The North Platte Community College softball team will be hosting the National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II softball tournament April 24 – 25 at the Wayne Dowhower Memorial Softball Complex.

There are three teams in Region IX Division II. North Platte is the number one seed for the tournament with a 7 – 1 record in the region. Central Community College – Columbus is the number two seed with a record of 5 – 3. Southeast Community College – Beatrice is the third seed with a 0 – 8 record.

The tournament gets underway on Friday, April 24 with Central facing Southeast at 2 p.m. The winner of that game will face North Platte at 4:30 p.m.  The winner of that game advances to the championship game held on Saturday April 25 at 2:30 p.m.  They will play the winner of the elimination game which will be at noon on Saturday.  If the undefeated team loses in the championship game, they will play another game at 5 p.m. to determine the champion.

The winner of the Region IX championship will face the winner of Region 11 to advance to the NJCAA national tournament in Clinton, Miss.

The North Platte Community College Knights come into the tournament with a 17 – 27 overall record.  At the plate the Knights are led by Sara Villalobos with a .430 batting average, 58 hits, 35 runs scored and nine doubles.  Villalobos also has seven home runs and a .652 slugging percentage.

Brittney Odum leads the team in home runs with 10, slugging percentage of .691 and runs batted in with 41. Odum is batting .412 and has eight doubles.

Sara Runia and Shannon Lieber have eight and seven home runs respectively.  The Knights are 11^th in the NJCAA Division II in home runs with 40.

In the ring, the Knights are led by Lieber and Baileigh Oleson.  Lieber is 9 – 11on the season with a 3.94 earned run average.  She has struck out 64 hitters and allowed 31 walks.  Oleson is 6 – 10 with a 3.38 earned run average.  Oleson has struck out 58 and walked 44.

The Central Community College Lady Raiders are 14-27 on the season and are led offensively by Shelbi Dittmer with a .376 batting average and five home runs.  Ditmer has 24 runs batted in and nine runs scored.

Logan Zeleny is hitting .364 and has four home runs, 14 runs scored and is tied for the team lead with 25 runs batted in with Janey Pasold.  Morgan Uldrich is batting .359 with three home runs.  Uldrich also has 13 doubles and 19 runs scored.

Jayd Roberts leads the Lady Raider pitching staff with a 4 – 4 record and a 3.96 earned run average.  Roberts has struck out 34 and has allowed only five home runs on the season.

Morgan Uldrich leads the team in strikeouts by fanning 66 opposing hitters.  Uldrich has a 5-6 record with a 4.16 earned run average.

Shelbi Dittmer has a 3 – 9 record with a 5.02 earned run average.  Dittmer has struck out 37 and has allowed six home runs

Southeast Community College Lady Storm is 14 – 33 on the season.  Megan Hartman leads the Lady Storm with a .391 batting average, five home runs, 17 doubles and a .603 slugging percentage.

Melissa Foley is batting .312 with 14 doubles and one home run. Foley has 17 runs batted in and 33 runs scored.

Kristin Thomas shares the team lead in home runs with Hartman with five.  Alexis Graewe has 36 runs batted in and has hit four home runs.

In the ring, Hartman has an 8 – 12 record with a 6.26 earned run average.  Hartman has struck out 170 hitters, which is seventh in the nation.

The North Platte games can be heard on ESPN 1410 radio or at www.northplattepost.com.

All games of the tournament will be live streamed by www.coachesaid.com.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eagles personnel chief Ed Marynowitz says Tim Tebow’s passing skills have improved and he was signed to compete for a spot at quarterback.

Philadelphia’s new vice president of player personnel on Thursday was the first member of the organization to publicly discuss Tebow since the Eagles signed the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner to a one-year contract on Monday. Neither Tebow nor coach Chip Kelly has been available to the media.

Marynowitz says the team saw a “great deal of improvement” in Tebow since he last played in the NFL with the New England Patriots in training camp two years ago. Marynowitz also says Tebow is just one of 68 players on the roster and his “role will be determined by his performance.”

Tebow was 9-7 as a starter for Denver in 2010-11, including playoffs. He threw just eight passes for the New York Jets in 2012 and also lined up as a punt protector.

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says Pete Rose will play some role during this summer’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati.

