A first-year head coach had questions to answer heading into this season. She and her team did so, and they produced a historic result.

In year one, Emily Norwood led Lafayette to its first ever state softball championship. Her efforts towards that make her the Daily Journal’s 2026 Softball Coach of the Year.

“I'm surrounded by a great group of people to help us be successful,” Norwood said. “From my family to the athletic department here. I’m truly blessed by the girls and the people that I'm surrounded with.”

Lafayette lost a handful of key pieces from last year’s state runner-up team, including 5A Miss Softball winner Mabry Eason. However, there were enough players with experience from that run that Norwood felt could help them finish business.

“I think we had a lot of people doubting us, that we lost a big group of kids, and that we weren't going to be as good as we were in the years past,” she said. “I tried to tell the kids from last fall how we were better, and we just had to do those small things correctly, and here we are, and we're in the big moments, and we look like we've been there before.

“I think the maturity came and we got the things done when we needed to the most.”

Lafayette was in a tough spot after the regular season. The Commodores finished third in their region and were struggling to find the type of energy they had earlier in the year. Norwood and the coaching staff reminded the girls that every season is a roller coaster.

“Your ups and your downs, they’ve got to come and you’ve got to figure them out, and you’ve got to get them figured out by the time postseason comes, and that's when you start figuring this stuff out,” she said. “And you get the things done right, and then you're successful from there on.”

The Commodores answered the call, going 6-1 in the playoffs en route to their second consecutive state championship series. In that time, they showed a valuable resolve, being able to overcome several deficits in games – and a nine-run loss – to come through in the end.

The punctuation mark came on the last play of Game 2 of the 5A championship series.

Lafayette trailed Sumrall in each game of the series, but the Commodores rallied and held on each time. Sumrall appeared to tie Game 2 in the top of the seventh on a bloop single. Avery Lewis ran from short to left, took the ball and gunned down the tying run at home, securing Lafayette’s title.

“It was just perfect,” Norwood said of the throw. “You couldn't have asked for anything better.”

Here are two words for anyone in America still complaining — on the verge of the World Cup —  about stratospheric ticket prices or get-off-my-lawn dismissing a sport where 1-0 can be framed an insurmountable lead:

Stop it.

Here are two more words:

Enjoy it.

The World Cup an event to binge watch starting with Thursday’s opening game. Forty-eight countries. One-hundred-and-four matches. Sixteen stadiums across three countries, including seven games at Hard Rock Stadium — er, Miami Stadium, as it’s being called for the tournament, due to the rules against sponsorship unless the ruling soccer federation FIFA gets the money.

You don’t have to appreciate the business of this tournament. You don’t even have to recognize the athletic brilliance that will be on display, understand the cultural clashes among countries or anticipate the sheer political drama that could arise across 38 days of play (one possibility: the United States and Iran advance and meet in the second round).

To understand the fun that’s coming just look at Norway’s pre-tournament team photo. They dressed as Vikings!

No, not Minnesota Vikings.

Real, unsmiling, circa-1400 Vikings like Eric the Red and Hagar the Horrible. There’s Erling Haaland, perhaps the world’s best player, with sword and wooden shield beside similarly dressed teammates in front of a longboat under the caption, “The Vikings Are Coming!”

They’re all coming. Favorites like Spain and France. Just-glad-to-be-here-underdogs like Curacao and Cabo Verde. There’s Lionel Messi trading Inter Miami’s pink for Argentina’s blue and white, and Takefusa Kubo coming as “The Japanese Messi.”

America is a more sophisticated soccer land than the last time the World Cup was here in 1994. That doesn’t mean the U.S. soccer team is projected to do much damage in the tournament, except maybe to the pocketbook, considering the cheapest ticket to the opener on Friday in Los Angeles is $947 on Ticketmaster.

American soccer has brought two things to the world futbol scene that will be noticeable coming up:

1.Soccer. The word. The sport. Hey, world, football already was taken. Get over it. The truth is soccer isn’t even our word. It originated in England in the late-1800s when the game was called “Association Football,” which was shortened over time to “Association,” then to “Assoc.” The final iteration came because of a fad adding an “-er” ending to words made it “assoc-er.” You can take it from there. That’s what came through Ellis Island.

2. The secondary ticket market. Capitalistic creep is overtaking live events. Sports, leagues, concerts — everyone’s using publicly built stadiums to use sites like Ticketmaster to soak the public. Then again, no one’s forced to pay $2,283 for the cheapest ticket to the Brazil-Scotland match on June 24 at Hard Rock Sta- … er, Miami Stadium.

This has brought some understandable pre-tournament rage. Every big event has that leading up to events. The most inexpensive ticket to Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York’s Madison Square Garden was more than $8,000 on the secondary market.

