Monthly Archive for April, 2008

Baseball Final Day

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on April 28, 2008
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Of the regular season that is. Hopefully, we have some post-season games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

What needs to happen? A sweep of Sioux Falls. If that happens, Dordt will get into the 8-team tournament as the 7th seed with Sioux Falls at #8. It’s that simple. Two wins, your in. Senior pitchers Alex Jansen and Darryl Visser are set to go for Dordt. Games start at 4:00. You can hear the first game of the twin bill on KDCR 88.5 FM.

By the way, in case you want to know, here’s how the tie-breaker is set. If Dordt sweeps Sioux Falls and Mount Marty sweeps Morningside there is a five way tie at 11-13 for 7th place between Dordt, Hastings, Sioux Falls, Mount Marty and Doane. The first tie-breaker is head to head competition…..Dordt and Sioux Falls would both be 5-3 in that situation. Doane is 4-4 while HAstings and Mount Marty are 3-5. Two teams would get in, the other three would be on the outside.

If Mount Marty doesn’t sweep Morningside they are out of the tie. Dordt and Sioux Falls would be 4-2 against the other three teams in a four-way tie with Doane and Hastings at 2-4. Again, four teams fighting for two spots. Dordt and Sioux Falls are in.

If Dordt loses to Sioux Falls in either game, they are out of the picture.

By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever broadcast in windier conditions than the ones I was in on SAturday at the Northwestern-Dordt game. Cold and blustery–at least the sun was out…..

Conference Champs!

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on April 28, 2008
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Congratulations to coach Marylin Weidenaar and the women’s tennis team members from Dordt College. Managed to claim a share of the GPAC regular season title when Nebraska WEsleyan dropped a 5-4 match to Sioux Falls, allowing Dordt to move into a tie with the Prairie Wolves at 7-1 in the GPAC standings. One day earlier Wesleyan seemingly locked up the title with a 5-4 win over Dordt in Lincoln. This is the first conference title for Dordt since the volleyball team took the championship in 2006.

Should make for a very competive Region III tournament( GPAC ). I put the GPAC in parentheses because the Region III tournament consists of the four top finishers in the GPAC regular season race. The winner advances to the NAIA national meet in Mobile, Alabama May 12-16. Should make for some very good competition at the weekend tournament when Nebraska Wesleyan, Dordt, Concordia and Sioux Falls compete again. Combined GPAC record for the four teams….26-6. Match times and pairings will be released on Wednesday, April 30.

Frantic Friday Changes

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on April 25, 2008
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Cold, wet weather has again reared it’s ugly head. WEekend is almost a complete washout–still waiting on the Northwestern baseball game, otherwise things are on hold for the weekend except for the tennis matches which will be played inside.

Baseball playoff status? Two doubleheaders were played on Thursday night with Northwestern splitting with Briar Cliff 6-5, 2-3 and Dakota Wesleyan swept Sioux Falls 6-2, 10-4. Here are the games this weekend involving the teams Dordt is chasing:

Friday,April 25

Dana 6-14 @ Nebraska Wesleyan 10-10; Concordia 6-14@ Midland Lutheran 11-9; Doane 9-11 @Hastings 8-12

Saturday, April 26

Midland Lutheran 11-9 @ Dana 6-14; Dordt8-12 @ Northwestern 16-4; Hastings 8-12 @ Concordia 6-14; Dakota Wesleyan 12-10 @ Mount Marty 9-11; Nebraska Wesleyan 10-10 @ Doane 9-11

Monday, April 28

Sioux Falls 11-11 @ Dordt 8-12

Here are the standings:

Northwestern 17-5

Briar Cliff 15-7

Morningside 12-8

Midland Lutheran 11-9

Dakota Wesleyan 12-10

Sioux Falls 11-11

Nebraska Wesleyan 10-10

Mount Marty 9-11

Doane 9-11

Dordt 8-12

Hastings 8-12

Dana 6-14

Concordia 6-14

As you can see, the break right now has Mount Marty and Doane tied for the eighth and final spot with Dordt looking in right now in tenth place. Lots of things can happen this weekend, and probably will….we’ll watch it unfold, now, where’s my icescraper……..

Golf

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on April 23, 2008
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Congratulations to the men’s golf team on finishing in a tie for second at the GPAC championships on Monday and Tuesday. Coach Christians and crew turned in two solid performances to tie Nebraska Wesleyan for second and Dakota Wesleyan won the title–making up for fallingoff at last year’s meet finishing last in the 11 team event in 2007. Jordan Janz and Jason Kroese both had top-ten finishes. Balance was the key with the Dordt team picking up the slack when #1 golfer Jared Rempel had a sub-par (pun) round by his standards on Friday.

Third year in a row for the Defenders in the Regional tournament. Go to Sioux Falls on Monday and Tuesday, April 28 and 29 for the regional along with Dakota Wesleyan, Hastings, Midland Lutheran, Sioux Falls, Minot State and Dickinson State. The regional team champion advances to the NAIA national meet in Plymouth, Indiana, May 13-16.

