Sports – Page 410 – North Platte Post Archive

Huskers Unveil 2015 Baseball Schedule

Posted on October 7, 2014

Lincoln – Coming off a 41-win season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Head Coach Darin Erstad will continue to challenge the Nebraska baseball team in 2015 as it works to reach its ultimate goal of playing in Omaha at the College World Series.

The Huskers are set to play 56 games in 2015, including 27 games at Hawks Field. The Huskers will play 15 games against teams that qualified for the 2014 NCAA Tournament, including a Big Ten road series at Super Regional qualifier Maryland and a three-game home series against College World Series qualifier Texas.

The Huskers will spend the first four weeks of the season on the road, playing a total of 13 games. NU then returns to Hawks Field for 16 straight homes games, including a pair of midweek series with Indiana State and Cal State Fullerton, along with weekend series against Michigan, Florida Gulf Coast and Texas.

Nebraska will play eight Big Ten Conference series, including home sets with Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and Purdue, while traveling to Maryland, Iowa, Northwestern and Illinois. The Huskers will not play Indiana, Rutgers, Penn State or Michigan State during the 2015 regular season.

The 2015 season kicks off in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday, Feb. 13, at Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium when the Huskers open a three-game series against the UNLV Rebels. NU returns to the southwest region the following weekend when they play BYU in Peoria, Ariz., in a four-game series that opens on Thursday, Feb. 19. The squads will play a doubleheader on Friday and then wrap of the series on Saturday.

Nebraska then travels to Los Angeles, Calif., for a three-game series with the Loyola Marymount Lions that starts on Friday, Feb. 27. The only other time the two teams met was during the 1988 season, also in Los Angeles.

Nebraska’s fourth-straight road trip to start the season will be to Houston, Texas, where the Huskers will compete at the 15th annual Houston College Classic. Held at Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston Astros, the Huskers open the tournament on Friday, March 6 against former Big 12 foe and now SEC member Texas A&M. NU then takes on a Hawaii on Saturday before meeting another SEC squad on Sunday in LSU. The 2015 event will mark Nebraska’s first appearance at the Houston College Classic, and it will mark the 17th time the Huskers have played in a non-conference tournament in the state of Texas since the 2000.

After playing 13 games on the road, Nebraska hosts its home opener on Tuesday, March 10, when the Northern Colorado Bears come to Lincoln. After a pair of games with the Bears, the Huskers host Florida Gulf Coast for a three-game series that starts on Friday, March 13. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Huskers and Eagles.

Nebraska’s 16-game homestand continues on Tuesday, March 17 when the Indiana State Sycamores travel to Hawks Field for a midweek series. Nebraska then opens Big Ten play on Friday, March 20 with a three-game series against the Michigan Wolverines.

The Huskers will stay in Lincoln during Spring Break and will have a challenging week. The Cal State Fullerton Titans, who knocked the Huskers out of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, will be in Lincoln on Tuesday, March 24 and Wednesday, March 25, before Texas travels to Hawks Field for a weekend series that starts on Friday, March 27. It will be the Longhorns’ first trip to Lincoln since 2011, the Huskers’ finals season in the Big 12 Conference.

The homestand comes to an end on Tuesday, March 31 when the Huskers host the Creighton Bluejays for the first of three meetings throughout the season between the two programs.

The month of April starts with a trip to Werner Park, home of the Omaha Storm Chasers, where the Huskers will meet Nebraska-Omaha on April 1. Nebraska then makes its first conference road trip of the year when it heads to College Park, Md., for a three-game series against Big Ten newcomer Maryland.

Following a midweek game in Manhattan, Kan., on Tuesday, April 7, the Huskers host Minnesota for a three-game conference series starting on Friday, April 10. The Huskers then travel to Omaha on Tuesday, April 14 for a meeting with Creighton before returning home for five straight games.

Nebraska completes its season series against Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday, April 15 before hosting Ohio State for a three-game series that starts on Friday, April 17. It will be the third-straight season that the Buckeyes have played a conference series in Lincoln. The short homestand comes to an end on Tuesday, April 21 with a visit from Kansas State.

The Huskers then play seven-straight games away from Hawks Field, starting with a three-game conference series at Iowa starting on Friday, April. 24. It will mark the third-straight season the Huskers have traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, during league play. The Huskers then play their final of three games against Creighton at TD Ameritrade Park onTuesday, April 28, before opening the month of May with a conference series against Northwestern that starts on Friday, May 1 in Evanston, Ill.

