Bison
Postponed, postponed, cancelled, cancelled, cancelled, yada, yada, yada. Spring's continued imitation of Winter has caused more of those words to show up in relation to area sports. The Bison weren't as snake bitten as others in the region but the loss of PT was still in play...pun intended.
The week started with each of the golf teams taking part in two day invitationals. The men struggled to a 15th place finish while the ladies of the links came home with some hardware. Junior Emma Groom came home with her first individual tournament win while the team also managed to shoot the lowest score for the fourth time this season. Well done!
In likeminded fashion both Track & Field teams had individual performances that put themselves amongst the best in NDSU history. After doing research for the Bison Bracket, which is nearing the conclusion of it's second round, I have found a new appreciation for individual greatness in the sports that get so little attention. Namely in this case was Payton Otterdahl (Discus) who extended his own school record holding throws by an additional nine feet to rank sixth in the country! While on the ladies side of things, Piper Jensen paced the way for the Bison with the fourth best long jump in NDSU history. Plenty of names of these young men & women moved up the list of all time performances, and I would encourage you to take a look at the recaps!
Then on the precipice of the weekend both the Baseball and Softball teams squeezed in doubleheaders. The men scored at a close to equal rate as their Coyote hosts but came up a few runs short between the two games. In another part of Sioux Falls the women managed a split, first by scoring 9 and giving up 2 followed by a loss 11-3. That's pretty much as inconsistent as it gets but is partially justifiable too. After all that, came the cancellations.
Twins
They only snuck in one of a scheduled four games against Chicago this week due to weather. Nine innings is all it took to create the sort of headlines that entire seasons of recent play have lacked. The first being Mr. Mauer's 2000th hit. Can't knock that it became the main topic of conversation with all the reschedules and he's only the third player to get that many hits in a Twins uniform.
I'm personally more enamored with the young hurler Jose Berrios. He showed many of the same traits last season so the next step in his ascension is to do it through game 162 & beyond. As things have been so far though, he's unhittable and it's a treat to watch!
Timberwolves
Playoffs. Timberwolves. Two words that are quite unfamiliar...until now!
The longest playoff drought has ended!
A drought that nearly pre-dates my earliest high school experiences has finally come to an end.
The reward is that they have to play a legitimate championship contender who swept the season series and did so by wide margins. The best possible outcome that I can foresee is that they manage to avoid getting swept again. Just win one game. Being competitive in all of em would be marvelous but at a minimum get a win!
Dragons
Speaking of postponements and cancellations, it wasn't just a snake bite on the Fargo side. MSUM missed out on a sextet of Softball games and a Golf match but otherwise wasn't as negatively impacted as others. The action that they did manage commenced with a loss by the Tennis team to Winona State.
That was followed by a Track & Field day in Vermillion. The top result of the mixed level event came via the running of Josh Young who won the 800 meter. On the other side of, the top result for the women came from Judith Robinson, who managed top three finishes in both the 200 & the 400. A mixed bag of other fine finishes can be credited to the Dragons but none topped those two.
Last but not least, the Softball team did manage to get one of their doubleheaders in before ma nature interfered. The first resulted in a four run loss for the home team but was followed up with a four run win over Minot State. It seems excessive to think that they almost had to play 8 games in six days, it remains to be known if any of the postponed ones will be made up later but for now, maybe Spring can start to resemble Summer or ya know, Spring.
Cobbers
In a surprising development, Concordia managed to get most of their schedule competitions in this week. Softball and Baseball were the main victims of nature but even they got several games in. The fast pitchers got swept on the week and weren't competitive in any of their four. Baseball split a pair at Hamline.
Beyond the diamond, both Track teams took part in relays in Sioux City. None of the results were particularly noteworthy but is a win just based on the fact that they managed to get the competitions!
Force
The Force close out their regular season tonight but in a less than climactic finish as they were all but assured to be in the third slot for the post season before they even took to the ice. All the relevant information will be out soon but I think the main story about the Force from the past week is that they're going to start a Hockey training center in Fargo. It's not quite the signature element that I hope someone will eventually bring to Fargo but it could be something that the area becomes known for! That would be of much higher value than any single outcome or piece of information.
High School Sports
Still a whole bunch of crickets for the prep players. The snow has mostly melted but up til now it's still been a bunch of indoor work. I feel bad for the kids, for all the experiences and opportunities that they've missed out on this year. Hopefully there will be enough time for them to get in enough play to knock off the rust, gel on the fields and qualify for the playoffs.