Sports – Page 539 – North Platte Post Archive

Chiefs Sign Love, Cudjo in Series of Moves

Posted on May 20, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs signed defensive tackles Kyle Love and Jermelle Cudjo and placed defensive tackle Cory Grissom and linebacker Ridge Wilson on waivers in a series of roster moves Tuesday.

The Chiefs also signed defensive lineman Kona Schwenke, a rookie free agent.

The 6-foot-1, 315-pound Love spent some time with the Chiefs last season, and has also played for New England and Jackson. The 6-2, 304-pound Cudjo spent his first four seasons with the Rams, starting four of the 38 games that he played.

Schwenke played collegiately at Notre Dame.

The Chiefs begin a three-day rookie minicamp this weekend. They begin full-squad organized team activities next week.

$60M Texas High School Stadium Closed by Cracks

Posted on May 20, 2014

ALLEN, Texas (AP) — A $60 million high school football stadium that opened to massive fanfare in 2012 will be shut down for the upcoming season after cracks were found in the concrete concourse.

Allen Independent School District administrators say the structural problems at Eagle Stadium need significant repairs that will be paid for by the architectural firm and construction company.

The district said Tuesday that both companies have offered $1 million each to begin the repairs, but that their insurance companies refused to make the payments.

Allen taxpayers approved a $119 million bond issue that included funding for the 18,000-seat stadium. The district closed the stadium in February after extensive cracks were discovered. Consultants hired by the district found further code violations.

Allen won the Class 5A Division I state championship last season.

No Vote on Expanded Playoffs till Fall at Earliest

Posted on May 20, 2014

ATLANTA (AP) — NFL owners will not vote on expanding the playoffs to 14 teams until fall at the earliest.

The addition of two teams in the playoffs was discussed Tuesday at the league’s spring meetings, but several owners and team executives said no vote would occur. There is strong sentiment among the owners to add a wild-card team in each conference to the postseason, most likely beginning in 2015.

Such a setup would eliminate one of the first-round byes, with only the team with the best record in each conference getting a week off at the beginning of the playoffs.

Later Tuesday, the owners will vote on the site of the 2018 Super Bowl, with New Orleans, Indianapolis and Minneapolis bidding.

APNewsBreak: Ex-Players: NFL Illegally Used Drugs

Posted on May 20, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of retired NFL players says in a lawsuit that the league illegally supplied them with risky painkillers that numbed their injuries and led to medical complications.

Attorney Steven Silverman says his firm filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco.

The lawsuit takes aim at what it calls the league’s culture of drug misuse. It says drugs were used to speed players’ return to the field and maximize profits.

The eight named plaintiffs include Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Dent and quarterback Jim McMahon of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears.

Players say they weren’t told about broken bones and instead were fed pills and injections to mask pain.

Lawyers are seeking class-action status and say more than 400 plaintiffs have signed on.

Huskers Collect Big Ten Honors

Posted on May 20, 2014

Lincoln – Eight members of the Nebraska baseball team were honored by the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday morning, including Pat Kelly, Michael Pritchard and Chance Sinclair who were each tabbed as first-team All-Big Ten performers by the league’s coaches. Blake Headley and Christian DeLeon were each second-team selections, while Zach Hirsch earned third-team honors. Ryan Boldt was one of 13 newcomers named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and Ty Kildow was Nebraska’s Sportsmanship Award Winner.

Now a three-time All-Big Ten pick, Kelly earned first-team honors for the second straight season after also collecting second-team accolades as a freshman in 2012. Batting as NU’s cleanup hitter in 53 of his 55 starts this season, Kelly led the Huskers during the regular season in hits (68), multi-hit games (20), RBIs (51), multi-RBI games (15) and home runs (4), while ranking third on the team with a .319 average. His 68 hits were tied for fourth in the Big Ten overall and he was one of just two players in the league to top 50 RBIs on the season, with Kelly’s 51 RBIs ranking second to Big Ten Player-of-the-Year Sam Travis’s 53 RBIs. Kelly not only swung a hot stick all season for the Huskers, but he also flashed one of the best gloves in the county. He committed just three errors all season in 281 chances and played error-free baseball during Big Ten play.

Pritchard also earned his second first-team All-Big Ten honor on Tuesday and his third overall award. The senior from Omaha was a first-team pick in 2012 and collected second-team honors last season. One of the most prolific hitters in Nebraska history, Pritchard enters the Big Ten Tournament 10^th in Nebraska history with 243 career hits. He hit .318 during the regular season and led all Big Ten outfielders with 42 RBIs. Pritchard’s 19 doubles were tied for second overall in the league and with one more double this season he’ll become the eighth player at Nebraska since 2000 to notch 20 or more doubles in a season.

