TUESDAY, JULY 21:
Baseball:
Flandreau Cardinals @ Aurora A’s, 7:00pm
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22:
Baseball:
Brookings Bombers Black @ Regional Tournament, Aberdeen
2:30pm: #5 Aberdeen vs. #4 Renner
4:45pm: #3 Huron vs. #2 Watertown
7:00pm: Aberdeen/Renner winner vs. #1 Brookings
Volga 15-16 @ West Central White, 7:00pm, Humboldt
Brookings ‘Chutes @ State Tournament, Pierre
State “B” American Legion Tournament @ Salem
10:00am: Vermillion vs. Garretson
1:00pm: Spearfish vs. Webster
5:00pm: Tabor vs. Humboldt
8:00pm: Groton vs. McCook/Miner County
U12 ALL-STARS…The Brookings U12 All-Stars placed third in their state tournament played over the weekend in Brandon.
Brookings defeated the SWAT Tigers 10-3 in the third place game. Sam Hardin had two hits and three RBI, with Josh Devine and Jesse Roberts chipping in two hits each. Cole McKeown and Talon Richter each pitched three innings – McKeown struck out six
The SWAT Slammers scored in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-6 win in the semifinals. Trey Svennes had two hits and McKeown drove in three runs. Hardin pitched three innings and posted two strikeouts.
Brookings built a 10-2 lead against Mitchell, and had to hang on for a 12-10 win – MItchell scored eight runs in its final two at-bats.
Lincoln Hardin pitched five innings with five strikeouts – and drove in five runs.
A nine-run second and a six-run fourth lifted Brookings to a 16-5 win over Huron. McKeown had three hits, with Jake Ammann and Svennes getting two hits each. Ammann pitched three innings, striking out four.
In four tournament appearances this season, Brookings posted a 13-2-1 record.
SDSU GOLF…South Dakota State has signed golfer Keegan Brasch of Sherwood, OR, to a national letter of intent.
In his first men’s amateur event, Brasch finished tied for third at the Malaro Invitational, shooting a 74. Additionally, he has won consecutive junior events in the Arizona Junior Golf Association. Brasch won the Chandler City Junior Championship and the Scottsdale Junior Championship. He also tied for 13th at the Northern Amateur.
This spring, Brasch finished fifth at the U.S. Open qualifier, shooting a 74.
At Sherwood High School, Brasch had the Class 5A Northwest Oregon Conference-low scoring average (72.6) and helped the team place second at state in 2014. Additionally, he played U-16, U-18 and U-20 ice hockey in Sweden.
ZENNER…Former South Dakota State running back Zach Zenner’s preparing to report to the Detroit Lions’ training camp August 3rd.
He says the Lions will have six backs in camp – all bring different skill sets.
Zenner spent his time since signing in rookie and veteran camps, other organized team activities, and working with trainers in Dallas, Texas. He says he’s also been busy with a rather thick playbook.
Zenner thinks his chances of coming out of camp with a roster spot are good. He says he’ll have to show coaches he can perform on special teams.
Zenner was in Brookings Monday for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes football camp – about 60 elementary and middle school players, and around two dozen high schoolers, participated.
NEB WESLEYAN JUMPING GPAC…The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will expand to as league officials say Nebraska Wesleyan has accepted an invitation to join the conference in 2016.
Nebraska Wesleyan is currently affiliated with both NCAA Division III and the NAIA – the only school in the country with dual affiliation. Currently a member of the NAIA’s Great Plains Athletic Conference, Nebraska Wesleyan will be an exclusive member of NCAA Division III.
It’s the first addition to the Iowa Conference since Coe College and Cornell College joined in 1997 and the first change in the conference’s membership since Cornell returned to the Midwest Conference after the 2011-12 academic year. Nebraska Wesleyan will be the 20th institution to compete as a member of the league.
IA ST MBB…Steve Prohm inherited more than just a talented team when he accepted the Iowa State job.
He also took over a group whose personality had already been forged through years of shared experiences – good and bad.
Prohm and the Cyclones are about to truly get to know one another.
Iowa State opened practice Monday in preparation for a four-game trip to Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid early next month. Prohm says the trip is “not really about winning games and playing. It’s about the time together, the camaraderie.”