Speaking Thursday with the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he has not determined a timetable to decide on Rose’s application to end his lifetime ban from baseball. The ban started in 1989 following an investigation Rose bet on the Reds to win while he was managing the team.

Manfred plans to speak with Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini on what role the club would like to have for Rose at the July 14 game. Manfred says “you can rest assured he will be allowed to participate.”

MLB allowed Rose to take part in the All-Century team announcement at Atlanta’s Turner Field during the 1999 World Series and a Reds’ ceremony in 2013 honoring their 1975 and ’76 championship teams.

Lincoln – After winning its final non-conference home game of the season Tuesday night, the Nebraska baseball team (30-13, 6-6 Big Ten) gets back to Big Ten play this weekend with a trip to Iowa City, Iowa, for a three-game series against the #19 Iowa Hawkeyes (27-11, 10-2 Big Ten).

The Huskers and Hawkeyes will meet at Duane Banks Field for the third straight season, with the series opener scheduled for 6:05 p.m. on Friday night. The series continues on Saturday at 3:05 p.m., while the finale is set for1:05 p.m. on Sunday. The Huskers hold a 5-4 advantage in the series since joining the Big Ten and won the first two series between the two teams before the Hawkeyes took 2-of-3 last year.

Nebraska enters the weekend seventh in the Big Ten with a 6-6 record and have played just one league series on the road, and they were swept at Maryland. The Hawkeyes were not picked in the top six of the preseason Big Ten coaches poll, but sit second in the league with a 10-2 mark, including a 5-1 home record. On the season, the Hawkeyes are 9-3 at Duane Banks Field following a 4-3 11-inning win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday night.

Iowa has won each of its first four league series this year, including a home sweep of Indiana and a road sweep at Purdue. Following its series with the Huskers, the Hawkeyes have three series remaining, including a trip to Michigan, Minnesota at home and a road series at Rutgers to end the regular season.

Chance Sinclair is scheduled to make his 27th career start on Friday night and will look to move above .500 on the year, as he sits at 5-5 in 10 starts. Over 62.0 innings, Sinclair has struck out 46, while walking 13. Sinclair started the middle game of the series last season and pitched the Huskers to their lone win of the weekend. Sinclair gave up one unearned run over 7.0 innings.

Iowa is scheduled to start junior Tyler Peyton on Friday night, who also leads the Hawkeyes with a .363 average (45-for-124) in 33 starts. The two-way player is 4-3 on the year in 10 starts on the mound with a 2.83 ERA in 57.1 innings of work. The right hander has 46 strikeouts on the year to 18 walks, and has given up 15 doubles. Peyton started the finale last season and gave up four runs on six hits over 6.1 innings, but didn’t factor into the decision after the Hawkeyes rallied for a win with four runs in the bottom of the eighth in an 8-4 Iowa victory.

Senior Kyle Kubat is scheduled to start on Saturday and for the fifth straight week he’ll try to notch his 20th career win. With a 4-2 record on the year and a 19-5 career record, Kubat is looking to become the 11th pitcher in school history to record 20 wins. Kubat is coming off a 9.0-inning outing against Ohio State where he took the mound in the 10th inning, but took the loss in a 2-1 defeat to the Buckeyes. Over his past four starts, Kubat has 18 strikeouts to one walk. The lefty did not pitch against Iowa last season.

Blake Hickman is scheduled to start on Saturday for the Hawkeyes. The junior from Chicago has been in Iowa’s weekend rotation all year after making five starts in 17 appearances last season. The 6-5 right hander has drawn attention from MLB scouts after touching 96 mph last summer in the Cape Cod League. This season, Hickman is 6-1 on the year with a 2.56 ERA over a team-high 59.2 innings. He has struck out 38 on the year season, but has also given up 26 walks. Hickman threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief over two appearances against the Huskers last season.

Sophomore Dek Burkamper will take the hill on Sunday for the Huskers and he’ll be in search of his fifth win of the season. A native of Muscatine, Iowa, Burkamper will face the Hawkeyes for the first time as a Husker. Burkamper is coming off a career-low 2.2 inning start last weekend, after he had thrown at least 5.0 innings in seven of his eight outings to start the year.