Baseball post-season and more

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on April 23, 2008
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The baseball season is winding down and I’ve put some numbers together to tell us where the Defenders stand in regard to the eight-team post-season playoffs on May 1, 2 and 3 in Sioux Falls.

First, all 13 teams in the GPAC are declared for the NAIA, so that means Nebraska Wesleyan factors into the discussion (unlike basketball and volleyball). The top-eight teams in the conference final standings advance to the double elimination tournament.

Dordt is currently tied for tenth in wat has been the most competitive conference race–top to bottom, that I can recall. Dordt is 8-12 and must pass Mount Marty and Doane who are both 9-11. Dakota Wesleyan and Nebraska Wesleyan are both 10-10 heading into this weekend while Hastings is in the same boat as Dordt at 8-12. The spoilers right now are Dana and Concordia at 6-14.

Everyone has four games remaining. The schedule at the moment, with current GPAC records, is…..(teams Dordt is trying to catch are in bold.)

Thursday, April 24

Northwestern 16-4 @ Briar Cliff 14-6; Morningside 12-8 @ Mount Marty 9-11; Dakota Wesleyan 10-10@ Sioux Falls 11-9.

Friday,April 25

Dana 6-14 @ Nebraska Wesleyan 10-10; Sioux Falls 11-9 @ Dordt 8-12; Concordia 6-14@ Midland Lutheran 11-9; Doane 9-11 @Hastings 8-12

Saturday, April 26

Midland Lutheran 11-9 @ Dana 6-14; Dordt8-12 @ Northwestern 16-4; Hastings 8-12 @ Concordia 6-14; Dakota Wesleyan 10-10 @ Mount Marty 9-11; Nebraska Wesleyan 10-10 @ Doane 9-11

I’ll update as the weekend progresses.

Congratulations to Jen Kempers on earning outstanding performer honors at the Sioux City Relays last weekend. Had the kind of weekend we’ve become accustomed to. A record setting performance in the 3000 meter steeplechase, a first in the 800 meters and a second in the high jump with a leap of 5-4. I challenge you to find another athlete that excels in such an odd combination of events.

Men’s tennis has their work cut out for them this last weekend of the season, currently 2-3 and are tied for fifth with two matches to go.Need to finish in the top four to make post-season Regional tournament. Women are in pretty good shape at 5-0 but have a stiff challenge with matches against Concordia (6-1) and Nebraska Wesleyan (5-0) along with Hastings this weekend.

Track sends both 4 x 800 relay teams to the nationally acclaimed Drake Relays–99th running of the event at the blue oval this weekend.

Milestones

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on April 18, 2008
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As this baseball season has progressed I’ve tried to keep up with Travis De Jong as he moves up the offensive categories in Dordt baseball.

The catcher from Hull currently has 351 at bats, 109 hits, 73 singles, 26 doubles, eight homeruns, 69 runs batted in and 163 total bases.

Where does that put him all-time. Well let’s begin with the at-bats. The record is Beau Bosma (1999-2002) with 498. De Jong is seventh right now, just in front of Brandon Haan (2003-2006) and right behind Troy Vander Molen (1991-1994) and Craig Broek (1997-2000)with 357. Head Coach Jeff Schouten is fourth all-timewith 396.

Hits–again Bosmaat the top with 152. DeJong is eighth behind Scott Van Andel (1999-2002) with 110 and Stacey Kooiman’s hit total is 113–he played from 1989-1992.Schouten and SteveVermeer are within reach at 119 and120 respectively. Singles–you guessed it, Bosma again, who’s a veternarianin the area by the way.The Hospers, Iowa nativehad 119 total. DeJong istied with Dave Vander Schaaf (1979-1982) andVan Andel with 73 for seventh.

Doubles, De Jong is tied wit Van Andel for second with 26. Travis’older brother Tim, is the career leader with 33 and playedfrom 1996-1999. Eight career homeruns ranks De Jong in a tie with Scott Soodsma (1979-1982), Ken Graves (1985-1988) and Kevin Van Otterloo (1999-2000). De Jong’s RBI total issixth all-time behind Vander Molen’s 72 and Vermeer’s 77. Tim De Jong is the record holder with 109. De Jong is also the career leader in homeruns with24.

Finally, De Jong has 163 totalbases which ranks him ninth all-time and is right behind Van Andel with 164 and Dennis Van Zanten (1978-1981) with 177.

We’ll update as the season winds down.

Big Ten Days Ahead

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mbyker
on April 17, 2008
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The spring season has been reduced to the next ten days or so and they will be a big ten days.

The baseball team is still in a fight for a playoff berth. With eight games to go the Defenders are two games out of the eighth spot–which is the final spot for the playoffs. With all teams having several games left there will be plenty of shuffling. The Defenders have their next six GPAC games at home against Midland Lutheran, Concordia and Sioux Falls before concluding on Saturday, April 26 at Northwestern. The first game of the doubleheaders with Midland, Sioux Falls and Northwestern will be broadcast on KDCR 88.5 and the live webstream as well. The Defenders are currently 6-10 in the GPAC. I’ll run the career numbers on a few players like Travis De Jong and Dillon Peters later today.

