THURSDAY SPORTS, JULY 30, 2026
DISTRICT 3B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – CHAMBERLAIN
Kimball/White Lake 5, Four Corners 2 – District 3B Championship. Mitchell Price allowed two unearned runs on four hits over six innings with eight strikeouts.
Wessington Springs vs. Winner – 7:30 pm on Thursday. Winner goes to state.
DISTRICT 4B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – HUMBOLDT
Hartford/ Humboldt Wood Ducks 8, Flandreau Cardinals 6 – Elimination Game
Hartford/ Humboldt Gamecocks 3, Salem 2– Elimination Game. Blake Svoboda with 17 strikeouts over nine innings.
Flandreau Cardinals vs. Canova – Friday
Dell Rapids PBR vs. Dell Rapids Mudcats – Championship Game on Saturday
DISTRICT 5B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – PLATTE
Parkston Mudcats 14, Winner/Colome 9 – Gunnar Wilhelm and Spender Freudenthal each hit two home runs, along with four RBI’s each.
Mt. Vernon 5, Platte 4 (11 innings) – The Mustangs advance to state with a 5-14 record.
Winner/Colome vs. Platte – 6 pm on Friday. Winner goes to state.
Alexandria vs. Parkston Rays – Championship Game on Friday
DISTRICT 6B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – MENNO
Freeman vs. Crofton (Neb.) – Thursday
Tabor vs. Wynot (Neb.) – Championship Game on Saturday
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan University has once again been recognized for excellence in character and sportsmanship, earning Gold-level Five-Star Institution status from the NAIA Champions of Character program for the 2025-26 academic year. The Tigers were among 203 NAIA institutions to receive a Five-Star Award and posted a perfect score of 100 based on the association’s criteria. Schools are evaluated in the areas of character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion, reflecting the NAIA’s core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership. The honor marks the fifth consecutive year Dakota Wesleyan has earned a perfect score, making it one of just nine active NAIA institutions to accomplish the feat.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Randy Dobnak pitched seven scoreless innings for his first major league victory in five years as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0. Dobnak gave up four hits and a walk while striking out four. Dobnak hadn’t won a game in the big leagues since May 2021, when he was with the Twins. Tyler Tolbert doubled and homered for Kansas City, while Salvador Perez had two hits, including his first triple since 2022. Twins starter Joe Ryan allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings. The final game of the three-game series is this afternoon at 12:40 pm.
— The Minnesota Twins placed center fielder Byron Buxton on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a right hip impingement. Buxton, who has battled soreness in his right hip most of the season, left Tuesday’s win over the Kansas City Royals in the fifth inning. The 32-year-old Buxton spent 15 days on the IL earlier this month with a similar injury. He hit .160 with no extra-base hits in seven games since returning from the IL. The Twins recalled infielder Tristan Gray from Triple-A.
CLASS A LEGION BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT – WEDNESDAY IN RAPID CITY
No. 3 Yankton 7, No. 8 Harrisburg 6
No. 10 Watertown 5, No. 4 Brandon Valley 3 (8 innings)
No. 2 Sioux Falls West 7, No. 6 Rapid City Post 320 2
No. 1 Rapid City Post 22 13, No. 5 Brookings 3 (5 innings)
No. 6 Rapid City Post 320 vs. No. 10 Watertown – 2 pm CST
No. 3 Yankton vs. No. 5 Brookings – 5 pm CST
No. 1 Rapid City Post 22 vs. No. 2 Sioux Falls West – 8 pm CST
CLASS B LEGION BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT – FRIDAY IN MADISON
Volga vs. Dell Rapids, 10 a.m.
Parkston vs. Belle Fourche, 12:30 p.m.
Groton vs. Garretson, 5 p.m.
Madison vs. Dakota Valley, 7:30 p.m.
NFL
— The Kansas City Chiefs held their first full-squad workout of training camp Wednesday without offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who remained with his family following the shooting of his wife, allegedly by their son, at their Virginia home last weekend. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said that Mia Bieniemy had been released from the intensive care unit, where she was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. But there was no timetable for when Eric Bieniemy would be back with the team. Elijah Bieniemy, the 27-year-old son of the couple, was arrested in connection with the late-Sunday shooting.