Junior Calvin Matthews is scheduled to start the finale for the Hawkeyes after he started the series opener last year. Matthews leads Iowa’s starters with a 2.01 ERA and is 3-1 on the year in nine starts over 10 appearances. A 6-4 right hander from Bloomfield, Iowa, Matthews has struck out 26, but walked 18, over 44.2 innings. Last season, Matthews gave up one run on six hits over 8.0 innings and was on the hook for the loss before Iowa walked off the Huskers in the ninth with a pair of runs.

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Group tickets and All-Tournament passes to the 2015 Big Ten Baseball Tournament to be held May 20-24 at Target Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins, are on sale now.

All-Tournament passes, which feature 13 games over five days, are $30 each, while group tickets (minimum 20) are available for $7 per ticket. Single-game tickets are $10 each for adults and $7 each for youth, senior citizens and students with a valid college ID.

Individual game tickets for the tournament can be purchased at the Target Field Box Office adjacent to Gate 29 one hour prior to the start of the first game each day. Group tickets and All-Tournament passes are now on sale by calling the Target Field Box Office at (800) 338-9467.

The tournament bracket will be announced on the evening of Saturday, May 16, which is the final scheduled day of regular-season competition. The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is a double-elimination event that awards byes to the top two teams. The Big Ten Champion is the team or teams that finish atop the regular-season standings, while the Big Ten Tournament Champion receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Pelfrey pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up his first victory since 2013 as the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 Wednesday night.

Joe Mauer reached base four times with two hits and two walks and scored a run.

Pelfrey’s last victory was Sept. 23, 2013, against Detroit. He went 0-3 in five starts last year before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery on June 10.

Pelfrey (1-0) gave up five singles, walked two, hit two batters and struck out four. It was his longest outing since he went seven innings against Texas on Aug. 31, 2013.

Glen Perkins got the last three outs for his third save

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie gave up all three runs — all in the first inning — and six hits with six walks in five innings.

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies have reinstated right-handed reliever John Axford from the family medical emergency list after he spent a few days tending to his young son following rattlesnake bites.

His son was bitten twice last month in the yard of the house his family rented in Scottsdale, Arizona, for spring training.

The team also put righty LaTroy Hawkins on the 15-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis and recalled righty Scott Oberg from Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday. The Rockies optioned catcher/first baseman Wilin Rosario to Albuquerque.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss said sending Rosario down was “extremely tough,” but that it was the only option given their beleaguered bullpen, along with Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson being banged up.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials in returning to Iowa City, Iowa, in 2016.

USA Wrestling spokesman Gary Abbott told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the meet staged to set the American team headed to the 2016 Rio Games will be held at the University of Iowa next April.

The U.S. staged the trials in Iowa City, home of the nationally prominent Iowa Hawkeyes, to sellout crowds back in 2012.

The Americans won a pair of gold medals in London later that year, including a dominant showing by star Jordan Burroughs.

Burroughs is expected to headline the latest crop of wrestlers competing for a spot on the team for Rio.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL has suspended defensive end Greg Hardy, now of the Dallas Cowboys, for 10 games for conduct detrimental to the league.

Hardy, who joined the Cowboys as a free agent this year, was notified Wednesday of the decision in a letter from Commissioner Roger Goodell. Hardy plans to appeal.

Goodell cited “sufficient credible evidence that Hardy engaged in conduct that violated NFL policies in multiple respects and with aggravating circumstances.” His assault case had been dismissed in a North Carolina court, but an NFL investigation concluded that Hardy used physical force against Nicole Holder in at least four instances.

Hardy was on the commissioner’s Exempt List last season and did not play for Carolina, although he was paid his $13.1 million salary.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Citing his Catholic faith, San Diego Chargers general manager Tom Telesco promised he wasn’t going to lie during his pre-draft news conference.

He then proceeded to speak effusively about quarterback Philip Rivers’ future with the team.

Says Telesco: “Philip’s our quarterback. It’s our plan and intent that he’s our quarterback well into the future.”

It’s been rumored for weeks that Rivers, who doesn’t want to move to Los Angeles if the team does, could be traded to Tennessee so the Chargers can draft Marcus Mariota with the second pick.

Asked if he’s discussed a trade with Tennessee, Telesco says: “I’m going to leave that go.”

Asked if any scenario included moving up to the second pick, he says: “Uh, no.”

The Chargers worked out Mariota last week.