Thursday June 6th Local Sports

ST. ANSGAR — 9th-ranked St. Ansgar knocked off top-ranked Newman 5-3 in a clash of ranked Class 1A baseball teams last night in St. Ansgar. The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning, but St. Ansgar responded with a three-run third and added runs in the fifth and sixth to pick up the win. Colin Kramer picked up the win for the Saints, pitching six innings, while Evan Paulus took the loss for Newman. The Knights drop to 7-1 and will host Nashua-Plainfield on Friday night. St. Ansgar is now 8-3 and will travel to Garner-Hayfield-Ventura tomorrow night.

MASON CITY — Mason City High swept Des Moines Hoover last night, 15-0 in four innings and 14-2 in five innings. Derek Dalen picked up the win in both games, starting both games and throwing only 44 pitches in six innings of work. Dawson Wedeking had four hits, including a homer, and six runs batted in on the night. Dylan Miller had a grand slam in the third inning of the second game. Mason City is 6-1 on the season and will host Waterloo East tonight at Roosevelt Field.

ALGONA — Clear Lake scored 10 of their 12 runs over the final three innings in a 12-4 win at Algona last night in North Central Conference baseball. Mitchell Raber and Eric Ritter each had three runs batted in while Mac Adams also had two RBI. Connor O’Tool picked up the complete-game victory, striking out five. Clear Lake is 3-5 and will host Garner-Hayfield-Ventura tonight.

— other baseball last night
Humboldt 14, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 5
Lake Mills 14, North Union 4
Nashua-Plainfield 4, Northwood-Kensett 3
Osage 12, Forest City 2
Rockford 7, Bishop Garrigan 0 (Rockford wins after Garrigan uses ineligible pitcher)
West Fork 23, Eagle Grove 2 (4 innings)
West Hancock 7, North Butler 5

ALGONA — Algona scored six times in the fifth and three times in the sixth for a 12-6 win over Clear Lake in North Central Conference softball last night. Clear Lake drops to 2-3 on the season and will host Garner-Hayfield-Ventura tonight.

— other softball last night
Bishop Garrigan 15, Rockford 1
Central Springs 13, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura 1
Hampton-Dumont 8, Iowa Falls-Alden 0
Humboldt 12, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 1
Nashua-Plainfield 13, Northwood-Kensett 8
North Butler 15, West Hancock 0
North Union 14, Lake Mills 4
Riceville 17, GMG 4
West Fork 7, Eagle Grove 2

MASON CITY — Two more NIACC baseball players, including a Newman alum, have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft.

Bryce Ball was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 24th round of the 2019 MLB Draft on Wednesday.

Ball, who prepped at Newman, played at Dallas Baptist University in 2019, led the Missouri Valley Conference in home runs (18) and RBI (54). Ball’s 18 home runs rank as the fifth most in a single-season in DBU’s Division I era dating back to 2004. Ball also drew a league-high 51 walks, the third most in a single-season in Patriot Baseball’s Division I history.

Ball, a first baseman/designated hitter, was named a first team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in 2019. The Patriots’ designated hitter was also became the third player in school history to win national player of the week honors twice in the same season.

At NIACC, Ball hit .362 with 135 hits (7th on school’s career list). Ball also accumulated 96 RBIs (11th on school’s career list) and hit 22 home runs (tied for fourth on school’s career list).

NIACC’s Harrison Beethe was also selected on Wednesday, chosen by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 39th round. In his two years at NIACC, he had a 1-3 record in 15 appearances, striking out 35.

Ball and Beethe join former NIACC left-hander Brandon Williamson, who played this season at TCU and was selected by Seattle in the second round, as players chosen in this year’s draft.

IOWA CITY — Iowa senior Cole McDonald was selected by the Houston Astros on Wednesday in the 15th Round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

The right-handed pitcher from New Hampton, Iowa, was taken with the 466th pick. McDonald is the 21st player selected under Iowa head coach Rick Heller and it is the 13th consecutive year the Hawkeyes have had a player taken in the MLB Draft.

McDonald went 6-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 15 starts as Iowa’s Friday night starter in 2019. He finished the season with 83 strikeouts over 89 innings, ranking in the top 15 in the Big Ten Conference in both categories.

In the final start of his career, McDonald was at his best. He allowed one run on five hits and fanned nine over eight innings to lead the Hawkeyes to a 4-2 Big Ten Tournament victory over top-seeded and 21st-ranked Indiana.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Roberto Pérez hit a solo homer in the seventh inning to drive in the go-ahead run and the Cleveland Indians used seven relief pitchers after announcing scheduled starter Carlos Carrasco will be sidelined indefinitely because of a recently diagnosed blood condition and rallied to defeat the Minnesota Twins 9-7

OAKLAND — The spotlight has not been too bright for Nick Nurse. In his first season as head coach the Carroll native has led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Nurse says he is tuning out the noise that comes with a deep playoff run.
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[nndsm1] :24 :Iowa again
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Nurse coached the Iowa Energy in what was known as the D-League back then. He led the franchise to a league championship in 2011. He says the experience gained was invaluable.
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[nndsm2] :27 :to finish
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Toronto beat Golden State last night and now has a two games to one lead in the series.

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Jewell Loyd scored 19 points, Jordin Canada had a career-high 17 points and seven assists and the Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx 84-77. Alysha Clark added 16 points and Natasha Howard 12 for Seattle, which shot 59 percent from the field and overcame 20 turnovers to get the win.