Such events quit being for the common fan a while ago. What happens once the game starts is for the fan, though. The Olympics are a web of corruption until a 14-year-old does a triple axel over a sheet of ice and the conversation changes.

It will be the same with the World Cup once a goal is scored, an upset made or an international hero crowned. Maybe that happens in South Florida. Maybe then some appreciation goes to those who brought the games here, going all the way back to original Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie, who had the initial vision to build a stadium to host a World Cup.

You don’t have to appreciate soccer to appreciate the coming event. My first view of the World Cup came in 1982 while backpacking through Italy. The Italians won the World Cup and all-night parties were held in the streets of Rome as well as its historic fountains. I didn’t understand the game’s details. I understood celebrations, though.

The Italians won’t win this World Cup. They didn’t qualify. They’re left outside the country, looking in, a reminder for all of us here: Enjoy it.

The Chicago Bulls are standing on the precipice of a potentially franchise-changing decision.

With the Nos. 4 and 15 draft picks in their arsenal, the Bulls can lay the foundation for a new era of success — or disappointment. They are widely expected to select the last remaining option from a stacked top four of BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson.

So which player should Bulls fans be praying falls to No. 4? And who could make the biggest impact at No. 15? Finding the right answers will be among the earliest and most difficult tasks for new executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham.

In the weeks leading up to the June 23-24 draft, the Tribune will break down each of the top options for the No. 4 pick — plus take a look at the wide array of talent that might be available at No. 15.

Let’s get started with a look at Wilson and a few jumbo options for the middle of the first round.

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Carolina connection

It’s hard to find a draft projection that doesn’t predict Wilson landing in Chicago.

The top of the order is a little less certain. There isn’t a full consensus that Dybantsa will go first, leaving room for the Washington Wizards to potentially waver over the decision. But most insiders predict the top three to fall in some order of Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer, with Wilson always bringing up the rear.

This pecking order belies the fact that Wilson might have the highest athletic upside of the bunch — and could offer a unique fit for the Bulls’ vision of the future.

Wilson might be in a different position if he hadn’t broken his right thumb in early March and missed the NCAA Tournament, limiting his freshman tape to the regular season. Still, the 6-foot-9 forward showed in that truncated timeline that he might be the best athlete in the lottery.

He averaged 2.8 dunks per game for the Tar Heels, showcasing an explosive, aggressive physicality that should flourish in the NBA as his body matures. Most importantly, Wilson is fueled by a relentless motor, a gift that simply can’t be coached.

Plus there’s the pedigree. The Bulls have made two first-round selections from North Carolina in their history. One was Coby White in 2019. The other was Michael Jordan in 1984. Wilson hasn’t shied away from pointing out this pipeline in his predraft interviews — a reflection of the 19-year-old’s confidence.

“I’m a winner,” Wilson said during an ESPN interview in response to a question about potentially joining the Bulls. “I’m going to change their culture. I’m going to bring it back to what it was for sure.”

Wilson will need work. While he improved his offensive game over the course of his freshman season, he also showed some glaring weaknesses in on-ball defense, a common issue when a natural athlete overrelies on his physicality, especially at the point of attack.

While he shot 58% from the field, Wilson made a subpar 25.9% behind the 3-point arc with barely one attempt per game. If he hopes to reach true NBA stardom, he’ll need to build out his skills as a creator, shooter and defender.

But the Bulls have the luxury of time. Their lengthy rebuilding schedule lends itself well to a player like Wilson who might need several years of development. If the current predictions prove true, the Bulls might have the perfect project to begin their franchise makeover.

Going big at No. 15?

The Bulls have a sprawling sandbox to work within for the No. 15 pick, which they could use on anything from a point guard to wing depth. So what if they opted to build out the future frontcourt with this selection?

After trading Nikola Vučević at the deadline in February, the Bulls don’t have a clear successor at center. Jalen Smith has been a workable (and affordable) short-term option but hasn’t shown the ability to elevate his offensive game in order to stand out as an NBA starter. Zach Collins also has showed flashes of ability but has struggled to stay healthy.

While the Bulls could take a crack at a new starting big man in free agency — top names such as Jalen Duren and Mark Williams will be restricted free agents this summer — drafting a new center would offer a more financially nimble way to address the future of the position.

If Bulls fans want to dream big in this scenario, they can light a few prayer candles that Aday Mara — the 7-3 big man out of Michigan — somehow tumbles a few spots to be available at No. 15. Is this likely to happen? No. Would it be an automatic win for the Bulls? Absolutely.

Mara is surprisingly nimble for his size, moves well without the ball and finishes above the rim. The Spaniard’s presence alongside (presumably) Wilson and Matas Buzelis would allow the Bulls to play a more vertical style, something they’ve lacked for years.

