May 2015 – Page 14 – North Platte Post Archive

Michigan Baseball Claims Big Ten Tournament Championship

Posted on May 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS – The Michigan baseball team claimed its ninth Big Ten Tournament title, and first since 2008, defeating Maryland 4-3 in Sunday’s championship game. The Wolverines earn the conference’s automatic bid to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

The third-seeded Wolverines (37-23) went undefeated in tournament action, defeating sixth-seeded Indiana in the tournament-opening game, knocking off No. 2 Iowa on day two and eliminating top-seeded Illinois to advance to the championship game.

Maryland was the first to score as Kevin Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Nick Cieri for a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Michigan responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth as Cody Bruder opened the scoring with a single to left center that drove in Jackson Glines. Carmen Benedetti reached on a fielder’s choice and was brought home by a Kevin White single to left center. Bruder crossed the plate on a wild pitch, while Kevin White was walked home.

The Terrapins (39-21) did not let up, cashing in a run in the eighth inning with a pair of walks followed by a Jose Cuas RBI-double to right field. Maryland pulled within one run with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, but came up short.

Michigan capitalized on six hits and did not commit an error, while Maryland recorded seven hits and one error. Michigan’s Brett Adcock picked up the win, striking out four batters and allowing one run on two hits in 5.2 innings of work. The tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Jacob Cronenworth was credited with the save. Maryland’s Taylor Bloom allowed only one earned run, striking out three in 3.1 innings of work.

The 2015 NCAA Selection Show will air live on ESPNU at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, May 25.

The conference also announced its All-Tournament team, as selected by a media panel, following the conclusion of the championship game, which can be found below.

All-Tournament Team*
P – John Kravetz, Illinois
P – Kevin Mooney, Maryland
P – Brett Adcock, Michigan
C – Brad Hartong, Indiana
1B – Ryan Krill, Michigan State
2B – Jacob Cronenworth, Michigan
3B – Mark Weist, Michigan State
SS – Nick Ramos, Indiana
SS – Kevin Smith, Maryland
OF – Ryan Nagle, Illinois
OF – Craig Dedelow, Indiana
OF – Jackson Glines, Michigan
OF – Brandon Hughes, Michigan State
DH – Cody Bruder, Michigan

*Additional honorees due to tie

Most Outstanding Player: Jacob Cronenworth, Michigan

Wacha improves to 7-0, Cards end 3-game skid by beating KC

Posted on May 24, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Unbeaten Michael Wacha won for the seventh straight time this year and the St. Louis Cardinals ended their season-worst three-game losing streak by beating the Kansas City Royals 6-1 Sunday.

Wacha held the majors’ best-hitting team to one unearned run and five singles in seven innings. He exited with a 1.87 ERA and became the first Cardinals pitcher to start 7-0 since Matt Morris began 8-0 in 2005.

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Yordano Ventura (3-4).

Judge Throws Out Nebraska Drunken Driving Case with Little Foundation

Posted on May 24, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge threw out a drunken driving case earlier this month because the arresting officer didn’t have enough evidence to begin with.

The decision allows Randall Mansfield to avoid a possible fourth driving while intoxicated conviction for the December 2013 incident.

Defense attorney Mark Rappl says the officer rushed to judgment about his client. Mansfield doesn’t deny that he was drinking that night, but he says he wasn’t driving.

Mansfield was running from his truck to a car that was giving him a ride when the officer encountered him. The officer thought Mansfield was running from him when he started talking to him.

A Head Scratcher: 9 Brains Found Next to Train Tracks

Posted on May 24, 2015

GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. (AP) — Nine brains were found along a street in a northern New York village, but authorities say there’s nothing to fear.

The brains are believed to have been part of a collection for educational or research purposes. No criminal activity is suspected. Residents discovered the brains on a street near railroad tracks in Governeur and notified police Wednesday.

A local veterinarian determined one of the brains had been professionally removed and preserved in formaldehyde. The organs are believed to be either from dogs or sheep.

Mishaps with preserved brains are not uncommon.

Last year the University of Texas in Austin said dozens of human brains stored in jars of formaldehyde and reported missing were actually destroyed in 2002. Those brains had been donated for teaching and research.

Divers Resume Searching River for Missing NP Teens

Posted on May 24, 2015

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Divers have resumed searching the South Platte River for two teenagers who have been missing since Monday.

Officials have said 17-year-old Alexis Wiezorek and 18-year-old Noah Ramos have been missing since late Monday.

Wiezorek drove around several barricades and then into the river, which had washed out part of a road.

For several days, conditions on the river were too dangerous for divers, but they were able to return to the river Sunday.

Authorities have located an object with sonar that may be the car, but divers were unable to reach it last week.

