 By Jeff Baranick
We've now surpassed the midway-mark of the NDHSAA spring
sports season; and with the weather warming up, athletes
are performing at full-throttle preparing themselves for
post-season competition. This past week was full of
games, meets, and matches, and we'll attempt to report a
big chunk of the action to you within this blog. On the
baseball diamond, in a Class B Region 6 contest carried
on KDKT Sports Radio, the Bishop Ryan-Nedrose Lions
mounted a last-inning rally to overtake the Garrison
Troopers, 7-4. For the Troopers, it was their first
league-loss of the spring. Garrison was plagued
throughout the game by the inability to deliver
base-hits with runners in scoring position, as the
Troopers stranded a whopping 14 base-runners in the
7-inning showdown. Garrison did rebound nicely in their
next outing, doubling up the Surrey Mustangs 6-3.
Elsewhere in Region 6, Central McLean handled South
Prairie-Max 7-2; and in inter-regional play called on
KDKT, Washburn-Wilton-Center-Stanton (WWCS) nipped
Central McLean, 11-10. In Class B Region 8 clashes,
Heart River rallied past Beulah 10-6; Beulah edged Hazen
5-4, as the Miners took the lead late in the game on an
opposite-field solo home run belted by Jack Skalsky;
WWCS whipped Hazen 8-1; and league-leading Shiloh
Christian pounded Hettinger-Scranton-New England 11-1.
Additionally, in an inter-regional triangular hosted by
Stanley this past Saturday, Beulah blanked both Stanley
and Rugby, respectively, 14-0 & 10-0. Additionally, on
the Class B baseball scene statewide, Bottineau beat
Rugby 10-0; Carrington shut out New Rockford-Sheyenne
3-zip; Hatton-Northwood nipped
Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg 2-1;
Hillsboro-Central Valley nudged Grafton 5-4 in 10
frames; Renville County crunched Carrington 7-0; New
Rockford-Sheyenne nipped Renville County 4-3; and Park
River Area throttled defending state champion Thompson,
10-2. In some Class A West Region baseball skirmishes,
Legacy swept Century 18-4 & 5-3; Jamestown took down
Dickinson twice, by scores of 14-4 & 2-0; and Bismarck
nabbed two wins over Mandan by tallies of 8-5 & 13-7.
Turning our attention to prep softball, in Class B play,
4th-ranked Beulah walloped Washburn 13-2, hammered Hazen
19-0; and whitewashed Harvey-Wells County 8-0. And in
the weekend DSU Invitational, the Miners defeated Class
A Legacy 7-zip and Class A Minot North 14-9, before
getting shut out by Class A Mandan, 11-0. On the Class A
West Region softball landscape, Legacy swept Century
10-0 & 14-10; Dickinson beat Jamestown 7-5 & 5-2; and
Mandan split a twinbill with Bismarck, defeating the
Demons 2-1, before falling to them 18-9. The Braves of
Mandan also fell to Minot North 16-5 and to Class B's
top-ranked Central Cass Squirrels 19-6. In Class B
track-&-field, Hazen hosted the 15-team Badlands
Conference Meet last Thursday, and the Bowman County
Bulldogs topped the team standings in both the boys' &
girls' divisions. Trailing the Bulldog girls in places 2
through 6, respectively, were Beulah, Killdeer,
Dickinson Trinity, Hazen, and Richardton-Taylor. Only 14
points separated those five squads. Finishing in places
2 through 6, respectively, in the boys' division behind
Bowman County were Dickinson Trinity, Killdeer, Hazen,
Richardton-Taylor, and Glen Ullin-Hebron. Some
individual standouts in the boys' competition were
Hazen's Jaran Reinhardt, Bowman County's Taylor Wanner
and Jonah Njos, Trinity's Alonzo Kudrna, and Glen
Ullin-Hebron's Ryan Schneider. Reinhardt won the 200
(22.56 sec) and was runner-up in the 100; Wanner swept
to victory in both the 1600 & 3200 distance races
(4:18.52 & 9:52.77, respectively); Njos defeated all
competitors in the 800 (recording a clocking of
2:00.92); Kudrna won the 100 (11.60 sec) and finished
runner-up in both the 200 & long jump; and Schneider was
a double-winner in the long jump (19'7") and triple jump
(40'6"). In the girls' division at the Badlands meet,
Sophia Headley was a triple-winner, claiming the 200,
100 hurdles, and 300 hurdles. Hazen's Macey VanInwagen
won the long jump (16'8") and was runner-up in the 100;
Bowman County's Addie Umbreit won both the triple jump
and high jump; and Beulah's Addison Schepp notched three
2nd-place finishes--in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and
long jump. Furthermore, in a modified or truncated track
competition--the first-ever Bismarck Public Schools
Distance and Relay Carnival held at the MDU Resources
Community Bowl--some blistering times were recorded in
the four individual races staged--the 400, 800, 1600, &
3200 meter runs. State-record-holder Josh Berger of
Century ran a winning 400 time of 48.82 seconds; Taylor
