleston's sacrifice fly made it 2-0. After Jennings got Jake Krause on a foul-out, Frost had an infield single, before Costa and Ryan Patterson had two-out run-scoring hits to put Grand Prairie in a four-run hole.
A leadoff walk to Ronnie Bourquin started trouble for Grand Prairie in the third, and after a groundout and another walk, Eggleston singled to make it 5-0.
The AirHogs got their first hit when Guillermo Martinez singled to start the fourth, and David Espinosa singled behind him to give Grand Prairie a threat. But Greg Porter lined into a double play and Cesar Nicolas struck out, and the chance quickly dissipated.
In the sixth, Mathison again allowed a pair of singles to start the inning, but a Martinez flyout, Espinosa pop-out and Nicolas flyout kept the runners at second and third.
Grand Prairie finally got a run in the seventh on a double by Nicolas and a pair of fly balls, with David Thomas getting the sacrifice fly to bring in the lone AirHogs tally, but Cooper's two-run homer off Lance Janke in the bottom of the seventh saw that run and raised it one more to put the game well out of reach.
Mathison ended up going seven innings, and allowed five hits and a walk, struck out four and allowed just the lone run. Kyle Foster gave up one infield hit in his two innings of work, shutting the door on any thoughts of an AirHogs comeback.
The Grand Prairie AirHogs will go for their first championship in franchise history this week, taking on the St. Paul Saints in the 2011 American Association Championship Series. After dispatching the Wichita Wingnuts three games to one in the first round, the AirHogs will face St. Paul, who beat Winnipeg three games to two in their Division Series.
The two teams met once during the season, with St. Paul sweeping Grand Prairie at QuikTrip Park in June, winning 6-3 in 11 innings, before taking the next two games 5-4 and 7-0. The AirHogs are in their second Championship Series in franchise history, losing to Sioux Falls in 2008, while St. Paul is in their third American Association Championship Series, losing to Fort Worth in 2006 and 2007, having last won a championship in the Northern League in 2004.
Continue reading "AirHogs Set to Open Championship Series" »
According to Sergeant Chris Chopin, Lake Patrol, officers responded to the area of Estes Point south of Lynn Creek Park at approximately 4:35pm on Sunday. Witnesses told officers that Tommy Tran was swimming near a boat when he began to have difficulty. Choung Tran jumped in from the boat to help. Both men were seen going beneath the water and did not come up.
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The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for all of North Texas for today until 9:00 p.m.
Although it will be much cooler today with highs only in the 80s, the strong winds and low relative humidity along with the dry vegetation will create a very high fire danger. Any grass fires that develop will spread very rapidly.
Precautions:
Continue reading "High Winds Today, Critical Fire Danger" »
Uptaded: 9/6/2011 - 11:45 a.m.
The Grand Prairie Fire Department is investigating a house fire that started about 10:30 Sunday night in the 2300 block of Avenue C that killed one man.
Fire Chief Clif Nelson said the first arriving firefighters found the house engulfed in flames and the victim standing outside. For some unexplained reason the victim entered the burning house.
The Grand Prairie AirHogs mustered only three hits on Sunday night, but they scratched out two runs, while they got an exceptional performance from starter John Brownell, who allowed one run on five hits in eight sparkling innings, getting the AirHogs past the Wichita Wingnuts 2-1 at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium to win the Division Series three games to one, advancing to the American Association Championship Series.
Wingnuts starter Nick Singleton (0-1) was wild from the get-go, going to a full count on Stephen Douglas before retiring him on a flyout, and then walking the next three hitters. But Singleton struck out Cesar Nicolas and got John Alonso to fly out to end the first, while Wichita took the lead on a Mitch Einertson double in the bottom of the second.
But Brownell (1-0), who then walked Josh Workman to load the bases, worked out of that jam with a shallow flyout, a strikeout and a groundout, while Grand Prairie finally got to Singleton in the third.
Guillermo Martinez walked to lead off that frame, and went to second on David Espinosa's single up the middle. Greg Porter then lashed a two-strike pitch to right for an RBI single to tie the game, while Espinosa went to third. That proved to be crucial when Nicolas grounded into a double play to short, which allowed Espinosa to score to give the AirHogs the lead.
