The Week That Was

Marathon Photos

The calendar has reach it's most inert period but in the wake of rookie camp the Purple did make one swap, signing undrafted LB William Kwenkeu (Temple) and releasing Tuf Borland.

NDSU's week began with another former standout getting a chance to stick in the League as Denver re-signed Zach Johnson after releasing him the previous Thursday. Former 🏈 player news continued as Quincy Patterson tabbed Temple as his next place to pursue a professional career. He may not get the same level of coaching or exposure but his chance to get on the field for more than running plays should be better. If nothing else it gives us something else to keep an eye on next Fall.

The press release news continued as Amanda Anderson headlined an 18-lady contingent for League Honors after the Outdoor Championships the prior week.

As the week's competition unfolded Nate Deziel had a top-60 finish at the West Regional. With one year of eligibility remaining we will see if NIL & the portal are a lure for the East Grand Forks native.

Then came the regular season finale for the ⚾️ team. After a weather delay forced a double-header Friday they were able to secure the program's first regular season title! The League tournament begins in Tulsa, Wednesday afternoon.

It was a week of training as the D2 championships in Allendale, MI remain on the horizon for four competitors but the Fire-Breathers still made some news this week. The first major announcement for the newly-named AD Chad Markuson was the head men's 🏀 coach. After the list of candidates was trimmed to three the decision was made to stay in-house and promote Tim Bergstraser to the position.

Concordia got some Conference honors this past week as Megan Gavin & Kenzie Leither and Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe & Andy Gravdahl were named to the All-Conference teams.

This week began a stretch of should-win games that will continue into next month. They had little trouble taking the first series against Oakland and then did a number to Kansas City, culminating with the biggest comeback since late in 2018 as they rallied from down 6 - 0 going into the 8th to secure the sweep. Along the way they got Carlos Correa back from the injured list which lead to Royce Lewis being sent to St. Paul to gain some seasoning at positions other than shortstop so that he can be an impact player alongside CC. With as much as he's gone through in his young career it's hard to imagine Lewis wilting at mistakes he may have made had he remained with the big club for those experiences but getting his feet wet against lesser players makes some sense. Off-the-field news struck again hours later as Chris Paddack was confirmed to have gone under the knife for season-ending Tommy John surgery. They don't have a single pitcher that is their go-to and losing Paddack doesn't change that but it makes them just that much thinner.

After dropping two of three in KC as their bats were chilled the Birds came back with some vengeance in Texas, winning easily Friday & edging Cleburne Saturday as Alex DuBord continued his scoreless start to the season with his third save in three chances. If he can keep anywhere near that level of precision up as a hometown kid he will quickly become a fan-favorite & then get snatched by an affiliated org! They will open the ballpark Tuesday evening against Milwaukee before heading back on the road until the second week of June.

Reminder that scores are added daily plus there's a new home for recruiting news, so check back often!

As brackets continued to be finalized highlights continued to emerge.

With a 3 - 2 win over Northern Cass, Central secured the #1 seed in the Region 1 ⚾️ playoff. Their rivals to the South also managed to end the regular season on a high-note, beating Oak Grove by 12. To the South, Hankinson didn't have to wait for the tournament games to begin to end a season as they eliminated Enderlin from contention. They then got a taste of the other side as Kindred/Richland drubbed them 22 - 4, Nick Thompson finished with a pair of homers. In their first tournament game the Grovers put up 14 runs on Oakes but couldn't stash any away from the Squirrels as they were on the losing end of such a performance later on Thursday. Kin/Rich returned to the diamond against NC, winning 5 - 1 to set up another meeting with Central Cass. The Vikings built the same lead only to give up nine straight runs as CC blasted four balls. The Jags weren't done as they came back from a 4 - 0 deficit to walk-off on OG!

The fireworks continued on the smaller field. Thompson edged Kindred 5 - 4 to start the week but then got bit 4 - 3 by #1 Central Cass. The Tommies then proceeded to get by Hillsboro 12 - 2 & Larimore 20 - 3 while Kindred doubled-up Lake Park. LP/A followed that with a 10 - 4 win over Hillcrest Academy. The surprise team of the week started it with a shut-out loss against Northern Cass. The Hankinson Co-op bounced back with an 11 - 1 win over Hillsboro and then had the biggest upset of the season, beating Central Cass 4 - 2 in the Region 1 tournament!

