THURSDAY SPORTS, JULY 31, 2025
MITCHELL
— The Mitchell Aces face No. 1 seed Harrisburg in the first round of the Class A South District Tournament on Friday at 5:30 pm in Yankton. Yankton takes on the Sioux Falls Brewers on Friday at 8:30 pm. The two winner will play on Saturday at 1 pm. while the two losers play at 4 pm.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Stephen Oswald Jr., a Beresford native, has been named the 17th head coach of Dakota Wesleyan softball. He previously served as an assistant coach at Ohio Dominican University and Mount Marty. He will officially begin his role on August 1. DWU softball went 34-16 last season as previous head coach Tommy Downs left for the University of Sioux Falls.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State University men’s basketball will headline the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon for the second straight year. The Jackrabbits are set to play Merrimack at 8 p.m on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The event features six games across two locations—Sioux Falls and Rock Hill, South Carolina. Other games in Sioux Falls include Murray State vs. Omaha and Drake vs. Northern Arizona.
— South Dakota State women’s soccer will host its Blue vs. Yellow scrimmage on Thursday at 7 pm, followed by an exhibition vs. Nebraska on Tuesday, August 5. SDSU officially starts the season at Missouri on Thursday, August 14 at 7 pm.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Jarren Duran went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, while Trevor Story hit his second homer in as many games, as the Red Sox earned a series win with a 13-1 win at Minnesota. Red Sox starter Brayan Bello gave up one earned run on five hits in seven innings. Minnesota is 4-8 since the All-Star break and sits fourth in the AL Central.
— The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired Jhoan Duran, trading two top prospects to the Minnesota Twins for the hard-throwing closer. Duran has 16 saves and a 2.01 ERA in 49 appearances this season. Catcher Eduardo Tait and right-hander Mick Abel were shipped off to Minnesota in the deal.
MLB
— The Seattle Mariners are finalizing a trade for third baseman Eugenio Suárez, landing the most coveted power bat of trade deadline season from the Arizona Diamondbacks for three prospects. Suárez ranks fifth in the majors with 36 home runs and rejoins Seattle after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Mariners.
MEDIA
— Shannon Sharpe will not return to ESPN, according to a person familiar with the situation. The decision follows his recent settlement of a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a woman during their relationship. Sharpe’s last appearance on ESPN was in late April when the lawsuit was filed. No details of the settlement have been released. The lawsuit sought $50 million. Sharpe called the accusations false and hoped to return for the NFL season. Instead, ESPN decided to part ways with the Hall of Fame tight end.
NBA
— Federal prosecutors say former NBA star Gilbert Arenas has been arrested along with five other people on suspicion of hosting illegal high-stakes poker games at a Los Angeles mansion owned by Arenas. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that all six defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business.
DISTRICT 5B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – MT. VERNON
THE SUNSHINE LEAGUE GETS 5 BIDS INTO THE STATE TOURNAMENT
Parkston Mudcats 1, Dimock/Emery 0 – (Elimination Game) – Jake Weber went nine innings for Parkston, allowing just four hits with four strikeouts. Cullen Verville had the game’s only RBI in the fifth inning. For Dimock/Emery, Jason Schmidt allowed one run on nine hits over eight innings.
Corsica 5, Mt. Vernon 2 – (Elimination Game) – Blake Moke had three RBI’s for Corsica, as the Horned Frogs scored three times in the seventh inning. Brendan Wentland allowing two runs, 11 hits with nine strikeouts in nine innings.
Parkston Mudcats vs. Parkston Rays – Thursday at 6 pm
Platte vs. Corsica – Thursday at 8 pm
Winner/Colome (17-3) vs. Alexandria – Friday at 8 pm (District 5B Championship)
DISTRICT 4B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – MADISON
Dell Rapids Mudcats 6, Dell Rapids PBR 1
Madison 10, Canova 6
Dell Rapids Mudcats vs. Madison – Saturday at 8 pm (Championship)
DISTRICT 3B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – CHAMBERLAIN
Kimball/White Lake 8, Burke 1 (District 3B Championship) – Dylanger Pierson with a HR and 3 RBI’s. Caleb Crist with 12 strikeouts over nine innings, allowing only one run and five hits.