Singleton walked two more in the fourth and one in the fifth but escaped unscathed, before ending his night with a 1-2-3 sixth. The righty walked nine and struck out five, but kept his team in the game, allowing only the two runs on the two third-inning hits.
Brownell got double plays in the fourth and sixth to help him pitch five straight three-batter innings, before walking Edwin Bellorin to start the bottom of the eighth. Mike Conroy bunted Bellorin to second, but Brownell kept him there, striking out Jimmy Mojica and getting Josh Horn on a groundout to end the inning.
Jon Hunton, who won the first two games of the series in relief but struggled in Game 1, allowed a leadoff double to Juan Richardson to start the bottom of the ninth. Carlos Rivera grounded out for the first out, but Richardson advanced to third on the play. Grand Prairie brought the infield in, and Jorge Delgado hit a chopper to the third-base side. Greg Porter leapt up and snagged the ball, checked Richardson back to third and got Delgado for the second out, before Einertson popped up behind the plate, which Chris McMurray squeezed for the final out to set off an AirHogs celebration at home plate.
After scoring the tying and winning runs off the Wichita Wingnuts bullpen in the first two games of their best-of-five American Association Division Series, the Grand Prairie AirHogs found themselves in a familiar situation on Saturday night with a chance to advance to the league's Championship Series. But down by a run heading to the eighth, the AirHogs did not get a baserunner against a pair of Wingnuts relievers, as Wichita forced Game 4 of the series with a 5-3 win at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
Tickets are $8 each and the breakfast includes three pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes and your choice of coffee, juice or milk. There will be a silent auction, door prizes and a 50/50 drawing.
Continue reading "Grand Prairie Community Lions Club to Host First Annual Pancake Breakfast" »
On Saturday, September 17, gates open at 5 p.m. and the fun starts at 6 p.m. with the popular local band Double Ace and an Art Show, followed by the 8 p.m. Little River Band concert, capped off with fireworks.
Continue reading "End of Summer Bash Features Little River Band, Cory Morrow, Fireworks and More" »
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The much anticipated cold front is scheduled to arrive during the day on Sunday bringing an end to the hot weather across the region.
It will be breezy behind the strong front with little, less than a 20 percent, chance of rain. Fire danger will remain extremely high for Sunday and Monday.
Temperatures Monday through Thursday will actually be below normal for a change. Highs will be in the 80s with lows in the 50s and 60s.
The Bishop Lynch defense stopped two Gopher drives in the closing minutes of Friday night’s football game to preserve a 16-13 victory at the Gopher-Warrior Bowl.
Bishop Lynch started the scoring in the first quarter with a 37-yard field goal, but the Gophers came right back, taking the lead on a 70-yard Brandon Fichter touchdown pass to Devante Lacy.
For the second night in a row, the Grand Prairie AirHogs' John Alonso was at the plate in a tie game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning. For the second night in a row, he did not have to take the bat off his shoulder, following up his walk in Game 1 of the 2011 American Association Division Series by watching a 3-1 pitch from Wichita Wingnuts closer Josh Dew sail over his head back to the screen for a game-winning wild pitch, as for the second day in a row David Espinosa scored the winning run, giving the AirHogs a wild 12-11 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series in front of 672 fans at QuikTrip Park.
Grand Prairie had trailed by as many as five runs before scoring seven straight to take an 11-9 lead in the seventh. But the Wingnuts rallied back with two runs in the eighth off Jon Fulton and Matt Sartor, before Jon Hunton (2-0) bailed Sartor out of a two-runner, one-out jam in the top of the ninth.
German Duran lined out to start the bottom of the ninth against Jared Simon (0-1), who was beginning his third inning of relief. Espinosa then walked, before Greg Porter just missed a game-winning home run to left, settling for a double that put Espinosa at third with one out. After Wichita elected to intentionally walk Cesar Nicolas, manager Kevin Hooper brought in Dew to face Alonso, who took a ball, a strike and another ball before Dew fired one high to end the game.
