Argus-Leader from Sioux Falls, South Dakota • Page 21

MINOR LEAGUES Friday, May 30, 2008 www.argusleader.com 5C Canaries renew rivalry with Lincoln Hitting Herd's Connolly earns elite honor BY MATT ZIMMER mzimmerargusleader.com While Sioux City and St Paul have been touted as rivals of the Canaries over the years, the Lincoln Saltdogs have been a nemesis in their own right Winners of three of four North Division titles in the American Association's two-year history, it was the Saltdogs who soured the Canaries' resurgence last year, rendering Sioux Falls' 31-win first half good enough for only second place. The Saltdogs swept the Birds last week in Lincoln, and now the Canaries (who swept Sioux City in their last home series) have their shot at revenge starting tonight with a three-game set at the Birdcage. "It was good to answer that sweep with a sweep," said third baseman Grant Richardson. "Now I can't wait for another shot at Lincoln." The Saltdogs (10-8) pat their roster through an overhaul over the offseason, which included trading all-stars Josh Patton to Anthony Contreras (.342) and Luis Perez while the pitching staff has been led early on by Ryan Trytten (2.91 ERA in four starts) and former Cornhusker RD Spiehs (2.04 ERA in three starts) The Canaries (10-9) bring the hottest lineup in the league into the series. They lead the American Association with a team batting average of .316, which includes a league-low 85 strikeouts.

Patrick Reilly Will Smith Ben Van Iderstine (.333) and Patton (.310, four homers) have carried the load early on. The starting pitching has also been solid, led by Pat Mahomes Ryan Ford (1-2, 2.00) and Travis Kane Stampede notes Stampede dynamo Jack Connolly, the USHL rookie of the year, added another major award to his credit Thursday when he was named the USA RBI 12 15 HR Avg. 3 .426 1 .368 1 .333 2 .323 1 .323 4 .310 1 .257 0 .239 1 .220 Patrick Reilly Will Smith Ben Van Iderstine Wallace Torbert Grant Richardson Josh Patton Kennard Bibbs Tim Hutting Paul Smyth 10 10 14 11 10 14 15 14 7 9 13 13 -10 games minimum Pitching W-L 5 saves BB 8 3 ERA 1.00 2.00 2.08 2.17 2.51 5.63 7.11 7.98 Kris Regas Ryan Ford 1-2 13 9 17 11 10 27 8 Angelo Morales 1-0 Pat Mahomes 4-0 Travis Kane 1-0 Josh Kite 0-1 Benjamin Moore 2-2 Kevin Cheppenko 0-2 -Minimum five i Innings pitched Hitting RBI Ron Fenwick, SHR 20 Patrick Reilly, SF 12 Billy Cox, PNC 7 Albenis Machado, ELP 8 Alex Derhak, ELP 13 Will Smith, SF 10 Kevin Sullivan, SPL 14 Andrew Holder, GRP 8 Rafael Alvarez, PNC 16 Brenan Herrera, WIC 8 HR 10 0 .456 3 .426 2 .400 0 .388 3 .368 1 .368 3 .364 1 .361 4 .354 1 .348 -10 games minimum Pitching W-L 0-0 BB 13 2 ERA 0.00 1.61 1.83 2.00 2.04 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.61 Kyle Foster, SPL Scot Drucker, GRP Charlie Ruud, SPL Ryan Ford, SF R.D. Spiehs, LIN Pat Mahomes, SF Pedro Flores, FRW A. Francisco, SC Joe Kirsten, FRW Dan Grybash, FRW 2-0 4-0 1-2 1- 0 4-0 4-0 4-0 2- 1 1-2 14 9 5 5 13 13 17 28 13 12 9 21 7 13 6 -Minimum five innings pitched Passing Cmp INT TD Yds Terrance Bryant 66 7 26 1,669 ChadCavender 50 1 2 117 Rushing Att Yds Avg TD Marques Smith 17 69 4.1 2 Chad Cavender 20 78 3.9 2 Sean Treasure 162 466 2.9 17 Terrance Bryant 39 84 2.4 9 Receiving Rec.

