SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2024
SCHOLTEN STARTS TONIGHT IN KANSAS CITY
EXPLORERS LOOK TO KEEP WINNING CAMPAIGN GOING ON ROAD SWING
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Iowa State Representative and current Sioux City Explorer J.D. Scholten will continue his fantastic story, making his sixth start of the season in the Explorers current road swing. Scholten is scheduled to start game one of a doubleheader tonight at 5:00 p.m. at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas against the reigning American Association champions, the Kansas City Monarchs. The game will air free on radio on KSCJ and on video stream at aabaseball.tv. Sioux City won the series opener 18-8 on Monday night, trimming the KC lead over Sioux City for the final playoff spot to just two games. The two teams will play two seven inning games with game two to follow approximately 30 minutes after game one. The Scholten comeback has been covered coast to coast this season and continues to be one of the sports stories that people are talking about this summer.
The background story is this: Sioux City Manager Steve Montgomery needed a starter for the Explorers July 6 game against Milwaukee Milkmen. He turned to Scholten who delivered a quality start for the Explorers. The right-hander went 6.2 innings, scattering seven hits and giving up two earned runs. Scholten then returned to the hill on July 11 at Fargo, tossing 6.0 innings while giving up only one earned run on seven hits and ending a three-game losing streak in a 3-1 win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Scholten picked up his third win when the club returned home on July 20, going 5.1 against the Sioux Falls Canaries in game two of a doubleheader. He allowed one earned run on five hits in a 3-2 win. In the club’s lone trip to Texas, he went 4.1 innings in a no decision against the league’s top team, the Cleburne Railroaders. Scholten returned to Siouxland last week and picked up the win over the Lincoln Saltdogs, securing a series win for Sioux City. He hurled another quality start going 6.1 innings scattering nine hits while allowing a pair of earned runs in a 6-2 win over the Saltdogs. For the season, Scholten is 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 28.2 innings with 14 strikeouts and 10 walks.
,In another interesting twist, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown picked up on his amazing story and asked for the cap he wore in his first start against Milwaukee on July 6 for their collection in New York. A few hours after the request, the cap was thought to be lost in the bus fire that the team experienced in the overnight hours traveling to Kane County following the club’s win over Lincoln on August 1. A team representative returned to the sight of the fire on Sunday, August 4 and found the cap down the side of an embankment next to where the incident occurred, adding another element to the Scholten story. The cap is now not only game worn but also a testimony to surviving a bus fire when it is added to the museum.
Scholten, 44 is a native of Sioux City and is a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing District 1 as a Democrat in the state legislature in Des Moines. Scholten attended Morningside College, where he pitched and played first base for three years, and then he transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to pitch for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as a senior. In 2002, he led the Cornhuskers in earned run average. He earned his degree from Nebraska in December 2003. He played baseball and basketball at East High School in Sioux City and was born in Ames. He began his pro career in 2003 and would spend parts of three seasons with the Explorers in 2004 and 2006 – 2007. Scholten made his return to professional baseball last summer, playing in the Dutch League.
The Explorers have set up a file drive for all items related to Scholten, including highlights, interviews and photos available here. For all photos each file is labeled with the proper photo credit or if not in a file please credit the Sioux City Explorers. The game video is courtesy of the American Association. Please feel free to reach out to the club media relations team for any needs, including media availability.
The Explorers will play two seven inning games today at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas with a first pitch set for 5:00 p.m. For more information or for media requests, please feel free to reach out at 817-739-3693. Tickets for the season can be purchased online at XSBaseball.com, in person at the Lewis and Clark Park Box Office or by calling 712-277-WINS. For more information or for media requests, call 817-739-3693.
TUNE INTO ALL THE EXPLORERS ACTION ON KSCJ AND AABASEBALL.TV