A welcome addition to the Husker pitching staff in 2014, Sinclair become the first Husker since Johnny Dorn in 2008 to earn first-team all-conference honors. A unanimous first-team choice, Sinclair posted a 1.88 ERA and a 9-1 record on the year, including a 6-0 mark during conference play. His nine wins and 1.88 ERA both ranked second in the league to Big Ten Pitcher-of-the-Year Joey DeNato’s 11 wins and 1.83 ERA. Sinclair notched a career-best 10 strikeouts against Illinois last Thursday, it was the most by a Husker since Tyler Niederklein struck out 10 against Northern Colorado on March 22, 2011, and the most in a conference game by a Husker since Thad Weber sat down 11 against Kansas on March 18, 2008. A transfer from Neosho County CC, Sinclair has gone 6.0 or more innings in 12 of his 14 starts this season, including nine outings of at least 7.0 innings or more and a 9.0-inning complete game against Ohio State.

After collecting third-team honors at third base last season, Headley earned second-team honors at first base on Tuesday. A .331 hitter for the Huskers on the year, the Omaha native was even better during Big Ten play with a .341 average. Headley ranked second on the team with 19 multi-hit games and tied Pritchard for the team lead with six three-hit performances. Headley routinely delivered for the Huskers in crunch time, as he hit .380 with runners in scoring position and 16 of his 24 RBIs on the year came with two outs.

DeLeon was on his way to making a case for Big Ten Pitcher-of-the-Year honors, before an injury forced him to miss NU’s final three Big Ten series. DeLeon’s 1.34 ERA during league play was tops in the conference. Earlier this season, he tossed back-to-back complete games becoming the first Husker pitcher since Erik Bird in 2009 to throw consecutive complete games. DeLeon went on to throw 9.0 innings against Northwestern, but the game went to extra innings and he missed out on his third-straight complete game. Since joining the Huskers last season, DeLeon has made 25 starts, including 11 in 2014. He has gone at least 6.0 innings 21 times, at least 7.0 innings 14 times and 8.0 or more innings 10 times.

Hirsch picked up his first career all-conference award following one of the top regular seasons by a Husker reliever in recent memory. The lefty has been nearly unhittable in his role at NU’s setup man, as he leads the team with a 1.24 ERA and opponents are hitting a paltry .183 off the St. Charles, Ill., native. Tabbed as one of the top 50 relievers in the nation on the NCBWA Mid-Season Stopper of the Year Award Watch List, Hirsch is tied for second on the team with 45 strikeouts, as he is averaging 1.03 strikeout per inning, while walking only 11 batters on the year. Over Hirsch’s last seven appearances entering the Big Ten Tournament, he has thrown 11.1 innings of scoreless relief on five hits and nine strikeouts. Hirsch has 18 appearances this season where he has thrown at least 1.0 inning of relief and hasn’t given up a run. In 10 of those appearances he hasn’t given up a hit.

A two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree in 2014, Boldt started in center field in 48 of NU’s 55 games and hit leadoff for the Huskers 22 times on the year, including the final 21 games of the regular season. NU posted a 18-4 record on the year with Boldt in the leadoff spot and he was one of four players on NU’s roster to top 60 hits during the regular season with 62 hits, including nine doubles, four triples and two homers. He has also driven in 27 runs on the year, with 18 RBIs coming with two outs, and ranks third on the team with 39 runs scored.

Kildow was selected as Nebraska’s Sportsmanship Award Winner because of his team-first mentality. The senior started his Husker career on the football field, but has spent the last three seasons on the baseball diamond. Kildow has played in 72 games during his career, including 16 starts this season, and has stolen 13 bases. He was named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar last season and has twice earned academic All-Big Ten honors. Earlier this month, Kildow graduated with his degree in biological sciences.

The Huskers open postseason play tomorrow at TD Ameritrade Park, when they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at 1:05 p.m. There will be no TV coverage of the game, but Greg Sharpe and Ben McLaughlin will have the call on the Husker Sports Network.

Nebraska’s 2014 All-Big Ten Award Winners
First Team
Pat Kelly – Second Base
Michael Pritchard – Outfield
Chance Sinclair – Starting Pitcher

Second Team
Blake Headley – First Base
Christian DeLeon – Starting Pitcher

Third Team
Zach Hirsch – Relief Pitcher

All-Freshman Team
Ryan Boldt

Sportsmanship Award
Ty Kildow

First Nationals Start Season 0-2

Posted on May 20, 2014May 20, 2014

The North Platte First Nationals American Legion baseball team started the season with two losses on Saturday in Scottsbluff.