— The Philadelphia Eagles are set to make two-time Pro Bowler Jalen Carter the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history. The Eagles and Carter announced that they agreed to terms on a four-year extension through the 2031 season that includes $106 million guaranteed. Carter was runner-up for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2023. He has 13 ½ sacks in 43 career games and was a key contributor when the Eagles won the Super Bowl during the 2024 season.
— Denzel Ward has agreed to a two-year extension with the Cleveland Browns that will make him the highest-paid defensive back in the NFL. The five-time Pro Bowl cornerback will sign a two-year extension worth $62 million, including $52 million guaranteed. The 29-year old Ward had two years remaining on a five-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2022.
NBA
— The NBA investigation into whether the LA Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard could drag into 2027 if the parties don’t agree on the findings or any proposed settlement that involves punishing the team. Sources with knowledge of the investigation said the union wouldn’t hesitate to take the matter to arbitration if the NBA sought penalties without sufficient evidence proving the claim that the Clippers have denied since the league’s probe began nearly 10 months ago. The investigation regards whether the Clippers compensated Leonard through a $28 million endorsement deal that he signed in 2022 with the now-bankrupt banking company.
COLLEGE
— Senate negotiators are continuing talks with leaders from the SEC and Big Ten to resolve key issues in a proposed college sports bill before lawmakers leave for their August recess. The Protect College Sports Act would establish national rules for college athletics, including a proposed $20 million-plus player retention pool that schools could use to keep athletes from transferring. Conference leaders are still seeking changes involving revenue sharing, NIL payments, antitrust protections and state law preemption. The bill sponsors hope to bring the legislation to a Senate vote before Aug. 7.
SOCCER
— FIFA President Gianni Infantino set a Sept. 19 deadline for the 211 member federations to accept one-off $20 million offers as part of a project to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors. The $20 billion FIFA subsidiary was blasted by international soccer organizations. European soccer body UEFA aims to call its 55 member federations to an emergency online meeting, likely on Thursday. The organization said “there is significant and growing opposition to FIFA’s scheme.” The effort is being bankrolled by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
MLB
— Colton Cowser hit a tiebreaking single in the 12th inning, capping the Baltimore Orioles’ rally from a seven-run deficit to beat the Tigers 10-9 and spoil Tarik Skubal’s possible farewell to Detroit. Skubal took a shutout into the seventh inning, but Baltimore pounced on the Tigers’ bullpen. The Orioles trailed 7-0 after six innings, but they scored five times in the seventh and twice in the eighth.
— Edgar Quero had an RBI single in the 12th inning to give the Chicago White Sox a 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees. The White Sox stayed 1 ½ games ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central. Chicago trailed 4-1 in the eighth before Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami hit consecutive homers to tie it.
— Iván Herrera had a two-run double with one out in the 10th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 comeback victory over the Chicago Cubs. After being scoreless through nine innings, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run homer to put the Cubs up 2-0. Chicago had just one hit over the first nine innings.
— Carson Benge hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the seventh inning, lifting the New York Mets to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a doubleheader. In game two, Chris Sale struck out nine and limited New York to two hits in six innings as the Braves beat the Mets 1-0.
— Eric Lauer allowed one hit over six scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2.
— Kyle Manzardo homered and drove in two runs as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-1.
— Yandy Diaz and Ryan Vilade homered in the first inning as five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for a four hit shutout as the Rays beat the Texas Rangers 3-0.
— Eduardo Rodríguez pitched eight shutout innings, while Gabriel Moreno hit a two-run homer as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. Arizona now sits two games up on the Pirates for the final NL wild card.
— Luis Arraez had four of San Francisco’s 17 hits, while Daniel Susac hit his first two homers in the majors as the Giants routed the Brewers 16-3. Arraez had four singles in five at-bats, raising his batting average to a majors-leading .331.
— Jackson Merrill, Luis Rengifo and Gavin Sheets had RBIs as the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 3-1. The Padres extended their winning streak to five games and moved to 1 ½ games behind Philadelphia for the final NL wild card.
— Andrew Monasterio hit a two-run home run in the 10th inning as the Boston Red Sox held on to beat the Athletics 4-2.
— Cam Smith gave Houston the lead with a two-run double in the sixth inning, while Yainer Diaz and Jeremy Peña hit solo homers as the Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-4 for a three-game sweep.
— Griffin Conine hit a go-ahead pinch-hit homer in the eighth as the Miami Marlins rallied for a six-run deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-6.
— Trey Yesavage allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Washington Nationals 5-2.