Nebraska hosts its final regular-season home games of the year starting on Saturday, May 9, when the Purdue Boilermakers come to Lincoln for a three-game series that runsSaturday through Monday.

The regular-season comes to a close in Champaigne, Ill., with a three-game series against Illinois that starts on Thursday, May 14.

The 2015 Big Ten Baseball Tournament is scheduled to run from Wednesday, May 20 through Sunday, May 24 and will take place in Minneapolis, Minn., at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins. Target Field played host to the 2013 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, with the Huskers falling in the championship game to Indiana.

Nebraska AP High School Football Rankings

Posted on October 7, 2014

Here are the Associated Press Nebraska high school football rankings in Classes A through D-2. Listings include name of school, season record, previous week’s ranking, previous week’s result and this week’s opponent (NR-not ranked). The rankings are based on a formula that includes ratings from the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star plus experts for each class. Class A: Dale Miller, Grand Island Independent. Class B: Jeff Fielder, Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Class C1: Tom Behmer, Norfolk Daily News. Class C2: Brent Wasinius, Fremont Tribune. Class D1: Andrew Bottrell, North Platte Telegraph. Class D2: Nick Blasnitz, Hastings Tribune.

CLASS A

1. Omaha North (6-0), 1, def. Omaha Central def. 35-28, Omaha South.

2. Millard North (6-0), 2, def. Omaha Northwest 55-14, Bellevue West.

3. Bellevue West (5-1), 3, def. South Sioux City 58-17, at Millard North.

4. Papillion-La Vista South (5-1), 4, def. Lincoln North Star 34-6, Omaha Northwest.

5. Creighton Preparatory School (5-1), 5, def. Bellevue East 57-13, South Sioux City.

6. Omaha Central (4-2), 7, lost to Omaha North 35-28, at Bellevue East.

7. Grand Island (5-1), 9, def. Fremont 46-6, at Millard South.

8. Lincoln East (4-2), NR, def. Kearney 31-12, Lincoln Southeast.

9. Norfolk (5-1), NR, def. Millard West 28-7, at Lincoln Northeast.

10. Millard West (3-3), 6, lost to Norfolk 28-7, at North Platte.

Others receiving votes: None.

CLASS B

1. Elkhorn (6-0), 1, def. Omaha Roncalli Catholic 60-13, at Elkhorn South.

2. Gretna (6-0), 2, def. Plattsmouth 45-14, Omaha Skutt Catholic.

3. Elkhorn South (6-0), 3, def. Mount Michael Benedictine 28-14, Elkhorn.

4. Omaha Skutt Catholic (5-1), 4, def. Lincoln Pius X 38-6, at Gretna.

5. McCook (5-1), 6, def. Gering 56-7, at Lexington.

6. Sidney (5-1), 7, def. Northwest 32-31, Scottsbluff.

7. Scottsbluff (5-1), 8, def. Aurora 37-29, at Sidney.

8. Aurora (4-2), 5, lost to Scottsbluff 37-29, at Seward.

9. Seward (5-1), 9, def. Norris 45-14, Aurora.

10. Beatrice (4-2), 10, def. Omaha Gross Catholic 42-6, at Crete.

Others receiving votes: Blair.

CLASS C1

1. Boone Central/Newman Grove (6-0), 1, def. Pierce 49-21, at Madison.

2. Norfolk Catholic (6-0), 2, def. West Point-Beemer 51-7, Wayne.

3. Ashland-Greenwood (6-0), 3, def. Fort Calhoun 35-7, at Omaha Concordia.

4. Kearney Catholic (6-0), 4, def. Central City 35-14, at Grand Island Central Catholic.

5. Columbus Scotus (5-1), 5, def. Bishop Neumann 42-6, Wahoo.

6. Wilber-Clatonia (6-0), 6, def. Raymond Central 42-7, at Fairbury.

7. Cozad (5-1), 8, def. Ord 34-0, Broken Bow.

8. Chadron (5-1), 9, def. Mitchell 57-0, Chase County.

9. Syracuse (4-2), 10, def. Conestoga 76-14, Louisville.

10. Pierce (4-2), 7, lost to Boone Central/Newman Grove 49-21, West Point-Beemer.

Others receiving votes: Chase County.