The First Nationals traveled to Scottsbluff for a doubleheader to begin the 2014 season and appeared to forget their bats in game one, losing 7-0. North Platte only had two hits in the game, both singles off the bats of Drew Callaghan and Luke Volz. Ty Brockmoller took the loss on the mound, allowing seven runs on nine hits in three and two-thirds innings. He allowed seven runs, but only three of them were earned as North Platte committed two errors in the game.

Game two was a different story, but it still ended up with Scottsbluff the victor, 11-10. Scottsbluff jumped out to an early 7-2 lead before North Platte scored seven runs in the top of the fourth inning to go up 9-7. The First Nationals scored one more run in the seventh inning, but Scottsbluff scored two runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to earn the win. North Platte was led by Callaghan at the plate. He went 2-4 with three RBI, a double and a run scored. Darian Allberry got the start on the mound for the First Nationals and gave up six runs, three earned, on three hits in two innings. Dalton Pflughaupt came in, in relief and pitched the final four and one-third innings, giving up five runs, two earned, on seven hits while taking the loss. Pflughaupt also struck out five batters in the game. The First Nationals committed six errors in the game.

North Platte’s next game is Tuesday on the road against Hershland in Hershey. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:00 pm. The First Nationals were scheduled to have their home-opener on Wednesday with a doubleheader against Columbus, but Columbus had to cancel because of a conflict. The game has been postponed to a later date yet to be determined.

Nebraska’s 2014 Big Game Guide Available Online

Posted on May 20, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The 2014 Big Game Guide is available online at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s website, OutdoorNebraska.org.

It’s a summary of regulations about hunting deer, antelope, elk and bighorn sheep in Nebraska. There are unit maps and information on season dates, permits and bag limits. The guide soon will be available in hard copy.

To view the guide online, click on Guides on the left side of the home page. The document may be downloaded as a PDF and printed.

White Sox Rally from 5-Run Hole, Beat Royals 7-6

Posted on May 19, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alexei Ramirez homered and drove in four runs, Dayan Viciedo and Paul Konerko also went deep and the Chicago White Sox climbed out of a five-run hole before holding on for a wild 7-6 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Zach Putnam (2-0) worked two shutout innings in relief of Scott Carroll, and Ronald Belisario also threw two scoreless innings before Scott Downs and Jake Petricka bailed out Matt Lindstrom.

Lindstrom, normally the White Sox closer, gave up a leadoff single to Nori Aoki in the ninth, then appeared to hurt his foot fielding a sacrifice bunt by Alcides Escobar that resulted in an error. Downs entered and struck out Eric Hosmer, then Petricka picked off pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson at second base before getting Billy Butler on a groundout to end the game.

Nebraska’s Miles is Ticketed for Negligent Driving

Posted on May 19, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police ticketed Nebraska men’s basketball coach Tim Miles for negligent driving after he was involved in a three-vehicle accident.

Miles was driving in southwest Lincoln about 4 p.m. Friday when his Cadillac Escalade struck a Honda Pilot that had slowed in front of him. The impact pushed the Honda into the back of a stopped pickup.

According to the accident report, Miles told police he had taken his eyes off the road, and when he looked up he was unable to avoid hitting the Honda. The Honda’s driver said she went to a hospital to be examined for neck and back pain. There were no other injuries.

Estimated damage was $2,000 to Miles’ vehicle, $4,000 to the Honda and $500 to the pickup. Alcohol was not a factor.

Theft Charge against Nebraska’s Banderas Dismissed

Posted on May 19, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A felony theft charge against Nebraska linebacker Josh Banderas has been dismissed.

Lancaster County Attorney Joe Kelly said Monday night that Banderas will enter a pre-trial diversion program rather than face charges in the theft of seven bicycles last week. Banderas is eligible for diversion because he has no prior felony convictions.

Lincoln police on May 12 arrested Banderas and Nebraska track athlete Lucas Keifer in a pickup loaded with mountain bikes. A witness spotted them using bolt cutters to remove bikes from racks near university housing.

Banderas told police he and Keifer planned to sell the bikes. Each was charged with felony theft. The charge against Banderas can be re-instated if he fails to complete his diversion program. Keifer’s case remains open.

Football coach Bo Pelini has not commented.