The fall prep season at North Platte High School gets underway tonight, as the Lady Bulldog softball team takes the field for a doubleheader in Hastings. The Lady Bulldogs will meet Omaha Skutt Catholic and Omaha Gross Catholic halfway for one game against each team. North Platte went 16-17 last season with a young squad under coach BJ Songster, but the team lost no seniors and eight starters are back, meaning the goals for this year will be set much higher. Both of North Platte’s opponents have already started their seasons. The Gross Catholic Cougars are 3-0 while the Skutt Catholic Skyhawks are 1-0. ESPN Radio 1410 will have the broadcast from the Smith Softball Complex in Hastings tonight. Pregame coverage gets underway at 4:15, with the first pitch of the opening game scheduled for 4:30.

Another late rally propelled the Colorado Rockies to victory last night. Two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth gave the Rockies a 5-3 win over the New York Mets in Queens. The Rockies again struggled offensively early in the game but broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh on a lead-off homer by Wilin Rosario, the 20^th of the season for the rookie catcher. DJ LeMaiheu drove in the second run of the inning on a suicide squeeze. In the ninth, after the Mets had cut their lead to 3-2, the Rockies got an RBI single from Chris Nelson and a pinch-hit RBI double from Josh Rutledge. The Rockies have now won eight of their last ten ballgames and have won three straight series for the first time all season. They’ll go for the four-game sweep of the Mets this afternoon. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action, with pregame coverage at 11:30 AM and the first pitch at 12:10.

The Colorado Rockies have been without the services of their best player for almost three full months. But Troy Tulowitzki is on his way back. The shortstop will begin a minor-league rehab assignment on Friday with AA Tulsa. Tulowitzki went on the disabled list on May 31 with a bizarre groin injury known as baseball pitcher syndrome. He’ll be joined on the rehab assignment by Jason Giambi, who has been out since July 24^th with a viral infection. Neither player is expected to be activated until after rosters expand on September 1.

Lincoln – University of Nebraska men’s tennis coach Kerry McDermott announced Wednesday that Fungai Tongoona (prounounced FOO’-gah-ai TOH-go-oh-nah) has been named an assistant coach with the Husker men’s tennis program.

“I feel real fortunate to have the opportunity to add Fungai Tongoona to my coaching staff,” Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. “He brings a wealth of familiarity to our program and understands the type of individual we are looking for both as a student and an athlete here at the University of Nebraska. He is a man of high integrity, has an unbelievable work ethic and very passionate about keeping Nebraska Tennis among the elite in the Big Ten and in college tennis.”

Originally from Harare, Zimbabwe, Tongoona spent four seasons (1999-2002) with the Husker program playing for Coach McDermott. A two-year captain for the Huskers, he compiled a 12-16 in singles play while going 17-12 in double action as a senior in 2001-02. He was named the men’s tennis lifter-of-the-year in 1999-2000 and was a second-team academic All-Big 12 performer in 2000. In addition, he also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board during his time at Nebraska and was on honored by the Big 12 for a community outreach award in 2000. He graduated with a degree in marketing and minor in French from Nebraska in 2003.

Tongoona has been a certified tennis teaching professional since 2002, serving as head professional at Southlake (Texas) Tennis Center, as well as the Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln. Most recently, he served as the teaching professional at the DFW Hilton in Grapevine, Texas, and is also certified as a personal trainer and Tennis Trainer.

Tongoona replaces Joerg Barthel, who was named head coach at Georgia State in early August.

— Seamus McKnight, Nebraska Sports Information