As for the in-town teams, Shanley started the week with a 10 - 0 whipping of Red River while Moorhead was seven runs better than St. Cloud. The ⚾️ continued with D/G/F & WF doubling up while Sheyenne & Shanley scored 28 total runs while giving up just one to the original Fargo's. The Deacons followed with a 12 - 0 win over Davies, safe to say they're in playoff form! The Mustangs closed in on the weekend with an 11 - 5 victory over Jamestown. The Eagles ended the regular season with a 10 - 2 win against Jamestown.

The two most highly-regarded East teams started the week with a double-header with Sheyenne coming out ahead of their Northern neighbors each time. West Fargo slept on that and then drubbed Red River 21 - 3. North also put up a big number in their annual fundraiser game versus South. The Bruins also had a tough go of it against Sheyenne, losing 16 - 0. The Brown & Yellow got their bats going against Devils Lake & Valley City with 30 total runs but VC got 22 across home to win by 4. Following the final few games Saturday the tournament field was set.

Following a pair of lopsided wins over D/G/F, Moorhead learned it's playoff fate - @ #4 Rogers on Tuesday afternoon. For the Rebels it was two losses late in a nine-game week where they won six. Lake Park also got it's pairing, Ashby at home on Tuesday. Ada/Borup ended the regular season on a 4 - 0 week, beginning with a 15 - 0 win over Rothsay & 14 - 4 over Red Lake. Fertile/Beltrami also ended on a high-note, scoring 48 runs against just 9 over their final three. The same can said of Hawley as they won their final seven games.

The Nugget boys took four of their five contests, started with a 16 - 5 win over Breckenridge. D/G/F proved to be 10-runs better than South Wednesday evening. One score that's still hard to believe is Red Lake hanging 40 on Lake Park in a game that was not a shootout! A far cry from that but Ulen/Hitterdal had a healthy double-digit margin of victory in both of their early games this week while Win/E/Mac managed a 12 - 3 victory over Bagley.

On the 🎾 court Davies girls had themselves a week! They started with a shutout win versus Wahpeton as well and added another competitor to the recruitment ranks. The Eagles repeated it against Shanley in a rain-shortened set and then again, against South Thursday. They kept it going Friday with decisive outcomes over Bismarck & Legacy. Now comes the tournament test! Sheyenne also came within one of a shutout victory mid-week against North. The Spartans followed with a 7 - 2 outcome over Shanley while Sheyenne had a 6 - 3 vs. VC. Moorhead's boys had section action against Detroit Lakes and were on the wrong end of a shutout.

If that was the Taters low point, Ellineus Davis provided some highs with record throws in both the discus & the shot put! That was the tip of the ice berg as far as T & F accomplishments this week went. Kindred's girls & boys were the SE Region champs, which included a LOOONG list of individual winners, record setters & state qualifiers! On the Class A side, Sheyenne's boys paced the way for the second year in a row while Davies girls were nearly 90 points clear of the field for their latest title. The Fargos were then well-represented on the All-Conference teams.

The Eagles were the only one to crack the best-of for the pitch with a 6 - 0 showing opposite Central.

On the ⛳️ course Davies was a few strokes better than North to start the week and they did even better in Detroit Lakes Saturday. Fertile/Beltrami added a conference win at Lake Park. Moorhead's girls took the Fergus Falls invite with six of the top 11 finishers.

On the lacrosse field Moorhead's boys were nine better than Monticello while the girls edged Duluth, 10 - 7.

Beyond all those lines the rosters for the softball all-star exhibition games were announced.

In addition to that, Sheyenne boys 🏀 has it's new head coach as Tim Brandt will take the reigns after working as an assistant to Tom Kirchoffner.

The Club had it's home opener Saturday and nearly earned a draw, falling 2 - 1 to Med City.