THURSDAY SPORTS, MAY 14, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell High School honored two longtime coaches Wednesday night at the annual Mitchell Athletics Banquet at the Corn Palace, where volleyball coach Deb Thill and girls basketball coach Dave Brooks were named the KORN Tom Maxwell Coaches of the Year. Both are retiring after decades of impact on Mitchell athletics. Thill, the only volleyball coach in program history, built the Kernels into a Class AA contender, winning state titles in 1995 and 2003, making 15 state tournament appearances, and surpassing 500 career victories. She also coached track and helped lead the girls basketball program to a state championship in 2003. Brooks guided Mitchell girls basketball for four seasons, finishing with a 61-35 record and leading the team to four straight Class AA state tournament appearances, back-to-back fifth place finishes and an ESD Conference title in 2024.
— Mitchell Kernels softball will be at Pierre on Thursday at 4 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf will host the Mitchell Invitational on Friday at Lakeview Golf Course.
— Mitchell baseball will face No. 6 seed Pierre in their region series that starts on Friday at 7:30 pm. The best two out of three series continues on Saturday at Noon, with a potential third game at 2:30 pm.
— Mitchell track and field competes at the ESD conference meet on Saturday in Watertown at 10 am.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis will compete at the Class AA state tournament, set for May 21st and 22nd in Rapid City.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State women’s golf team wrapped up its season Wednesday at the NCAA Stanford Regional, finishing 11th overall after posting a three-day total of 62-over par. Senior McKenzie Mages led the Jackrabbits in her final collegiate round, closing with a 2-over 74 on Wednesday to finish tied for 22nd at 3-over par for the tournament. Fellow senior Reese Jansa also wrapped up her SDSU career, shooting her best round of the week at 5-over on Wednesday to finish tied for 53rd at 18-over. Stanford dominated the field, winning the regional at 42-under par. Stanford, Pepperdine, Oregon State, Arizona State, and Missouri advanced to the NCAA Championships later this month in Carlsbad, California.
— South Dakota State baseball clinched a spot in next week’s Summit League Tournament with a 5-0 shutout win over Omaha on Wednesday night. Drew McDowell threw six no-hit innings with seven strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the season. Ty Madison closed it out with three scoreless innings for his first save as SDSU combined on a three-hit shutout. With the win, SDSU improved to 21-27 overall and 12-12 in Summit League play. Game two of the four-game series is set for Thursday night in Omaha at 6 pm
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD softball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, earning a spot in the Lincoln Regional in Nebraska. The Coyotes, the No. 4 seed in the regional, will open play against host and top seed Nebraska on Friday. The field also includes Grand Canyon and Louisville. The Lincoln Regional runs May 15 through May 17.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Leo Jiménez had three hits and Xavier Edwards doubled, tripled and scored three runs as the Miami Marlins beat the Minnesota Twins 9-5. Byron Buxton homered twice and Kody Clemens also went deep for the Twins, who had won three of their last four. Simeon Woods Richardson gave up eight runs on seven hits with four walks in three-plus innings pitched. The final game of the three-game series is Thursday at 12:40 pm.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadiens, 6 pm on TNT – Series tied 2-2
Anaheim Ducks vs. Vegas Golden Knights, 8:30 pm on TNT – Vegas leads 3-2
NBA
— James Harden scored a playoff-best 30 points helping the Cleveland Cavaliers come back from a nine-point deficit late in regulation and beat the Detroit Pistons 117-113 in overtime on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Pistons led by 15 points in the first half and 103-94 with two-plus minutes left. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 39 points and nine assists. Game 6 is Friday night in Cleveland.
— NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the league will present a new “3-2-1” draft lottery reform proposal aimed at reducing tanking when it meets with team owners later this month. Silver said the plan would flatten lottery odds so teams have less incentive to lose on purpose. Under the concept, the three worst teams in the league would actually receive worse lottery odds than teams that finish just outside the bottom three, in an effort to discourage intentional losing late in the season. If approved, the system would be a temporary measure lasting through the 2029 season.
NFL
— The NFL has announced a new Thanksgiving week addition to its 2026 schedule, with the Green Bay Packers set to visit the Los Angeles Rams in the league’s first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game. The game will be played Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. and will stream on Netflix. Along with the matchup, the NFL also announced that Netflix will continue to increase its involvement in league programming. The streaming platform will air the NFL Honors show during Super Bowl week and will also carry select regular-season games, including international and holiday matchups. Other Netflix broadcasts for the 2026 season include the Week 1 international game between the San Francisco 49ers and Rams in Melbourne, Australia, two Christmas Day games, and a Week 18 Saturday game. The deal extends through 2029 and includes five regular-season games annually.