Wanner of Bowman County registered an eye-popping 800
clocking of 1:53.61; and seven runners ran times under
4:24 in the 1600, led by Bismarck's Owen Hintz who
turned in a clocking of 4:17.70. We'll also report on
one other track-&-field meet held this past Friday in
Rugby--the Hanneman Memorial Invitational. The top-five
girls' teams in points-production (1-5, respectively)
were Rugby, Central McLean, Carrington, New
Rockford-Sheyenne, and Beulah. On the boys' side of the
ledger, teams 1-5, respectively, in the final standings
were Rugby, Central McLean, Harvey-Wells County,
Carrington, and New Town. Transitioning to West Region
girls' tennis, Minot downed Legacy 5-2; Jamestown
doubled up St. Mary's 6-3; Mandan defeated Dickinson by
the same tally; and Century romped over Bismarck 8
matches to 1. And on the pitch in girls' West Region
soccer play, Mandan edged Legacy 1-nil; Century nudged
Bismarck 2-1; and Minot North and St. Mary's played to a
2-all draw. Then on the links at a Class A boys'
invitational meet--the 12-team Bakken Classic--held at
the Fox Hills Golf Course in Watford City, Minot North
took team honors with a two-round score of 564 strokes.
Century was the 2nd-place squad, shooting a 593 total.
Meet medalist was Minot North's Kasen Rostad who shot
rounds of 64 & 68 for a 132 score--4 strokes better than
runner-up Parker Beck of Century. Now, in this new week
underway, KDKT will feature a pair of Class B Region 8
baseball matchups. On Tuesday (April 29th), it'll be
Shiloh Christian visiting Beulah; and on Thursday (May
1st), it'll be Shiloh Christian journeying to Hazen.
Both contests will start at 4:30 pm CT, with KDKT's
pre-game show each day commencing at 4:00.
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
forced the decisive game five with back-to-back
victories over the Aberdeen Wings in games three and
four this weekend. Bismarck won game three of the
series 3-1 on April 25th. Keanu Krenn gave the
Bobcats the momentum early in the game with a goal
90 seconds into the first period off an assist from
Tommy Cronin and Nate Bannister. The Wings tied the
game at one with a goal 12 minutes later. Jakub
Kopecky broke the tie 30 seconds into the second
period with a goal assisted by Drew Roelofs and Zane
Rowan. The Bobcats scored their insurance goal in
the final 20 seconds of the game off the stick of
Alexandr Kim, who lit the lamp, and Charlie Sandven
and Kopecky assisted the goal. Bismarck had eight
players register one point in the game, while
Kopecky was the lone multiple-point scorer with one
goal and one assist. Tomas Anderson was in the net
for the Bobcats and saved 29 of the 30 shots he
faced. Bismarck followed it up with a 4-3 victory in
double overtime. Aberdeen got onto the scoreboard
first with a goal two and a half minutes into the
first period. Ian Engel tied the game at one seven
minutes later as he lit the lamp off an assist from
Gabe Kenne and Kyle Doll. Each team matched the
others' offensive output in the second period with
one goal each. The Wings scored first in the second
period with a goal eight minutes in, and Nick Snyder
tied the game back up with a goal five minutes later
for Bismarck. The trend continued in the third
period as well. Aberdeen scored 82 seconds into the
third period to take a 3-2 lead. Julian Beaumont
sent the game into overtime with a goal in the final
six minutes of regulation, assisted by Tommy Cronin
and Keanu Krenn. Neither team could break through
the other's defense in the first overtime period,
and that trend continued for 10 minutes of the
second overtime. Keanu Krenn sliced his way through
the Wings' defense and scored with 9:12 remaining in
the second overtime to win the game for Bismarck. He
lit the lamp off an assist from Tommy Cronin and
Nick Snyder. Krenn and Snyder each scored one goal
and recorded one assist in the win. Cronin was the
final multiple-point scorer for Bismarck as he
registered two assists. Tomas Anderson was in the
net for the Bobcats and saved 52 of the 55 shots he
faced. Bismarck will look to advance to the Division
Finals when they play the Aberdeen Wings on April
28th at 7:15 pm. The Minot Minotauros and the Austin
Bruins Central Division Semifinal Series is now tied
2-2, as Austin won both games this weekend. The
Bruins won game three of the series 3-1. Minot
scored the game's first goal in the opening three
minutes of the first period off the stick of Billy
Batten. Jack O'Hanisain and Jesse Juhola assisted
Batten's goal. Austin tied the game five and a half
minutes into the second period, and they took the
lead one minute later. The Bruins' final goal of the
game was scored halfway through the second period,
and they held on to force game four of the series.