For the second straight game, Wichita struck first, getting a leadoff double in the first by Jimmy Mojica, before a sacrifice bunt and a two-out single by Carlos Rivera made it 1-0. Another leadoff double in the second led to another Wingnuts run, as Alonso could not handle Greg Porter's throw on Mojica's two-out bunt. After Grand Prairie starter Tim Brown worked a perfect third, Mitch Einertson had another leadoff hit to begin the fourth, scoring on Josh Workman's RBI double to make it 3-0.
The AirHogs rallied next, after going down with the minimum nine batters against Wingnuts starter Derek Blacksher in the first three frames. But four straight hits from Stephen Douglas, Duran, Espinosa and Porter put the AirHogs on the board in the bottom of the fourth, and after Nicolas grounded into a double play to bring home a second run, Alonso hit his second homer of the series - both coming to right field - to give Grand Prairie a 4-3 lead.
But that lead was short-lived, as Mojica led off the fifth with a single, Juan Richardson walked with one out, and Rivera lined a three-run homer just over the right-field wall to give the Wingnuts a 6-4 advantage. Brown was chased after a pair of one-out singles in the sixth, before Lance Janke gave up two singles and a walk and Bo Schultz allowed a sac fly for Rivera's fifth RBI, which put the score at 9-4 Wichita.
Duran, Espinosa and Porter knocked out Blacksher with consecutive hits to start the bottom of the sixth while plating a run, and former AirHog Geivy Garcia hit Nicolas to load the bases, before getting out Alonso but surrendering a two-run double to David Thomas, cutting the AirHogs' deficit to 9-7.
Update: 9/2/2011 - 6:30 a.m.
Grand Prairie police said a motorcyclist traveling southbound on Highway 161 was struck by a northbound truck that had turned west into the path of the motorcycle at the westbound service road of Interstate 20 at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Moments after their closer, the 2011 American Association relief pitcher of the year, Jon Hunton, gave up two runs to the Wichita Wingnuts, breaking a 1-1 tie in Game 1 of the American Association Division Series on Thursday night, the Grand Prairie AirHogs were staring down the barrel of Josh Dew's gun. The Wichita closer had a miniscule 1.13 ERA with 20 saves this season, and he made short work of Chris McMurray and Danny Figueroa for the first two outs.
But Stephen Douglas roped a double to right to extend the inning, and German Duran's two-strike bloop just got over Jimmy Mojica at second base to put Grand Prairie to within one. Up came David Espinosa, who fell behind 0-2, took a ball and fouled the next pitch off before drilling a fly ball to deep right just over the outstretched glove of Josh Workman for a game-tying triple.
Dew then intentionally walked Greg Porter and unintentionally walked Cesar Nicolas, before throwing the first pitch in the dirt to John Alonso. After talking to manager Kevin Hooper and Wingnuts trainer Jeremy Langer, Dew left the game, and Kendy Batista was left with the bases-loaded, two-out jam and a 1-0count to Alonso.
It did not take long for Batista to end the contest, missing with all three of his pitches to issue the game-ending free pass to give the AirHogs a dramatic 4-3 win in front of 672 fans at QuikTrip Park, earning the AirHogs the 1-0 edge in the best-of-five series.
The problems for Hunton (1-0) and Dew (0-1) came after a great pitchers' duel between Jason Jennings of Grand Prairie and Junior Guerra for Wichita. Jennings pitched eight innings of one-run ball, allowing a run on an RBI grounder by Juan Richardson in the third inning and pitching out of jams in the first, second, seventh and eighth. Jennings struck out six and walked two, allowing seven hits.
Guerra went 6 2/3 innings, and worked around baserunners in every one of his frames - with the lone run he gave up being a solo home run to Alonso in the fourth inning. Guerra struck out four and walked three, and also allowed seven hits. His bullpen backed him up in the seventh and eighth, as Jared Simon, Eric Gilliland and Matt Nevarez stranded four AirHogs baserunners by picking up the next four outs, including a first-and-third, one-out jam in the eighth.
It took until the final game of the season, but the Grand Prairie AirHogs finally have their first-round opponent for the 2011 American Association Playoffs – the Central Division champion Wichita Wingnuts.
Game 1 of the best-of-five series is at QuikTrip Park on Thursday, September 1, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Righty Jason Jennings will take the hill for the AirHogs against righty Junior Guerra for Wichita.
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