Four Corners vs. Colome, Thursday – Loser faces Wessington Springs in a last chance game on Friday at 7:30 pm
DISTRICT 1B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Volga 2, Elkton 0 – Final spot from District 1B
DISTRICT 2B AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Redfield 15, Groton 5 (8 innings) (Championship)
CLASS A AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT – WEDNESDAY in WATERTOWN
No. 1 Rapid City Post 22 11, No. 4 Brandon Valley 9 – (Elimination Game)
No. 2 Yankton 3, No. 6 Pierre 2 – (9 innings) (Elimination Game)
No. 8 Rapid City Post 320 6, No. 5 Renner 0
No. 7 Harrisburg 6, No. 3 Watertown 3
THURSDAY
No. 2 Yankton vs No. 5 Renner, 1 p.m. – (Elimination Game)
No. 1 Rapid City Post 22 vs No. 3 Watertown, 4 p.m. – (Elimination Game)
No. 8 Rapid City Post 320 vs No. 7 Harrisburg, 7 p.m.
CLASS B AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT – FRIDAY in MILBANK
Clark/Willow Lake vs. Dell Rapids, 10 a.m.
Parkston vs. Dakota Valley, 30 minutes after Game 1
Groton vs. Winner/Colome, 5 p.m.
Milbank vs. Scotland/Menno/Freeman/Canistota, 30 minutes after Game 3
MLB
— Salvador Perez drove in MJ Melendez with a single leading off the 10th inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 while matching a major league record by using nine total pitchers in the shutout. The only other team to use nine pitchers in a shutout was Cleveland, which also did it in a 10-inning game in 2016.
— Michael Busch homered on the game’s first pitch, while rookie Moisés Ballesteros hit a bases-clearing double as the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. Milwaukee leads Chicago by one game in the NL Central. The teams meet once more this season, a five-game series at Chicago from Aug. 18-21.
— Spencer Steer hit a two-run triple in the eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 after Shohei Ohtani’s pitching outing was cut short. Ohtani left the mound accompanied by a trainer during the fourth inning with no outs.
— Ryan McMahon drove in the winning run in the 11th inning with a single to deep center field as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4. Trent Grisham hit a game tying homer in the eighth, Anthony Volpe did the same in the ninth and Cody Bellinger evened the score again for the Yankees with an RBI triple in the 10th.
— Jose Altuve tied a career high with four hits, highlighted by a three-run homer, to lead the Houston Astros to a 9-1 win over the Washington Nationals. It was Altuve’s second four-hit game of the season and 41st of his career.
— Jesús Sánchez hit a two-run homer in the third inning, while Cal Quantrill pitched five shutout innings as the Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0. The Marlins have won 10 of 13 overall and 17 of their last 22 on the road.
— Nathan Lukes capped Toronto’s five-run seventh inning with a three-run homer as the Blue Jays held on for a 9-8 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to avoid a four-game sweep.
— Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, while Chris Paddack threw six solid innings in his Detroit debut as the Tigers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2. The AL Central-leading Tigers have won four straight games, coming off a 1-12 slump.
— Miguel Vargas and Edgar Quero each hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, as the Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3. Rookies Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel also went deep as last-place Chicago won the rain-delayed rubber game of the three-game series.
— Henry Davis’ fielder’s-choice grounder brought home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 2-1 victory. Pittsburgh has won five in a row. San Francisco went 0-6 on its homestand, the first time since 1896 the Giants franchise has gone winless on a homestand of six or more games.
— Yu Darvish pitched seven shutout innings for his first win of the season as the San Diego Padres beat the New York Mets 5-0 for a three-game sweep.
— David Fry hit a two-run homer as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0.
— Miguel Andujar hit two home runs, while Jeffrey Springs pitched six innings as the Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4.
— Nathan Eovaldi limited Los Angeles to one run in seven innings, while Adolis García hit a two-run homer in the eighth as the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 6-3.