Yds Avg TD James Terry 57 676 11.9 16 Bryan Alberty 56 486 8.7 6 Sean Treasure 19 150 7.9 0 Allen Burrell 18 187 10.4 0 Leon Hall Jr. 14 184 13.1 3 -w ry 1" Vf-Tr Vf1'-" Hockey Junior player of the year. Connolly, who will play at next year, tied for Jack Connolly the league scoring title with 72 points (26 goals, 46 assists). He's the first player in Stampede history to win the award. "CThis) award is representative of being the best amateur player in America," said Stampede coach Kevin Hartzell.

"He is certainly one of the best, if not the best, pure centerman I have had the honor of coaching, and it was a real treat to watch him play." The Stampede's tryout camp begins today in Minneapolis and runs through Monday. Sixty players will be in camp (all invited by the team) fighting for 25 spots, which will eventually be trimmed to 23. The camp will be held at Rid-der Arena on the University of Minnesota campus and is free and open to the public. For a complete schedule visit sfstampede.com. LLOYD B.

CUNNINGHAM ARGUS LEADER will visit Sioux City on Saturday. retirement Riggs stressed that Bouie will not be replacing Blackburn, the captain and fan favorite. But he did note that the veteran linebacker from USD has played better recently than he has all year. "By no means are we trying to replace Mark Blackburn; he's our leader," Riggs said. "But bringing these guys in has elevated everyone's play.

The guys have welcomed in anyone who can help our defense, and these guys have done that" When the Storm saw their win streak end at 40 games earlier this year, the defense took much of the blame whether fair of unfair. Johnsen admits there was some uncertainty, but the new additions have coordinator Mike Aldrich's unit playing with confidence as the regular season winds down. "For a couple games we lost our swagger," Johnsen said. "We were still playing OK, guys were making plays and having fun, but you couldn't really see it The last few games, you could see the swagger. Guys having fun, jumping around, going crazy and bringing energy.

That's what defense is all about" defending Prelude to the Dream winner Carl Edwards will join Stewart and numerous other drivers in this year's edition of the all-star dirt race. This is the time of the year when things typically start to heat up for Stewart, who promises to be a contender to win Sunday's Best Buy 400 Sprint Cup race at Dover. "When it starts getting hot and humid and the tracks get hot and slippery, thaf what we like," Stewart said. Aberdeen native Corey Johnsen( 96) has remained a reliable nose ELISHA PAQE ARGUS LEADER Ben Van Iderstine, along with Patrick Reilly, Will Smith and Josh Patton, lead the Canaries in batting this season. the Canaries and Pichi Balet to the Saints.

But they remain one of the favorites to win the American Association. Lincoln's lineup has been carried by the trio of Jonny Kaplan (.320 average, 3 HR, 10 steals), end, recording six sacks in eight games, while indoor veteran Rachman Crable has tallied six sacks in five games. They've emerged as the primary pair to work with Johnsen, and the Aberdeen native couldn't be happier to have them alongside him. "I can't say enough about both of those guys," said Johnsen, a St Cloud State alum who has six sacks and 12 tackles for loss. "They have motors that never stop running.

The scary thing is, we've had some great games, but we still haven't put it together 100 percent When we do, look out" Crable battled a foot injury form: Defense takes off Defense (tackles) Solo Ast. Tot Mark Blackburn 46 26 59.0 Trice Crump 38 15 45.5 Brian Mclntire 25 16 33.0 Jermaine Petty 25 15 32.5 Andre Fields 27 11 32.5 Shannon Poppinga 25 12 31.0 Alvin Robinson 17 22 Cory Johnsen-Lehr 19 10 24.0 Justin Landis 19 6 22.0 Rachman Crable 14 11 19.5 Dominic Payne 14 10 19.0 Brock Gentile 13 11 18.5 Jason Bonwell 12 11 17.5 Other defensive stats Interceptions Poppinga 6-42, Blackburn 3-33, Crump 3-10, Landis 1-13. Sacks Petty 6-38, Crable 4-17, Bonwell 3-11, Blackburn 2.5-17, Payne 1-5, Robinson Passing Cmp INT TD Yds Chris Dixon, BIL 67.9 8 47 2,313 Chad Kapanui, SCB 65.2 15 38 2,076 Dusty Burk, BLO 59.6 15 38 1,950 Terrance Bryant, SF 66.0 7 26 1,669 James McNear, OMA 64.6 6 27 1,546 Rushing Att Yds Avg TD Sean Treasure, SF 162 466 2.9 17 James McNear, OMA 82 451 5.5 9 R.J. Rollins, OMA 78 357 4.6 11 Chris Dixon, BIL 61 262 4.3 4 Receiving Rec. Yds Avg TD James Walton, BLO 60 808 13.5 21 O.J.

