THURSDAY SPORTS, MAY 15, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— For the third straight year, Mitchell Kernels head basketball coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt was named the Tom Maxwell/KORN Mitchell Coach of the Year at the Mitchell Athletic Boosters Banquet at the Corn Palace on Wednesday, May 14. Kreutzfeldt led Mitchell to a 20-4 record and a third straight Class AA state basketball championship game, finishing runner-up during the 2024-25 season. The fourth year coach is 77-19 overall with the Kernels with a state championship in 2024.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis finished third at the ESD conference tournament on Tuesday in Watertown, led by a Flight 6 championship for Sutton Thompson. Mitchell ends the season at the state tennis tournament in Sioux Falls, May 22-23.
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf host the Mitchell Invitational on Friday at 10:30 am.
— Mitchell Kernels softball (5-9 on the season) will be at Brookings on Friday at 3 pm.
— Mitchell baseball will face Rapid City Stevens on Friday and Saturday in a best two-out-of-three series with the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament in Sioux Falls. First pitch on Friday in Rapid City is set for 9 pm CST, and the first game Saturday will be at 1:30 pm CST. A potential third game would be played at 4 pm CST. The winner of the series advances to the Class A state baseball tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium on Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24. Mitchell is the No. 9 seed and Rapid City Stevens the No. 8 seed. Mitchell just swept Stevens in a doubleheader at Drake Field on Saturday, 1-0 and 6-4.
— Mitchell track and field will compete at the ESD track and field meet takes place on Saturday in Harrisburg.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan’s Allison Meyerink made the cut at the NAIA Women’s Golf Championship shooting +9 (153) during her first two rounds. Meyerink finished her first round yesterday at +6 and shot +3 during her second round. Meyerink is currently tied for 27th overall at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Michigan outside Detroit. Meyerink tees off at 7:30 am CST this morning starting on the 10th hole.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball ends the regular season with four games vs. Oral Roberts with a Thursday doubleheader at Noon.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD hosts the Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Vermillion starting on Thursday and running through Saturday. Qualifiers will compete at the NCAA West Regional at College Station, Texas May 28-31.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Hanson/Bridgewater-Emery 5, Mount Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney 4 – A.J. Wilber stole home
Freeman/Canistota/Marion 5, West Central 4
Elkton-Lake Benton 2, Howard 1 – Luke Koepsell had seven strikeouts
Bon Homme 5, Scotland/Menno 0 – Isaiah Crownover allowed just two hits in the shutout
HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
— McCook Central/Montrose girls golf won at McCook Country Club in Salem on Wednesday with a team score of 297, one shot better than second place Garretson. The Hanson boys also won the team shooting 228, +12.
NFL
— The Kansas City Chiefs will be featured in at least eight stand-alone games during the upcoming NFL season. Their Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagle will be Week 2 in Kansas City in the late afternoon game on Fox. Philadelphia has seven stand-alone games. The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens meet in Week 1 on “Sunday Night Football.” The Minnesota Vikings start the season at Chicago against the Bears week 1, followed by Sunday Night Football against Atlanta in the home opener in Week 2. The Vikings will also be at Dallas on Sunday night Week 15 and play on Christmas Day vs. Detroit on Dec. 25 on Netflix.
NBA
— Julius Randle scored 29 points on 13-for-18 shooting to send the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals for the second straight year with a 121-110 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Anthony Edwards had 22 points and 12 assists for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who will face the Denver-Oklahoma City winner in the next round. They could get five days off, if the Nuggets beat the Thunder on Thursday to force a Game 7.
— Derrick White had 34 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead the Boston Celtics to a 127-102 Game 5 win over the New York Knicks that kept them alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Celtics connected on 22 3-pointers to win at home for the first time this series and first without Jayson Tatum following his season-ending Achilles tendon injury. The Knicks will try again to win the series Friday in New York. If the Celtics win, Game 7 would be in Boston on Monday.
NBA PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 7:30 pm on ESPN – Oklahoma City leads the series 3-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – WEDNESDAY
Florida Panthers 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – Florida leads series 3-2
Edmonton Oilers 1, Vegas Golden Knights 0 (OT) – Edmonton win the series 4-1
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 6 pm on TNT – Carolina leads the series 3-1
Winnipeg Jets vs. Dallas Stars, 8:30 pm on TNT – Dallas leads the series 3-1
MLB
— Pete Rose was celebrated by the Cincinnati Reds a day after baseball’s career hits leader was posthumously removed from Major League Baseball’s permanent ineligibility list. There was a pregame moment of silence, and a choir from Rose’s Cincinnati high school performed the national anthem on Wednesday night.
COLLEGE
— Illinois has locked in its football and men’s basketball coaches for the long term, agreeing to six-year contracts with Bret Bielema and Brad Underwood. Illinois rewarded Bielema for turning around its struggling football program, and Underwood for an eight-year run that includes five NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight. Bielema’s annual salary would begin at $7.7 million, while Underwood’s would start at $4.4 million.
WNBA
— The Connecticut Sun WNBA team are looking at all options for the franchise’s future, including a potential sale. The team is owned by the Mohegan Tribe, which runs the casino where the team has played since 2003. The Tribe bought the franchise for $10 million and relocated it from Orlando that year. The Connecticut franchise was the first in the league to be run by a non-NBA owner and also became the first to turn a profit.
MLB
— Kody Clemens hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to their 10th straight victory, 8-6 over the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday. Minnesota rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the opener 6-3, then fell behind 6-4 before coming back in the second game. The Twins got for their 11th straight win and third straight series sweep at Baltimore today at 11:35 am.
— The Colorado Rockies left Texas as the first team in baseball’s modern era to lose 36 of their first 43 games as Colorado lost 8-3 to the Rangers that was the Rockies’ 11th in the last 12 games. Colorado is 7-36 on the season.
— Jeremy Peña had a season-high four hits, capped by a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning, to give the Houston Astros a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.
— Pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers hit four home runs while rallying past the Athletics 9-3. Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer in the first and Andy Pages followed with a leadoff HR in the second.
— Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a pinch-hit single in the ninth to end the game and give the Detroit Tigers a 6-5 win over the Boston Red Sox.
— Aaron Judge hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning as the Yankees beat the Mariners 3-2. Judge leads the majors with 15 HR’s at a .412 average.
—Rhys Hoskins homered and drove in five runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Guardians 9-5.
— James Wood’s eighth-inning double drove in the go-ahead run as the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 to end their seven-game losing streak.
— Alec Burleson had a homer among his three hits and drove in four runs as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 14-7 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader. Philadelphia won game one, 2-1.
— Kyle Stowers hit a pair of solo home runs and tripled as the Miami Marlins topped the Chicago Cubs 3-1.
— Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer in the first inning as the San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-1.
— Ketel Marte hit two home runs and Eugenio Suárez added a three-run shot as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-7.
— Alejandro Kirk hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1.
— Davis Martin pitched one-run ball into the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 for their season-high third consecutive win.
— Matt Gorski and Jared Triolo each connected for a two-run homer as the Pittsburgh Pirates shoutout the Mets 4-0.