The Cyclones, who won 25 games and the Big 12 tournament last season, open the 2015-16 on Nov. 13 against Colorado in Sioux Falls.
The NCAA allows teams to make one trip overseas every four years.
ACC FB…Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford says the league will have team medical observers in the booth during games this fall to improve player safety.
Speaking during the ACC Kickoff preseason media day, Swofford says the observer will be somebody involved with players “on an ongoing and day-to-day basis,” making them able to spot problems that might go unnoticed on the sideline.
Swofford says that person won’t be able to stop the game, but will be able to communicate with that team’s sideline. He says the observer will travel to all games with a team, including on the road.
Swofford also says there remains no timetable on the league potentially creating its own TV channel. He says the league is still discussing the possibility of an ACC-specific channel with ESPN and within the league. He says ACC officials are being very deliberate and thorough in the decision-making process.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has entered a period of strength and stability. Nobody’s coming in anytime soon, and nobody’s leaving.
The league has won three straight Orange Bowls. It placed its champion into the inaugural College Football Playoff.
BIG 12 CONTACT RULE…The Big 12 is further restricting the NCAA rule on contact in football practice by allowing two tackling sessions per week, including a game.
The national rule allows for a total of three full-contact sessions, game included. The Big 12 will allow two practices for players held out of games. Two full-contact workouts for the team are permissible in bye weeks.
All the league coaches asked about the change at media day Monday said the tighter limits wouldn’t affect their plans. TCU coach Gary Patterson said the Horned Frogs already have just one full-pad practice during game weeks.
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the change came from a discussion with athletic directors, who talked to their coaches before approving the more stringent rule.
BIG 12 FB…Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby doesn’t believe his league is at any disadvantage with 10 teams, and says there isn’t any real push for expansion.
Bowlsby says a majority of the Big 12 presidents and chancellors “at the present time” believe 10 is the right number for the league.
The commissioner’s comments at the start of the league’s football media days came less than a month after Oklahoma President David Boren suggested the Big 12 should strive to again be a 12-team league. Boren believes the Big 12 is “psychologically disadvantaged” being a smaller conference.
Bowlsby says some Big 12 leaders feel strongly about staying at 10, others feel the same about expanding, and others in middle could be persuaded either way.
MARCH MADNESS… The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee is making some changes to how it seeds teams for March Madness.
The committee will now have the flexibility to slide every team up or down the seed list, including the last four at-large teams selected. Until now, the last four teams voted into the tournament field had to participate in the First Four. Going forward, the last four at-large teams on the overall seed list will play in the First Four.
The committee will also now have more flexibility for handling the No. 2 seeds. The committee can now consider moving the team seeded fifth overall out of its natural geographic area, which will avoid the best No. 2 seed being placed in the same region as the top overall team.
FIU MARKETING…Florida International is the first college to sign a multimedia rights contract with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment.
The seven-year contract was announced Monday, with cash guarantees of about $4 million for FIU and a total value estimated at $9.2 million.
Van Wagner will manage FIU’s local broadcast and digital media and venue signage. It also will be involved in the marketing and promotion of home sports events.
Some of Van Wagner’s clients include the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and the U.S. Figure Skating team, as well as some NBA, MLS and Major League Baseball teams.
FIU director of sports and entertainment Pete Garcia says the deal gets the school to a different level financially and gets Van Wagnermore exposure.
FIU is the nation’s fourth-largest university with about 55,000 students.
FOWLING…A new sport conceived by tailgaters at the Indianapolis 500 is off to the races near Detroit.
Part football, part bowling, the hybrid game of fowling (FOAL’-ing) is the draw at a 34,000-square-foot repurposed industrial site in Hamtramck.
The Fowling Warehouse features 20 lanes, where players or teams try to be the first to knock down all 10 of their opponents’ bowling pins by tossing a football from a distance of up to 48 feet.
Owner and game creator Chris Hutt says the early numbers are encouraging, with fowlers packing the place on Friday and Saturday nights.
Hutt says the game he invented while messing around with friends “is simple yet difficult, infuriating yet hilariously fun.”