Rod's Tuesday Sports Blog

The Pierre Post 8 American Legion baseball team dropped a 15-6 verdict to Coon Rapids, Minnesota last night at Hyde Stadium in a single 9 inning game. Coon Rapids scored at least two runs in each of the first 5 innings and scored in 7 of the 9 innings played. Tyler Ness started and took the loss working the first four innings allowing 9 runs, 4 earned. A total of 4 pitchers took the mound for Pierre which saw it's record drop to 16 and 16 on the season. Orin Burke hit a solo home run to lead off the second inning for Post 8 which got outhit in the game 21-7. Jared Nielen had 2 hits for Post 8.

Courtney Dowling won the girls 13-14 200 meter dash Saturday at the State Hershey Track and Field meet held in Pierre. Dowling won the event in a time of 27.54 seconds. She was the only individual state champion from Pierre on the day. The 4x100 Relays team also finished first to claim a state title. That team consiting of Emma Keith, Taryn Senger, Kyla Keyes and McKenna Larson won the girls 9-10 division in a winning time of 1:05.13. There were several runner up finishers from Pierre in the girls division during Saturday's meet. In the boys division, Bradley Dean of Pierre was a two time winner on the track as he won the boys 11-12 age division 200 meter dash in a time of 28.81 seconds and the 400 meter run in a time of 1:06.56. Caleb Lusk won the boys 11-12 age 800 meter run in a time of 2:38.94. Jebben Keyes won the boys 13-14 age 1600 meter run in a time of 5:15.90 and Grey Zabel of Pierre won the 9-10 age softball throw with a toss of 132 feet 9 inches. And two Pierre relay teams won state championships. The 9-10 age 4x100 relay team of Grey Zabel, Justin Dowling, Alec Miller and River Iverson won in a time of 1:07.12 and 11-12 age team of Cade Larson, Marcus Hluchy, Ty Bolton and Dean Bradley won the 4x100 relay in a time of 59.22 seconds.

Several cowboys and cowgirls from central South Dakota earned a spot on Team South Dakota for the upcoming National Finals High School Rodeo that will be held in Gillette, Wyo. next month. The cowboys and cowgirls qualified by finishing in the top four of average at the recently concluded State High School Finals Rodeo that wrapped up in Belle Fourche over the weekend. 3 members of the team are from the Pierre and Ft. Pierre Area. They are Carson Musick of Pierre in Calf Roping, Jacob Etzkorn of Pierre in Bull Riding and Jace Melvin of Ft. Pierre in Steer Wrestling.

The first Tour de Oahe bicycle ride scheduled for Saturday, July 9 is still on despite the extensive flooding in the Pierre / Fort Pierre area. Originally scheduled to be based out of the Oahe Marina, the location has been changed to the Americinn Hotel in Fort Pierre. The 5-mile Family Fun Ride is the only ride to be cancelled. It was to be held at the Oahe Downstream campgrounds, which have been closed due to the flooding. Riders do, however, have the option of 3 other rides of varying distances (19 mile, 38 mile and a metric century ride of 62 miles). All routes will include a loop around the Oahe Dam. Entry fee is $25 which includes 2 meals plus snacks. Registration is open until Tuesday, July 5th with riders from Pierre, Rapid City, Nebraska and Illinois already entered. Anyone with a bicycle and the ability to ride a minimum of 19 miles is encouraged to participate Details, including entry form, can be found at www.tourdeoahe.com .