Austin won game four 4-3 in double overtime, and
they took control of the game in the first period
with two goals. The Bruins took a 3-0 lead with a
goal 90 seconds into the second period. Minot's
offense came alive in the third period as Jack
O'Hanisain lit the lamp five minutes into the third
period off an assist from Ian Spencer and Billy
Batten. Gavin Middendorf scored one minute later,
assisted by Spencer and Landon Fleming, to bring the
Minotauros within one. Middendorf tied the game up
with a goal eight and a half minutes into the third
period, this time assisted by Jordan Gibbs and John
Small. The first overtime period was played to a
draw, but Austin ended the game with a goal 39
seconds into the second overtime. Middendorf and
Spencer were the multiple-point scorers for the
Minotauros with two points each. Middendorf lit the
lamp twice while Spencer recorded two assists in the
loss. Minot will now have their chance to advance to
the NAHL Central Division Finals in the decisive
game five against the Austin Bruins on April 28th at
7:05 pm. The UND Fighting Hawks landed one of the
top uncommitted goaltenders in the USHL. Jan Špunar
is a USHL Goalie of the Year finalist from the
Dubuque Fighting Saints, and he announced that he
will be joining the Fighting Hawks this fall. He
posted a 24-15 record with a .907 save percentage,
which ranks fifth in the USHL. He previously played
two seasons for the Portland Winterhawks in the
Western Hockey League, and due to the recent NCAA
rule changes, Canadian major junior players are
eligible for college hockey. Špunar's addition
signals that sophomore Hobie Hedquist will not
return in 2025-26. Hedquist has not yet entered the
NCAA transfer portal, but the expectation is that he
will enter by the May 13th closing date. UND's staff
also gave committed recruit Caleb Heil the option to
come to UND this fall or return to USHL Madison for
one more season and see more playing time. Heil
chose to run to play one more year of junior hockey
and join UND in 2026. The Fighting Hawks are also
closing in on landing Fargo's Zach Sandy as the
team's third goaltender. Sandy spent three seasons
at Minnesota Duluth, where he played six games. He
will likely be able to redshirt one of the seasons
and have two years of eligibility left. UND
announced that they landed Clarkson Junior Center
Ellis Rickwood out of the NCAA transfer portal. The
6-foot-2 center tallied 10 goals and 35 points in 39
games last season. He also won 57.5% of faceoffs
last season. Rickwood will be relied on at the
center position for UND as they lost several regular
centermen this offseason. Sacha Boisvert transferred
to Boston University while the Fighting Hawks lost
Cameron Berg, Jake Schmaltz, Carter Wilkie, and
Louis Jamernik V to graduation. On the gridiron,
NDSU's Grey Zabel was drafted by the Seattle
Seahawks with the 18th overall pick in the 2025 NFL
Draft. In his three seasons with the Bison, Zabel
started 38 games at both the left and right tackle
positions, along with left guard. He earned
First-Team Associated Press FCS All-American honors
in 2024 along with First-Team Missouri Valley
Football Conference honors. Zabel is the Seahawks'
highest-drafted guard since they took Steve
Hutchinson with the 17th overall pick in 2001.
Hutchinson is now a part of the Seahawks' player
personnel department and had a hand in the
evaluation process of Zabel. On the hardwood, former
UND standout Treysen Eaglestaff announced his
commitment to West Virginia. He previously was
committed to South Carolina this offseason and has
received interest from Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan,
UCLA, and others. He averaged 18.9 points, 2.8
rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game last season. Over
his three-year career, he scored 1,284 career
points. Eaglestaff joins a West Virginia team that
went 19-13 last year before losing to Colorado in
the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. The
Mountaineers also went through a coaching change
this offseason after Darian DeVries left for
Indiana, and WVU hired Ross Hodge from North Texas
as their next head coach.
Filed
by KDKT Sportscaster Josh Coleman
Listen for Josh on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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