CLASS C2

1. Battle Creek (6-0), 1, def. Hartington Cedar Catholic 36-14, West Holt.

2. Hastings St. Cecilia (6-0), 2, def. Southern Valley 48-0, Superior.

3. North Platte St. Patrick’s (6-0), 3, def. Bridgeport 36-0, Kimball.

4. Aquinas Catholic (5-1), 4, def. Omaha Brownell-Talbot 57-13, at Tekamah-Herman.

5. Archbishop Bergan (5-1), 6, def. Logan View 41-0, Omaha Brownell-Talbot.

6. Sutton (6-0), 7, def. Doniphan-Trumbull 34-0, Southern Valley.

7. Lutheran High Northeast (5-1), 8, def. Crofton 44-26, at Hartington Cedar Catholic.

8. Hartington Cedar Catholic (4-2), 5, lost to Battle Creek 36-14, Lutheran High Northeast.

9. Malcolm (6-0), 9, def. Centennial 20-7, Shelby-Rising City.

10. Oakland-Craig (5-1), 10, def. Stanton 44-14, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.

Others receiving votes: None.

CLASS D1

1. Hemingford (5-0), 1, def. Morrill 72-16, at Dundy County-Stratton.

2. Creighton (5-0), 2, def. Plainview 72-6, Howells-Dodge.

3. Guardian Angels Central Catholic (5-0), 3, def. Scribner-Snyder 24-20, Pender.

4. Heartland (5-0), 4, def. Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 50-34, at Cross County.

5. BDS (5-0), 5, def. Diller-Odell 34-0, at Friend.

6. Elm Creek (5-0), 6, def. Arapahoe 42-36, Blue Hill.

7. Amherst (5-0), 7, def. South Loup 46-12, at Twin Loup.

8. Howells-Dodge (4-1), 8, def. Nebraska Christian 40-26, at Creighton.

9. Fullerton (5-0), NR, def. Clarkson/Leigh 58-14, at Nebraska Christian.

10. Friend (5-0), NR, def. Pawnee City 44-22, BDS.

Others receiving votes: Scribner-Snyder.

CLASS D2

1. Falls City Sacred Heart (4-1), 1, def. Lewiston 68-0, at Exeter-Milligan.

2. Stuart (5-0), 2, def. CWC 36-20, at Osmond.

3. Exeter-Milligan (5-0), 3, def. Lawrence-Nelson 66-24, Falls City Sacred Heart.

4. Humphrey St. Francis (5-0), 4, def. Hampton 78-3, Osceola.

5. Anselmo-Merna (5-0), 5, def. Sandhills/Thedford 34-29, Overton.

6. Kenesaw (4-1), 6, def. Parkview Christian 86-8, Loomis.

7. Giltner (3-2), 7, def. Meridian 52-42, at Red Cloud.

8. Elwood (4-1), 9, def. Bertrand 40-38, at Sumner-Eddyville-Miller.

9. Randolph (4-1), 10, def. St. Mary’s 46-12, at Wausa.

10. Garden County (5-0), NR, def. Hay Springs 72-8, at Potter-Dix.

Others receiving votes: St. Mary’s.

NCAA Reform Package Survives Override Period

Posted on October 7, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA reform plan that transfers more power to the five richest football conferences has sailed through a 60-day override period.

The organization says 27 schools requested an override of the 16-2 decision by the NCAA Board of Directors on Aug. 7 to allow the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC to unilaterally change some of the rules that have applied to all Division I schools for years. If 75 schools had voted for an override, the board would have been required to reconsider the plan.

The result of the override period was announced on Monday.

The NCAA says much of the plan goes into effect next year. It says the new governance structure “provides student-athletes with a vote at every level of decision-making in Division I.”

Bradley, Drexel, Elon, Indiana State and Vermont were among the schools that requested an override.

Julius Thomas Says Chop Block Wasn’t Intentional

Posted on October 6, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Julius Thomas said Monday that he never intended to hurt Calais Campbell despite Arizona coach Bruce Arians calling the Pro Bowl tight end’s chop block the “dirtiest play I’ve ever seen” in 37 years in the NFL.

Thomas said he and tackle Ryan Clady would never try to hurt anyone and the play Sunday that sent Arizona’s star defensive end out with a sprained right MCL was a matter of miscommunication, not malice.

Broncos coach John Fox passionately defended Thomas, too. He said he’s been in the league just two years less than Arians and “it’s not the dirtiest play I’ve seen this year, let alone in 35 years.”