State Track Results

Posted on May 24, 2015May 25, 2015

FULL FINAL RESULTS

Area State Champions

Katie Montgomery, North Platte St. Pat’s – Class-C Pole Vault – 11-00.00

Anna O’Malley, North Platte St. Pat’s – Class-C 3200 Meters – 11:34.23

Tiani Reeves, Gothenburg – Class-B Long Jump – 18-01.75

Tiani Reeves, Gothenburg – Class-B Triple Jump – 38-07.75

Tanner Borchardt – Class-B Shot Put – 59-06.25

Brady (Dayne Porter, Matthew Neiman, Chase Viter, Troy Lusk) – Class-D 4 x 400 Meter Relay – 3:31.85

Class-A Girls Results
Class-A Boys Results
Class-B Girls Results
Class-B Boys Results
Class-C Girls Results
Class-C Boys Results
Class-D Girls Results
Class-D Boys Results

No contract extension for Nebraska prep activities director

Posted on May 24, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska School Activities Association board of directors has voted not extend the contract of executive director Rhonda Blanford-Green.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports (https://bit.ly/1Fv1TJj ) that the 5-3 vote against extending Blanford-Green’s contract occurred Thursday. The association oversees high school sports competition.

Blanford-Green, who took over the position in July 2012, is currently under contract until June 2016. She said the vote took her by surprise and that nothing in her conversations with board members led her to believe she wasn’t meeting the board’s expectations.

Board chairman Brian Maher Blanford-Green’s contract could be considered again. Blanford-Green said she will consider her options.

Gordon, Volquez lead KC over Cards in rain-shortened game

Posted on May 24, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer, Edinson Volquez pitched six solid innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Saturday night in a game called in the sixth inning because of rain.

The Royals improved to 28-14, the best record in the majors.

The game was stopped as Kansas City came to bat in the sixth, and was called after a wait of 70 minutes.

Rockies snap Giants’ 8-game winning streak with 5-3 victory

Posted on May 24, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Daniel Descalso homered and drove in three runs and the Colorado Rockies snapped the San Francisco Giants’ eight-game winning streak, taking the second game of a rain-soaked doubleheader 5-3 on Saturday night.

Descalso had a run-scoring groundout in the fourth and added a two-run homer in the sixth off spot starter Yusmeiro Petit (1-1).

Descalso’s homer off a 79 mph changeup put Colorado ahead 4-2, marking the first time the Giants trailed by more than a run since May 9.

San Francisco, which won the opener 10-8 behind Brandon Crawford’s three RBIs, was seeking its first nine-game streak since winning 10 in a row in May 2004.

David Hale (1-0), acquired from Atlanta in the offseason but plagued by a left oblique strain in spring training, allowed three runs — two earned — over 6 2/3 innings in his Rockies debut.

John Axford pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

Robert Attwood Brannan

Posted on May 24, 2015

Robert Attwood Brannan, 87, of North Platte, NE, passed away at a hospital in Albuquerque, NM on Wednesday, May 20, 2015.

Robert was born at the Brannan family home at 1415 West Sixth in North Platte on October 28, 1927, to Virgil and Garnette (Haskins) Brannan. He grew up in North Platte and graduated from North Platte High School with the Class of 1945.

Robert married Helen Lawyer, daughter of Claude and Effie (Gilmore) Lawyer of North Platte, at the First Methodist Episcopal Church on April 18, 1948.

Robert joined the Nebraska State Guards in 1945, serving as Corporal and Clerk of Company “A.” He then joined the U.S. Navy in 1946 and was stationed at the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C. Following the conclusion of World War II, he joined the Naval Reserves and was called back into the Navy in 1952 and served on the USS Bradford DD-545 as a Yeoman for the engineering officer until his discharge in 1954. The USS Bradford was the first U.S. naval ship fired on by Russian MIGS during the Korean War.

In honor of his naval service, Robert subsequently received the China Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal. Robert was honored to have served in the United States Armed Services during World War II and the Korean War, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfathers, Henry Smith of Schuyler, NE, and Henry Miller of Curtis, NE, who served in the United States Grand Army of the Republic during the American Civil War, and his ancestor Peter Chesley of New York, who served in the American Revolution.

Robert joined Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District as a surveyor in 1947. Bob then hired out as a Brakemen with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1950 and retired as a Conductor in 1990.

Robert was a member of First United Methodist Church in North Platte for over 65 years. He was a member of Platte Valley Lodge #32, AF&AM, for over 65 years and was a member of the York Rite Bodies. Bob was also a member of Signet Chapter #55, Order of Eastern Star, for over 50 years, and served as Worthy Patron in 1965, 1988, and 2006. He served as Associate Guardian of Job’s Daughters, Bethel #4. Robert was a member of P.R. Halligan Post #163 American Legion, and served as secretary for the Elks Lodge #985 in North Platte for two years.

Robert is survived by Helen, his wife of 67 years, of North Platte; his daughter, Debra (Carl) Mullendore, of Bernalillo, NM; his sister, Beverly (Warren) Wilson, of Kansas City, MO, and two nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Virgil and Garnette (Haskins) Brannan.

Memorials are suggested to First United Methodist Church, the Masonic-Eastern Star Home for Children in Fremont, the Nebraska Masonic Home in Plattsmouth, the Salvation Army, the Goodfellows Shoe Fund, the North Platte Food Pantry, or the donor’s choice.

Cremation was chosen. A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, May 29, 2015, at First United Methodist Church in North Platte with Pastor Kola Akinnigbagbe officiating. Inurnment with military honors and Masonic Rites will follow in Fort McPherson National Cemetery. The memorial book may be signed at odeanchapel.com or from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at Odean Colonial Chapel at C & Sycamore which is in charge of arrangements.