Mara isn’t a perfect project. He’s a poor shooter from outside the restricted area — he took only 10 3-point attempts last season and shot 56.4% from the free-throw line — and it’s unclear how far he can comfortably stray from the rim on defense. But his potential as a shot-blocking, rim-finishing big man would be tantalizing for a rebuilding team like the Bulls.

More realistically, the Bulls could take a shot at another 7-3 big by drafting Luigi Suigo, a 19-year-old Italian who played professionally in Serbia rather than coming to the U.S. for college basketball. Suigo is massive, gobbles up the ball at the rim on defense and would offer a true lob threat that the Bulls have been missing.

If neither of those oversized options pan out, the Bulls would have to look slightly below 7 feet for a potential center, such as Washington’s 6-10 Hannes Steinbach and Houston’s 6-10 Chris Cenac Jr. Both players border on “tweener” territory as slightly undersized centers, but they could overcome that concern by continuing to bulk up and improve their shooting.

Steinbach has showed an eagerness to shoot 3-pointer that could pair nicely with his proven ability to finish at the rim. Cenac lacks efficiency and foul discipline at times — a weakness that was on display in the NCAA Tournament — but also has shown the potential to dominate the paint both as a defender and a scorer.

Jun. 5—Morgan County athletes brought home over 23 medals and six ribbons at the Alabama Special Olympics at Troy last week.

The 19 athletes represented Morgan County in bowling, swimming and golf, said Bailey Starnes, therapeutics coordinator for Decatur Parks and Recreation.

The athletes selected for the state games were chosen due to their performances in the local Special Olympics.

Athletes recognized during the games included:

Bowling: Luke Takacs, Jeffery Watson, Max Walden and Shannon Robinson, all silver, Sawyer McCormick, Alex Murphy, James Harper, Amanada Davis-Sagun and Erik Page, all bronze, Heath Carter, Shawn Thorn and Chris Akhondmirza, all fourth place ribbons.

Swimming: Neil Christopher, two golds and one silver; Brianna Dempsey, one gold, one silver and one bronze; Lane Barnes, three golds; Charles Debacker, one gold, one silver and one fourth place ribbon; Jamie Sims, one fourth place ribbon and one fifth place ribbon; Shea Griffin, one gold and one bronze.

Golf: Garrett Cobbs, gold.

For more on Decatur Parks & Recreation's Therapeutics Program, visit decaturparks.com/therapeutics.

— cgodbey@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2441.

Jun. 5—Decatur Youth Services is going Rucker Park-style with its 10th anniversary all-star basketball game on Friday evening.

DYS is moving its annual fundraiser outside to "The Cage" at Parkway Park at Gordon Drive and First Street Southwest, organizer Rico Pickett Sr. said Thursday. Rucker Park is an outdoor basketball court in Harlem, New York, famous for pick-up games involving some of the country's most famous players.

The event starts at 6 p.m. Parking is at West Decatur Elementary School, with Youth Services providing bus rides to the venue. Spectators are asked to bring lawn chairs, but there will be some bleachers available around the court.

"This has been a great fundraiser for us because it helps with our youth basketball league," DYS Director Johnny Jones said. "The money we earn from the game pays the entrance fees and uniforms for the league every fall."

Jones said he's hoping to have the same success with the outdoor all-star game as DYS has had with its other events this year.

"Our community has really been coming out and supporting us," Jones said.

Pickett said he also wanted to change things up this year by combining the forces of former Decatur and Austin high stars and having them play former Athens High stars in a best two-out-of-three showdown.

This will be a men-only challenge, and there won't be a women's game this year, he said.

Pickett said there will be 10 former stars on each team. He said he's gotten commitments from players like Decatur High alumni Harry Malone, Rico Pickett Jr. and Quinton Fry, and Austin's Malik Elliott, Harry Malone, Quincy and Alexis Gray, and Athens High's brother duo of Trey Potts and Gideon Potts.

"Some of the players said they wanted to see what it would look like with Decatur and Austin players playing together," Pickett said. "And the rivalries between Decatur and Athens and Austin and Athens have always been really good."

Jones said he thinks it will be good to see Austin and Decatur playing together, "especially with everything that's been going on lately."

As part of the 10th year of the game, Pickett said he plans to honor former Decatur High players Mike Lovelace, Carlos Clark, Chris Stanford and Hal Sanders for their support during a game break.

"These guys have supported me the whole 10 years," Pickett said. "They're older now, so they decided not to play this year."

He said they will also hold a foul-shot competition for public officials. Some of the officials who have committed to participating are Mayor Kent Lawrence, state Rep. Parker Moore, Austin High Principal Demond Garth and District 1 City Councilman Terrance Adkins.

"Every free throw they miss they will have to donate $5," Pickett said.

Jones, who also coaches Decatur Heritage Christian Academy's girls basketball team, said he plans to participate. He immediately challenged his competitors.