Softball has struggled to put up runs asof late. They have a non-conference doubleheader on Friday night against Mayville State before taking on the GPAC leader on Saturday, playing Concordia in Sioux Center.

The track team has two of their biggest weekends ahead with the Sioux City Relays extravaganza on Friday and Saturday and the Drake Relays the following weekend. Everyone who follows track knows about the Drake event. We find out later today what teams and individuals qualify for the elite meet. Dordt will also send a team to Madison and Dakota State that weekend as they complete preparations for the GPAC Championships in Sioux City on May 3.

The golf team competes at Buena Vista this weekend, golfing at Spencer on Friday and Storm Lake on Saturday. The following Monday and Tuesday the team golfs in the GPAC championships at Green Valley in Sioux City.

The tennis teams play a pair of non-conference schools on Saturday (Luther and Northwestern-MN) before concluding the regular season the following week. Huge weekend for the women as they are scheduled to face Concordia, Hastings and Nebraska Wesleyan on April 25 and 26. The women are currently 5-0 in league play after beating Sioux Falls on Wednesday. The men are 2-2 in the GPAC after a loss to Sioux Falls. Hard to believe that we’re this close to the end of another school year……

Wednesday, April 9

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on April 9, 2008
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Nothing snappy, nothing flashy. A few notes before I head out to the baseball field.

Travis De Jong, a senior on the Dordt College baseball team joined some pretty elite company over the weekend–moved into the top-10 in hits for a career at Dordt College. Has over 100 for his career. Considering the number of players who have over 100 hits for Dordt College I’d put this in the same neighborhood as a basketball player scoring 1000 points–given the fact that only 10 other individuals have accomplished the feat it’s an even more exclusive club than 1000 points. Congratulations to Trav. Dillon Peters is also knocking on the door. The junior has 90 so far…we’ll keep an eye on them.

Volleyball team played in the first of two “spring” tournaments this past weekend. From theway the stats look Kendra Potgeter played well in four matches with over 50 kills in 12 games and hit .359. Kristin De Ronde also had 33 kills in the four matches with a .348 kill efficiency. Steph Goslinga led the team with 46 digs. One more tournament this weekend and that’s it for the off-season organized workouts.

Brought to my attention over the weekend that our baseball career hitting records were missing a significant member. Tim De Jong–played for the Defenders from 1996-1999 was inexplicably not included in the batting average leaders for a career. That will be rectified at the end of the season when we update all files. For the time being the old backstop is penciled in at seventh all-time at .348 (143-411). So, the two De Jongs have combined for 245 hits all-time up the moment. Tim is tied with Dennis Van Zanten–both had batting averages of .348 (101-290).

Baseball and softball broadcast schedules are up….trying to squeeze a few games in while coordinating with the rest of my job and life. Sometimes easier said then done but it looks like we’ll get a few games in before the end of the season. Now, time to layer up and head out to Open Space Park for a few innings of the baseball game with Morningside (non-conference)…..

What’s Happening

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mbyker
on April 4, 2008
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A week that started with snow has given way to a weekend that holds a lot of promise for warm weather lovers. Should see temps in the 60’s on SAturday which means the baseball team will have a pretty good day for their home opener. Yes, I said home opener. Didn’t look likely early in the week but the field has shaped up nicely and should be ready to go at 1:00 on Saturday.

In the meantime the baseball and softball teams are on the road today facing Dakota Wesleyan and Doane respectively and the tennis teams go to Midland Lutheran on Saturday and the track team should have a fantastic day to run in Sioux Falls as well.

Offseason notes….Dordt’s volleyball team will take a squad to Lincoln, Nebraska for one of two spring tournaments they play in. This is a great opportunity for some women to gain experience that may not have played much last fall. Seniors aren’t eligible, newcomers aren’t in yet so the Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors (who aren’t in another sport) get a chance at a lot of reps.

Dordt’s first ever spring football practice schedule gets underway next Friday, April 11. Ten organized practices for the returners from this falls’ team. Speaking of football, had someone ask how many recruits are coming in–about 45 is where we’re at right now. Continue to sign what seems like a lot of athletes for all sports…check out the webpage–we have updates daily. Also, received this picture of Dalton Love(football recruit) competing in a powerlifting competition. By the way, that’s 700 pounds on the bar….lovepowerlift1.JPG

My final four picks. I’m going with my heart–Kansas over North Carolina and I’m going to take Memphis over UCLA. No, the Tigers don’t have Keith Lee or Baskerville Holmes(I’m showing my age) but they are playing like a team that is ticked off at the world and has something to prove and with the talent they have, look out. Still have to go with RockChalk Jayhawk in the finals (again this is my heart speaking.)