Simpson, SCB 70 775 11.1 14 Derin Graham, BLO 54 698 12.9 12 Willie Austin, BIL 53 666 12.6 15 Robert Reed, BIL 54 660 13,2 14 Defense (tackles) Solo Ast. Tot JoeBevis, RIC 60 49 84.5 Chad Hustedt, SCB 46 29 60.5 Travis Salter, BIL 53 27 66.5 Ryan Palmer, COL 47 52 73.0 Ron Rockett, RIC 47 33 63.5 Quince Holman, BLO 38 44 60.0 tackle for the Storm. Sioux Falls EMILY SPARTZ ARGUS LEADER Former USD linebacker Mark Blackburn has picked up his play of late and remains a leader of the Storm's defensive unit, according to Coach Kurtiss Riggs. Sioux Falls is 9-2 so far this season. earlier in the season.

And Payne, whom Riggs called "freakishly athletic," had to leave the team briefly for personal reasons, which allowed former SDSU standout Bonwell to step in, and he responded as well (three sacks, 5Y2 tackles for loss in four games). Robinson, like Payne, has showed uncommon versatility, which allows both to shine on special teams as well as defense. In addition to the sudden riches on the line, the Storm added linebacker Ke Ke Bouie from Florida International and coaxed Landis, last year's UIF interceptions leader, out of Stewart Foundation. "It's a lot of fun," Stewart said. "The biggest part of the gratification for me is just seeing the guys that come up there and how much fun they have driving these dirt late models on a night where we get to race with guys we're typically racing with every week.

"But we get to do something a little different, and that takes the edge off, I think." Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Continued from 1C While linebacker Mark Blackburn, cornerbacks Trice Crump and Andre Fields and safeties Justin Landis and Shannon Poppinga still form the foundation, it took a throng of newcomers to really make a difference. Particularly on the front line, where Jermaine Petty, Rachman Crable, Dominic Payne, Jason Bonwell and Alvin Robinson have made sure that Johnsen has plenty of help. "It's a luxury to have that depth," Riggs said. "You know that it's going to be competitive in practice, and that the guys we decide to suit up on Saturday are going to be ready to go. The talent lining up for Sioux Falls illustrates the improved level of play the Storm have brought to UIF.

While some indoor teams are still signing players from the likes of Friends College and Redlands University, the Storm are trotting out lineups with alums of Arkansas, Arizona, Florida International, Ball State, and North and South Dakota State. Petty, who was all-SEC with the Razorbacks, has been an attention-getter at defensive Dover International Speedway. Stewart owns Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, the track that will host its fourth annual Old Spice Prelude to the LziZ an for Expect Stewart to be on best behavior at race this weekend BY MIKE FINNEY Wilmington (Del.) News Journal This is one weekend where Tony Stewart probably won't shy away from nor snap at the media, even coming off a very difficult week in which he lost a race that he should have won in Charlotte, N.C. That's because this weekend, Stewart will continuously swap the hats of Sprint Cup driver, track promoter, driver, promoter and back again, as many times as he possibly can at Dream late-model dirt-track race on June 4. With HBO offering live pay-per-view coverage of the race, you can bet that Stewart will at least try to be on his best behavior at Dover all weekend long as long as Kurt Busch keeps at least arm's length away from him.

The goal of the Prelude is to raise $1 million to benefit the construction of a Victory Junction Gang Camp in Kansas City kids with chronic health problems, as well as the Tony.