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 By Jeff Baranick
With May's passage on the calendar, the 2026 North
Dakota Spring prep sports season has almost wrapped up
competition, with only Classes A & B boys' golf still to
hold state tournaments later this week. In this weekend
just concluded, state tourneys were staged in Classes
A&B softball and baseball, plus girls' soccer and
tennis. KDKT Sports Radio was on the scene in Jamestown
for live-coverage of Beulah Miner state softball games
played at Trapper Field in the Buffalo City. And Beulah
claimed a 3rd-place finish, sandwiching gratifying 1st &
3rd day wins around a heart-breaking 12-11 loss to
eventual state champion Central Cass in the semifinal
round. The Beulah state tourney victories were by
tallies of 2-1 & 6-0, respectively, over Thompson and
Velva-Drake-Anamoose. Beulah's perennial All-State
standout, Sr P Addie Dale-Geiger, concluded her sterling
prep career going 7-for-11 at the plate in tournament
play with a Grand Slam, multiple extra-base hits
otherwise, 6 RBI, and 3 runs scored, plus 23 strikeouts
recorded in the pitcher's circle. At tourney's end,
Dale-Geiger was recognized as Class B softball's Senior
Athlete of the Year. For repeat state champion Central
Cass and veteran head coach Scott Kost, their two other
wins in Jamestown were by scores of 13-3 over Pembina
County North (PCN) in the quarterfinals and 10-2 over
Kindred-Richland in the final. Since the sanctioning of
Class B softball by the NDHSAA 14 years ago, the
Squirrels have appeared in 12 title-tilts and have now
won 8 state crowns. In other state-placement games at
Trapper Field on Saturday, Glenburn outlasted PCN 13-11
for 7th , while Thompson trounced Des
Lacs-Burlington/L&C 8-3 for 5th. Moving on to the state
A softball tourney in Minot, the Williston Coyotes
repeated as state champions with a hard-fought,
9-inning, 8-7 victory over Dickinson in the title-clash.
Nabbing 5th place was Fargo Davies with an 11-10
squeaker over Legacy, while West Fargo Horace hammered
Mandan 7-0 for 3rd place. Turning to the baseball side
of the ledger, Jamestown's Jack Brown Stadium played
host to the state B tourney this week; and claiming the
state championship, breaking Thompson's 4-year hold on
the title, was Park River Area. The Aggies, after
walloping Shiloh Christian 11-1 and trouncing Thompson
9-1 in the first two rounds of tourney play, then buried
Kindred 9-2 in the final to return to the top of Class B
baseball for the first time since their 3-year run of
dominance spanning the years 2017-2019. Additionally, it
was LaMoure-Litchville-Marion blanking Bottineau 10-zip
for 7th place; Des Lacs-Burlington shutting out Shiloh
Christian 2-0 for 5th place; and Thompson doubling up
Velva-Drake-Anamoose 6-3 for 3rd place. A noteworthy
highlight for Shiloh Christian was its Jr right-hander
Justin Bosch tossing a complete-game no-hitter in the
Skyhawks' 1-0 win over Bottineau in consolation-round
play on Friday. Then in the state A baseball tournament
played at Minot's Corbett Field over the weekend, Fargo
South thumped West Fargo Sheyenne 6-1 for the state
crown, while Minot North blitzed Bismarck 7-3 for 5th
place, and West Fargo Horace whipped West Fargo 8-3 for
3rd place. On the pitch at the state soccer tournament
hosted by Bismarck's Sanford Sports Complex over the
weekend, Fargo Shanley denied Mandan successive state
titles, as the Deacons whitewashed the Braves in the
final, 3-nil. Also, Minot edged Fargo Davies 1-0 for 5th
place, while Grand Forks Red River nudged West Fargo
Sheyenne 3-2 for 3rd place. Finally at the Girls' Tennis
team dual state tournament in Grand Forks over the
weekend, Minot downed Valley City 4 matches to 1 for the
state championship, while Red River beat Fargo
Shanley/Oak Grove for 5th place (3-2), and Century
handled Legacy for 3rd place (4-1).
Filed
by Veteran KDKT Sportscaster Jeff Baranick
Listen for Jeff on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
Check Out
This Season's NDHSAA Broadcast/Game Schedule
 This
Week's Wrap-Up: The Bismarck Bobcats took a
2-1 series lead with a 4-2 victory over the Aberdeen
Wings in game three of the Robertson Cup Divisional
Semifinals. Bismarck took control of the game in the
first period with goals from Ben Rakowski, Nick
Snyder, and Mark Evans. The Bobcats took a 4-0 lead
in the opening three minutes of the second period as
Eddie Revenig found the back of the net with a goal
assisted by Theodore Richardson. Aberdeen lit the
lamp once in the second period and once in the
third. Bryce Francisco was in the net for Bismarck
and saved 32 of the 34 shots he faced. Aberdeen
forced the decisive game five with a 7-3 victory in
game four of the series. The Wings got onto the
scoreboard with a power-play goal in the first
period, and they scored four times in the second
period. Hugo Kruse and Theodore Richardson each
found the back of the net in the second period,
while Nick Snyder lit the lamp in the third period
for the Bobcats. Aberdeen scored twice in the third
period to ice the game. Bryce Francisco was back in
the net for the Bobcats and saved 36 of the 42 shots
he faced. Bismarck and Aberdeen will battle in the
decisive game five on April 27th at 7:15 pm. On the
diamond, the NDSU Bison Baseball Team is now 7-26
overall and 4-10 against conference opponents. The
Bison fell 12-3 to the Minnesota Gophers on April
21st. The Bison won the opening game of the series
against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 3-2. The
Bison dropped the following two games, 14-3 in the
second game of the double header on April 24th, and
lost 3-2 on April 25th. NDSU closes out the series
with Oral Roberts on April 26th at 1:00 pm. The
UMary Marauders are 29-15 overall and are 22-9
against conference opponents. The Marauders won both
games of their doubleheader against the
Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears on April 25th. UMary
won 6-0 in game one and followed it up with a 4-3
win in the final game of the doubleheader. UMary
closes out the series with Concordia-St. Paul on
April 26th at noon. The Minot State Beavers are
20-22 overall and are 15-17 against conference
opponents. The Beavers won both games of their
doubleheader against the Bemidji State Beavers on
April 25th. Minot State won the opening game 13-1
and followed it up with a 4-2 victory in the second
game. The Beavers close out their series with a
doubleheader against Bemidji State on April 26th.
Filed
by KDKT Sportscaster Josh Coleman
Listen for Josh on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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