As the rookies took the fields in Eagan, reaction to the newly-released schedule continued. The rookie weekend is an important first look at all 11 of the draft picks plus a litany of try-out players, including Marquise Bridges as he endeavors to extend his playing career. With the conclusion of Mike Hughes' time in Minnesota the opportunity for him to get onto the 90 man roster couldn't be much better as he is one of two corners apart of the workouts. The days to come will have much more insight about the workouts but the confluence of the two main entities led to it being the top consideration.
NDSU began close-out week against Concordia ⚾️ and got more than they bargained for. After falling behind 2-0 in the first, the Bison rallied to take a 6-2 lead in the second, capped by a Jake Malec 2-run homer. The four run advantage was cut in half one inning later and Concordia continued to battle to a 6 all tie in the sixth. Then came NDSU's chance to push back immediately, this time thanks to a 2-run double by Garret Hill. Wyatt Gunkel got one back in the ninth but Shea Zetterman slammed the door on the Corn with the bases loaded, 8-7.
Softball was up next, against UND in the first round of the conference tourney but their down season ended in like fashion, 6-5 in the 10th.
That opened the door for track & field to buck the Spring trend in Vermillion. Both the men & women showed that they are the still the classes of the league with their 11th & 13th straight championships with plenty of impressive performances on each of the three days!
Which leaves ⚾️ . They split the first night of their home finale against SDSU 7-4 (w) & 5-0 (L). It took another late-game rally in the win but they went from being down 4-2 to up 7-4 without the benefit of a long ball. They guaranteed themselves at least a series split with a 5-3 victory in the same mold, only with the last three runs of the game.
Then came the exclamation point
They scored a run for every inning through six, plus another for good measure before the Bunnies got on the board. When the difference was reduced to five the Bison came back with their own two runs, thanks to a Bennett Hostetler single. That concluded a record-setting conference season as well as a new high for total wins in program history. They've still got three in Kentucky next weekend so the season total mark could get that much more impressive.
Beyond the fields, 🏈 was once again well-represented on the All-American rolls. Cordell Volson, Christian Watson & Garret Wegner were on the AP list while James Kaczor & Spencer Waege made the AFCA.
The recent major league stint by Jay Flaa continued as Atlanta claimed his contract rights off waivers from Baltimore.
Moorhead State was the first to hit the Summer slowdown with conference track & field being the lone events of the week. Nadir Yusuf & Shyrone Kemp were once again the standard-bearers but several more of the competitors represented the university well. The national qualifiers will be announced Tuesday but along with those two making it for running & jumping, Rachel Schumacher was all-conference for the high-jump.
The Cobbers had more on their docket but the season-ending theme continued.
Before the end came the beginning and that went the way of the ⚾️ team against NDSU but already talked that one up above.
A few days later softball opened their postseason against St. Benedict. They made good on their first appearance in the conference tournament with a 2-0 win in the seventh inning from Riley Bergstrom & Kenzie Leither. They weren't able to spin any more magic as St. Olaf beat them 2-1 in eight innings on Friday & Bethel ended their season 5-1 Saturday. Five years on the job & Chad Slyter has them going in the right direction!
On the other diamond Concordia scored the last eight runs of the game to win 8-6, with five of the runs involving Max Boran. On Sunday they sustained the suspense until the 7th but then exploded for eight runs while giving up just one. This time Ben Swanson paced the way with three RBIs. St. Olaf responded in game two, only trailing for two half-innings on the way to a 10-8 victory.
At the conference track & field championship both the men & women made memories on Saturday & Sunday which culminated in sixth place finishes by each. Next up
Going against one final team with championship aspirations - however unlikely their odds actually are this postseason - Minnesota had a chance to make a statement going into an offseason that's chalk full of uncertainty.
The biggest question outside of how the ping-pong balls will fall is what the ops will do with Towns & Russell, especially the latter. Edwards proved during the second half of the season that he can be a cornerstone but how the contracts are managed to improve the talent overall is going to be a hot topic. If the balls fall in Minnesota's favor then Russell may begin next season in another zip code which. It's a long shot and the team didn't help itself in that respect but the possibility exists.
The Howl also had a weekend about a decade in the making as Kevin Garnett was officially added to the hall of fame. The relationship between the best player in the franchise's history and the organization remains frosty but the new ownership that is coming in should help to mend that break. From what KG said during his induction speech he still cares about the community so that's another thing to be fixed in the future.
Said it before and will say it again, this organization is not boring even when they're terrible!
Five games to determine a champion.
In the opening period Kyle Smolen & Jack Peart put Fargo ahead 2-0 then in the third Aaron Huglen added the third & final goal of the game while Andrew Miller went 20/20 on saves.
It was a dominant performance that gave the impression of a short series.
But then came game 2
Chicago left after the first minute and except for a 3-minute stretch in the middle of the first which was tied 1-1 they held the advantage, leaving the ice for the night ahead 4-1.
Now they will come to Fargo for a pair of games Friday & Saturday with the potential fifth game set for a week from Tuesday back in the Windy City.
It's getting nice outside but the ice is still going to be the hottest place to be next weekend!
The only question that remains is which team showed their true self & which was closer to a fluke.
We shall see!
The ⚾️ team had it's introduction to the season against a team from California. If the results prove to be an indication of what they are going to do this season then Newman is going to be a hoot! Even if that's not how most or many of the games go this year, winning 20-4 & 21-2 are a dandy pair of outcomes!
Now they're headed to Texas for the Tuesday start.
The week started with a cross-town ⚾️ showdown in West Fargo and ended with a flurry of softball games between A & B schools in the area. There was also more action on the college recruitment front, it really is an every-week element!
In addition to those events came one of the highest recognitions that has yet come from the FMWF:
It took til the end of the school year but Trey Feeney was announced as the Minnesota Player of the Year by a certain beverage brand.
There isn't a better note to end on than that!
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