— The NFL has announced its largest international schedule ever for the 2026 season, featuring nine games outside the U.S. across eight stadiums, seven cities, and four continents. The San Francisco 49ers will headline the slate, opening the season in Melbourne, Australia, against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 10, then returning later in the year against the Minnesota Vikings in Mexico City in Week 11. Notable matchups include the Dallas Cowboys facing the Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, the Saints hosting the Steelers in Paris, and the Lions playing the Patriots in Munich. London will again host multiple games, including the Jaguars playing back-to-back international “home” games while their stadium undergoes renovations.
— The Miami Dolphins have signed running back De’Von Achane to a four-year, $64 million contract extension through the 2030 season. The deal includes $32 million guaranteed and carries an average annual value of $16 million, making Achane the third-highest-paid running back in the NFL. Achane earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2025 after rushing for a career-high 1,350 yards.
— Florida’s Attorney General has issued an investigative subpoena to the NFL as part of a probe into the league’s hiring practices and its Rooney Rule policies. The subpoena requires the league to appear in Tallahassee on June 12 and produce extensive records, including demographic data on coaching staffs and diversity reports dating back to 2017. The investigation is focused on whether the NFL’s Rooney Rule and related diversity initiatives violate Florida civil rights laws. The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for top coaching and front office positions, and at least one for quarterbacks coach jobs.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— The ACC has formally backed the Big Ten’s proposal to expand the College Football Playoff to 24 teams, according to ACC commissioner Jim Phillips. Phillips said the conference’s coaches and athletic directors reached consensus that the playoff field should be significantly larger than the current 12-team format. The Big Ten has pushed for a 24-team model, while the SEC has favored a smaller expansion to 16 teams with more emphasis on at-large selections. ESPN has reportedly indicated a preference for the playoff to remain between 12 and 16 teams.
WORLD CUP
— The federal government is suspending a visa bond requirement for certain World Cup ticket holders traveling to the U.S., according to the State Department. The rule, introduced last year, required visitors from 50 countries with high visa overstay rates to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the U.S. Five World Cup-qualified nations; Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia had been subject to the policy. Under the new change, citizens from those countries who have purchased official FIFA tickets will no longer have to pay the bond.
MLB
— Shohei Ohtani tossed four-hit ball over seven shutout innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up a 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
— Rookie Carson Benge delivered his first big league walk-off hit, a 10th-inning single that lifted the Mets past the Detroit Tigers 3-2.
— Kyle Bradish pitched six one-hit innings and Adley Rutschman homered as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees 7-0 after New York lost left-hander Max Fried to a sore elbow. Fried was pulled after only three innings with the score 3-0. He is expected to be examined by the team physician Thursday.
— Gavin Sheets hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as the San Diego Padres overcame Jacob Misiorowski’s third straight scoreless outing to beat Milwaukee 3-1 and snap the Brewers’ five-game winning streak. Misiorowski struck out 10 batters over seven innings while allowing four hits. He threw 40 pitches of 100 mph or higher, his third straight game with 40 or more.
— Mike Yastrzemski drove in the tiebreaking run with a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning and Mauricio Dubón finished off Chicago with a two-run homer that carried the Atlanta Braves to a 4-1 victory over the Cubs. The Braves extended baseball’s best record to 30-13.
— Pinch-hitter Ceddanne Rafaela had a tiebreaking, two-run homer over the Green Monster and the Boston Red Sox beat Philadelphia 3-1.
— Daulton Varsho hit a grand slam with one out in the 10th inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
— Cleveland finished off a three-game sweep of the L.A. Angels, winning 4-2. The Guardians are 30-4 vs. the Angels at home since 2015.
— Nick Kurtz hit a grand slam as the Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2. It was the third career grand slam for the reigning American League Rookie of the Year and extended his on-base streak to 36 games.
— Christian Walker homered and Zach Cole hit an RBI single in the 10th inning that lifted the Houston Astros to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.
— Danny Jansen had a game-ending single with two outs as the Texas Rangers rallied for a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
— Mickey Moniak doubled, tripled, and homered, while Jake McCarthy had the first unassisted double play by a left fielder in the majors since 2013 as the Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4.
— Jarred Kelenic had two hits and two RBIs as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 for their fourth straight win to improve to 21-21 on the season.
— Daylen Lile hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the 10th inning as the Washington Nationals rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-7.