THURSDAY SPORTS, MAY 22, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis competes at the Class AA state championship in Sioux Falls on Thursday and Friday.
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf will compete at the Brookings Country Club in the Brookings Invitational on Thursday at 10 am.
— Mitchell Kernels track and field competes at the Huron Invitational on Thursday at 2 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels softball (5-10 on the season) hosts Tea Area on Friday at 5:30 pm in the regular season finale. The Kernels are currently the No. 12 seed in Class AA and would face No. 5 Brandon Valley in a potential SoDAK 16 game next week.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Abby Magnuson and Ethan Watson will represent Dakota Wesleyan at the NAIA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday and Friday in Marion, Indiana. Magnuson will compete in the women’s shot put and discus and is a two-time All-American, while Watson is a freshman who will also compete in the shot put. Magnuson enters the Championships tied for 13th in the shot put and 28th in the discus nationally. Watson is ranked 14th in the men’s shot put. Watson is scheduled to throw at noon on Friday.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State lost 11-2 to Oral Roberts during the first day of the Summit League baseball tournament in Omaha. Oral Roberts scored seven runs in the bottom of the second innings to take an early lead and added three more runs in the fifth. North Dakota State defeated Omaha 1-0 in 10 innings. SDSU faces Omaha in an elimination game at Noon today, while NDSU takes on Oral Roberts at 6 pm.
— South Dakota State earned its fifth straight Summit League Commissioner’s Cup and set a new league record with its 10th overall, the conference office announced this week. The Jackrabbits claimed the top spot by earning 94 total points between their men’s and women’s programs. The Commissioner’s Cup is given annually to the Summit League school that collects the most combined points in relationship to its placement in the regular season standings for all men’s and women’s sports.
HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
— Hanson boys golf won the Region 4B tournament at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell on Wednesday with a team score of 230. Will Jarding won the tournament with a +3 (74), while A.J. Wilber finished second with a +6 (77). Platte-Geddes girls golf won the Region 4B tournament, shooting a 286. Mallory Gant placed first with a round of 86. The Class B state golf tournament starts on Monday, June 2 in Watertown with the boys playing at Cattail Crossing Golf Course and the girls competing at Prairie Winds Golf Course.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL – WEDNESDAY
Parkston/Ethan 7, Scotland/Menno 6
Dakota Valley 5, Canistota/Freeman 1
Dakota Valley 6, Parkston/Ethan 0
Gorton Area 7, Howard 1
Sioux Falls Christian 7, Hanson/Bridgewater-Emery 4
Winner/Colome 10, St. Thomas More 0
Winner/Colome 3, Belle Fourche 2
Platte-Geddes/Dakota Christian/White Lake 6, Bennett County 3
Platte-Geddes/Dakota Christian/White Lake 7, Rapid City Christian 2
AMATEUR BASEBALL – THURSDAY
Platte vs. Mitchell
Parkston Rays vs. Alexandria
Corsica vs. Mt. Vernon
Winner/Colome vs. Parkston Mudcats – Sunday
CLASS A STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – FRIDAY IN SIOUX FALLS
No. 1 Harrisburg vs. No. 8 Watertown, Noon
No. 4 SF Jefferson vs. No. 5 Yankton, 2:30 pm
No. 2 SF Lincoln vs. No. 7 Rapid City Stevens, 5 pm
No. 3 O’Gorman vs. No. 6 Brandon Valley, 7:30 pm
NBA
— Tyrese Haliburton tied the game with a long jumper that bounced high off the back of the rim as time expired in regulation, then the Indiana Pacers went on to finish off their stunning rally by beating the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Knicks led by 14 points with under 3 minutes remaining in regulation. Andrew Nembhard eventually made the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds remaining in OT. Tyrese Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists, while Aaron Nesmith added 30 points and 8-of-9 shooting from three. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 43 points, while Karl Anthony Towns added 35 points and 12 rebounds. Game 2 is Friday night in New York.
— Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Wednesday as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, his first time winning the award. It’s now seven straight years that a player born outside the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest such streak in league history. Gilgeous-Alexander received 71 first-place votes, while Denver’s Nikola Jokic got the other 29 first-place votes. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32 points, 6 assists and five rebounds per game this season, leading the Thunder to a 68-14 record.
NBA PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7:30 pm on ESPN – Oklahoma City leads the series 1-0
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – WEDNESDAY
Dallas Stars 6, Edmonton Oilers 3 – Western Conference Finals Game 1
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers, 7 pm on TNT – Florida leads the series 1-0
NFL
— Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay died Wednesday at age 65. Pete Ward, Irsay’s longtime right-hand man and the teams chief operating officer, made the announcement in a statement from the team. He said Irsay died peacefully in his sleep.
— NFL owners narrowly failed to pass a proposal to prohibit the tush push. The fate of the Philadelphia Eagles QB sneak was on the agenda at their spring meetings. The ban on offensive players from pushing, pulling, lifting, grasping or encircling a runner was supported by a 22-10 vote, that’s two short of the three-quarters majority required by league bylaws.
OLYMPICS
— The organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics remain optimistic that Major League Baseball will find a way to join the NFL in sending the world’s best athletes in their respective sports to the 2028 Games. LA28 president and chairman Casey Wasserman said he has been in close contact with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about the decision that must be made by both the league and the players’ union on whether to send players to the Olympics in the middle of the 2028 MLB season. There’s no current timetable for the decision.
MLB
— Cleveland’s Gavin Williams pitched six innings and José Ramírez had three more hits to extend his hitting streak to 14 games as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 in the second game of the day between the two teams. The Twins won 6-5 earlier in the afternoon in a game that was suspended on Monday due to rain. Kody Clemens had a walk-off double for Minnesota. The Twins have today off before starting a three-game series vs. Kansas City on Friday night at 7:10 pm.
— Salvador Perez had three hits including a two-run homer as the Kansas City Royals won in San Francisco 8-4 over the Giants.
— Spencer Torkelson had a pair of hits, walked twice and drove in a run to help the Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 for Detroit’s 15th win in its past 20 games.
— Kyle Tucker had a homer among his three hits and knocked in the tiebreaking run with a single and fielding error by Miami in the eighth inning as the Chicago Cubs beat the Marlins 2-1.
— Jasson Domínguez homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Yankees a 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers.
— J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper hit home runs as the Phillies beat the Rockies 9-5 for their sixth straight victory. Philadelphia has outscored Colorado 25-12 through the first three games of the four-game series. The Rockies fall to 8-41 after losing their fourth in a row and 16th in their last 18.
— Brett Baty drove in three runs on two hits, including a two-run single to break a seventh-inning tie to help the New York Mets avoid a three-game sweep by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-1.
— Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run homer off Corbin Burnes in the sixth inning as the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1.
— Daulton Varsho hit a grand slam in a seven-run eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays routed the San Diego Padres 14-0.
— Logan O’Hoppe hit two home runs and drove in three runs as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Athletics 10-5 for their season-high sixth straight victory.
— Adley Rutschman hit a three-run homer to highlight Baltimore’s four-run outburst in the 11th inning as the Orioles ended an eight-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4.
— Yandy Díaz hit a three-run homer, among Tampa Bay’s four home runs in the game, as the Rays beat the Houston Astros 8-4.
— Leody Taveras hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put Seattle ahead as the Mariners topped the Chicago White Sox 6-5 for their fifth win in six games.