NEWSFLASH: Live blogging from the state tournament coming.
Due to an early deadline, I won't be making the trip on Wednesday for the Roughriders' contest versus Devils Lake, but I will be up there on Thursday and thereafter, and I plan to do a live blog of the Dickinson's Thursday game against Mandan or Fargo at either 12:15 or 6:45 p.m. (Mountain Time). If they beat Devils Lake, they'll play the winner of the aforementioned teams in the late game. If they lose, they'll play the loser in the early game.
Devils Lake gave Dickinson a tough go-around here in Dickinson, so it'll be interesting to see how things play out. No. 1 Bismarck comes in as the tournament's hottest team, having finished No. 2 in the state behind Dickinson in the regular season and winning the State Seeding Tournament last weekend.
Corbett FIeld in Minot has made some changes including a new pressbox and wireless internet, which any newspaper writer will tell you is a blessing.
Posted by: aarhus on 8/05/2008 at 7:56 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Dickinson vs. Miles City
Since Dickinson lost the opening game of a doubleheader in Wahpeton 3-2, the Roughriders have been taking their anger out on the baseball.
Since then, Dickinson is 4-0, scoring 66 runs while giving up just three.
Enter tonight's game vs. Miles City. The Mavericks, coming off a year-long suspension for forfeiting games to Bozeman because they would not use wood bats, have had a rough go of it to start the year, winning just two games (as their Web site claims). Miles City, as most people know, refuses to play with metal bats since the death of pitcher Brandon Patch a few years ago. He was hit by a baseball in the head and died from it 10 days later.
I'm a big fan of wood bats because it cuts down on the runs and emphasizes good pitching and defense. There is less margin for error with wood bats, so if you can hit a solid average with wood, aluminum should be a piece of cake.
The game starts at 6 p.m. and Dickinson enters with a 7-2 overall record including a 4-2 mark in the state standings, which count toward postseason seeding.
Posted by: aarhus on 6/21/2008 at 3:39 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Changing formats
As Greg Devillars wrote in his excellent article that I'm sure you can find here, there are some proposed changes to Class B by a redistricting committee.
Here are the proposed changes that stick out:
> Switching the girls and basketball seasons around so that girls have more of a break between volleyball and basketball. Currently, the boys take a longer break off between football and basketball while the girls basketball season starts almost immediately after volleyball.
> Redistricting the state. Some districts have six while others have nine. Not sure what could be done in the Southwest part of the state as spread out as it already is.
> Single elimination formats for district and regional tournaments.
> Only the top two teams in districts advance to a four-team regional.
I'll offer more insight and how I feel about some of this stuff at a later date. Expect a reactions story/column from Class B coaches in the next few days.
The comments are on and I'm ready for your opinion...
Posted by: aarhus on 6/19/2008 at 4:00 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Run fest
What a one-sided slugfest Dickinson's 9-inning game against Glendive turned into.
The Roughriders put a 23-spot on the board after banging out 20 hits as Dickinson won 23-2. Jackson Wandler had five of his team's hits in a 5-for-5 performance while also being the winning pitcher of record.
Wandler isn't one of Dickinson's top pitchers, but he's an innings-eater that's capable of throwing strikes and getting guys out. He may not be the pitcher relied on when it counts the most, but he gives Dickinson another lefty to go to after Kyle Schroeder.
The team looks good though Tyler Steffan and Stephen Laylock were not there. Laylock is on vacation and Steffan is playing in the Badlands Bowl. They moved Brandon Lange up from the Dickinson B team so they could have nine on Wednesday. Lange had a nice single and a sacrifice bunt out of the No. 9 hole.
Posted by: aarhus on 6/19/2008 at 2:53 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Consistency is the lifeblood of a blog
Okay, so I don't blog as much as I used to.
I'm off to cover the Dickinson B's home opener against Hazen today. If I haven't said it already on here, baseball is my favorite sport to cover. My favorite sport to watch and to play was always football, but to cover...definitely baseball. Hence you will notice the stepped up coverage of the Dickinson B team, which competes at the Class B level. I was fortunate enough to play in the Class B state tournament a few years back when it was in Bottineau, so I know just how good that baseball really is. There are a lot of good teams and it's a lot of fun to watch. It's usually good, clean baseball.
I'm not sure how good Hazen is. I know that Dickinson has had a few more kids go out, so they aren't struggling with numbers as much. It should be fun to watch.
Posted by: aarhus on 6/17/2008 at 5:09 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink