LOCAL SPORTS 3-27-23

The Mount Marty Lancers baseball team are now (24-5) overall, and (7-1) in GPAC play after splitting a double header with Concordia on Saturday.

            The Lancers won game one 10-4, but fell in game two 12-6. Will Gardner and Braeden Cordes hit a pair of homeruns to propel MMU to the victory in game one, while Lancers pitcher Jared Miller got the win on the mound, striking out six and allowing three earned runs over 5 and a third innings.

            Next up for the Lancers is a scheduled home opener on Wednesday against Dakota State. First pitch is set for 5:00 PM.

            The Mount Marty Lancers softball team played for the first time since March 11th on Sunday, as they were swept by the Briar Cliff Chargers in a double header.

            The Lancers fell 10-1 in game one, and were shutout in a 1-0 loss in the second game, as Chargers pitcher Katelyn Kotlarz (cot-lars) struck out twelve batters and threw a no-hitter.

            Next up for the Lancers is a meeting with Dakota Wesleyan on Saturday, April 1st, in Mitchell. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.

            The Mount Marty Lancers track and field team opened their outdoor season over the weekend as they competed at Wayne State College.

            The Lancers took home a total of six event titles as Elianna Clark led the way for the Lancer women, winning the 100m and 200m runs. The women’s 4x400m relay team of Isabelle Hardmeyer, Aniya Teppo, Alexis Even and Zelie Sorensen took the top spot in their event, while Grace Rippen won the women’s pole vault.

            On the men’s side, Jonathan Fuselier won the 110m hurdles with teammate Seth Wiebelhaus finishing third, and Marcus Jnofin earned a victory in the 200m as he posted a time of 22.05 seconds.

            The Lancers will travel to Wichita, Kansas on Thursday, as they’ll take part in the Friends University Spring Open.

            Yankton high school track and field opened their 2023 season last Friday as they took part in the Mount Marty Class A Indoor Track & Field meet, taking home three event titles.

            The Gazelles were led by Shae Rumsey as she took the top spot in the girls’ 400 meter dash with a time of 1:00.80. Rumsey, along with Claire Tereshinski (t-air-a-shin-ski), Thea Chance and Sydnee Serck posted the fastest time in the 4x800m relay as well with a time of 10:15.91.

            For the Bucks, Dylan Payer took home a comfortable victory in the boys 3200m run, as he finished with a time of 9:56.35, 13 seconds ahead of second place. Austin Gobel also shined for the Bucks taking home 3rd place finishes in the long jump and the 60m dash.

            Next up for Yankton is the ESD Indoor meet in Brookings on Saturday, April 1st.

            The Yankton Bucks tennis squad are (3-1) to start the season following their performance in the West River Invitational in Rapid City over the weekend.

            On Friday, Yankton defeated Rapid City Stevens 5-4 and swept Rapid City Central 9-0. The Bucks fell to RC Christian 8-1 on Saturday, but rebounded with another 9-0 sweep, this time over St. Thomas More. Every Buck won at least two of their matches over the weekend, with Harrison Krajewski (Kra-ski) winning all four of his matches.

            Next up for the Bucks is a home quadrangular tomorrow at 11:00 AM inside the NFAA Easton Yankton Archery Complex. Yankton will face O’Gorman, Sioux City Bishop Heelan, and Vermillion in the meet.

            It was announced last week that former Vermillion Tanager and South Dakota Coyotes guard AJ Plitzuweit (Plit-zoo-white) would be entering the transfer portal and weighing his options on the next step of his basketball career.

            Plitzuweit has two years of eligibility remaining due to a medical redshirt after an injury forced him to miss the entire 2021-22 season, as well the COVID redshirt that was given to all NCAA athletes as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Plitzuweit played in 29 games, starting in 27, for the Coyotes last season, and averaged just under twelve points a game.

            Plitzuweit is the 2nd Coyote to enter the transfer portal, as he joins Greek forward Tasos Kamateros (Tah-so-s Kah-ma-tair-os) in the portal.