USA Swimming Suspends Michael Phelps for 6 Months

Posted on October 6, 2014

USA Swimming has suspended Michael Phelps for six months, forced him to withdraw from next year’s world championships and taken away his funding from the sport’s national governing body as a result of the Olympic champion’s second DUI arrest.

The sanctions announced Monday won’t keep Phelps from training with his North Baltimore club, but he won’t be allowed to participate in USA Swimming-sanctioned meets through April 6, 2015. Phelps and USA Swimming also agreed that he won’t compete in the world swimming championships in Russia next July. His monthly funding stipends will be stopped during the suspension.

Phelps announced he was entering a six-week, in-patient program last weekend, a week after he was arrested and charged with drunken driving in his hometown of Baltimore.

Dad Accused of Tackling Son’s Youth Football Coach

Posted on October 6, 2014

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a youth football coach has been attacked by the father of one of his players after a game in southern New Jersey.

Toms River police say the 46-year-old parent was charged with simple assault following the altercation, which was reported around 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

The 45-year-old male coach says the parent ran across the field toward him and tackled him. The two men then fought on the ground until bystanders separated them.

The coach says the attack was unprovoked. The parent says he acted in self-defense when the coach “took an aggressive stance,” but authorities say witnesses told them the parent was the sole aggressor.

The altercation came after the coach told his players that their season was over because of their ongoing poor sportsmanship and bad attitudes.

HGH Testing Finally Begins in NFL

Posted on October 6, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Testing for human growth hormone in NFL players has begun.

The testing originally was agreed to in the 2011 labor agreement but was delayed because the union was not comfortable with the procedures or science involved. Both sides agreed last month on the new policy, which took effect Monday and brings HGH testing to the NFL for the first time.

A total of 950 tests will be performed in the regular season, postseason and preseason. In the offseason, approximately 385 tests will be done.

The league and union also agreed to a minimum two-game suspension for a first driving-under-the-influence conviction. Longtime suspensions would be imposed for cases with extenuating circumstances such as personal injury or property damage, or in cases of repeat offenders.

This Week in Nebraska Athletics

Posted on October 6, 2014

Thurs.-Mon. Oct. 9-13 Men’s Tennis at USTA/ITA Central Regional Championships Norman, Okla. TBA

Thursday Oct. 9 Soccer at Minnesota Minneapolis, Minn. 7 p.m.

Friday Oct. 10 Rifle Murray State NU Rifle Range 8 a.m.

Fri.-Sun. Oct. 10-12 Women’s Golf at Pioneer Invitational Denver, Colo. 9:30 a.m.

Friday Oct. 10 Volleyball at Michigan State (BTN) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 11 Swimming & Diving Nebraska-Omaha Devaney Natatorium 11 a.m.

Sunday Oct. 12 Rifle Ole Miss NU Rifle Range 8 a.m.

Sunday Oct. 12 Volleyball at Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich. Noon

Sunday Oct. 12 Softball at Creighton Omaha, Neb. 1 p.m.

Sunday Oct. 12 Softball at Creighton Omaha, Neb. 3 p.m.

Mon.-Tues. Oct. 13-14 Men’s Golf at Bill Ross Intercollegiate Overland Park, Kan. 8 a.m.

NBA Extends Television Deals with ESPN and TNT

Posted on October 6, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has extended its television deals with ESPN and TNT for nine years.

The league announced Monday that the new contracts will run through the 2024-25 season. The previous eight-year agreements end after the 2015-16 season.

The NBA received about $930 million annually under the old deals.

The NBA Finals remain on ABC, ESPN’s broadcast partner. ESPN/ABC and TNT will continue to split the conference finals.

ESPN and ABC are adding 10 regular-season games, bringing their total to 100. TNT will air an additional 12 games over the second half of the season on nights other than its traditional Thursday, bringing its total to 64.

Royals Beat Angels 8-3 to Finish Off ALDS Sweep

Posted on October 6, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon hit a bases-clearing double in the first inning, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas each homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-3 on Sunday night to finish a sweep of their AL Division Series.

Back in the playoffs for the first time since 1985, the wild-card Royals will face the Orioles in the AL Championship Series beginning Friday night in Baltimore. Kansas City went 4-3 against the O’s this year.

The Royals’ James Shields allowed homers to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols over six otherwise solid innings. C.J. Wilson failed to escape the first for Los Angeles, giving up all three runs on Gordon’s tone-setting double.

The Angels are the second team in the divisional era to have the majors’ best record and get swept from the playoffs. The Yankees were also swept by the Royals in 1980 ALCS.