"I told Rico I would participate but I don't miss," Jones said.

Pickett said he plans to make the event "a big block party." First Street will be blocked off. They plan to house bouncy houses and other games and fun challenges during timeouts.

He said four food trucks — Sisters in Town, Sonya's Spicy Bowl, Snow Heaven Express and Nana Jean's Ice Cream — will be available.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432

Over the past 45 years, Jim Britton has been an assistant coach in football, softball, basketball, baseball and track.

Now, after serving as an assistant last year under Tae Brooks, it is Britton’s time to shine as he takes over for his first season as the new head football coach of the Arena League Eau Claire Axemen.

“There’s a lot of responsibility on a head coach,” Britton said. “But, I enjoy it. It’s work, but I’ve done this for so long, and I just love coaching, and I love coaching football.”

The Axemen finished their inaugural season last year 1-7. It was a year filled with tumultuous ownership changes, disappointing results and ultimately a coaching change, as Britton took over from Brooks last November.

Also new this year are offensive coordinator Harrison Tsimouris, who also serves as UW-Eau Claire running backs coach, and defensive coordinator MJ Johnson.

With changes hopefully behind them, Britton hopes the Axemen can solely focus on football, especially when they hit the Sonnentag Center field for their home opener against the Arkansas Diamonds on Saturday.

“We have three pillars: faith, family and love,” Britton said. “Before every practice, after every practice, before and after games, (I tell them that) I love them and I love them for the hard work that they put in.”

The Eau Claire community will look to lift the spirits of the Axemen at the Sonnentag Center this summer. In their final game last year, they had 1,400 fans in attendance.

“I’m super excited to showcase our players to Eau Claire, and hopefully these guys can make inroads in the community,” Britton said. “We just want to put the best product on the field we can, and we have to be good character people.”

The Axemen lost 48-32 in its opening game this season to the Ozark Lumbers last Saturday in Springfield, Missouri.

“We scored on the very first play of the game, and then we had four or five possessions inside the five,” Britton said. “It always comes down to your execution, and we just didn’t execute well enough.”

The loss was made worse by a dislocated kneecap to wideout Matt Laur.

“Our guys just absolutely love Matt, and so that was a big blow,” Britton said.

Still though, Britton is excited for what his team and this season has in store.

“We have a mixture of young rookies, some tenured players, and some older players,” Britton said. “The guys we have in that locker room are quality and very talented. We came out on the short end of the stick.

“One of my messages is, ‘If we win, we win. If we lose, we learn.’ So, that’s what we try to do and we’re going to improve, we’re going to get better.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the Vegas Golden Knights skate in yet another Stanley Cup Final, Orlando should be asking itself an uncomfortable question:

How is Las Vegas about to become a four-sport major league city before Orlando has even landed a second team in one of the four major sports leagues in this country?

Think about it.

Ten years ago, Las Vegas was considered an impossible sports market. League commissioners openly worried about gambling. Skeptics insisted tourists wouldn’t support teams. Conventional wisdom said Sin City was built for weekend visitors, not season-ticket holders.

Today?

Vegas has the NHL’s Golden Knights plus the NFL’s Raiders and will soon have Major League Baseball’s Athletics. And, yes, most industry insiders fully expect Las Vegas to soon land an NBA expansion franchise.

That’s all four major league teams in the 40th-largest media market in the country. Plus, Vegas is home to the WNBA’s Aces.

Meanwhile, Orlando — the nation’s 15th-largest media market and the largest market in America without an NFL or MLB franchise — still has only one team (the Magic) in the country’s four most popular sports leagues, as well as Orlando City and the Orlando Pride.

That’s it.

And that’s the frustrating part.

For years, Orlando possessed many of the same advantages Vegas eventually leveraged into sports dominance. We have world-class tourism infrastructure. We host nearly 80 million visitors annually. We have convention business, corporate hospitality opportunities, hotel capacity and one of the fastest-growing populations in America.

In fact, Orlando’s metro population is roughly twice that of Las Vegas. Yet somehow Vegas became the sports capital of the desert while Orlando remains the city of potential.

Why?

Because Las Vegas had something Orlando lacked:

Urgency.

Vision.

And political leadership willing to aggressively pursue pro sports as an economic engine.

When Vegas leaders saw an opportunity, they didn’t hold another committee meeting. They secured public funding and built stadiums. They convinced leagues that sports tourism wasn’t a side benefit of their economy; it was a major part of their economy’s future.

The Golden Knights became the proof of concept. Their instant success shattered every outdated stereotype about Las Vegas being an unsuitable sports town. Suddenly, the Raiders wanted in. The Athletics followed. The NBA is almost certainly next.

Vegas didn’t stumble into becoming a sports destination. It made a conscious decision to become one. Orlando, by contrast, has spent years treating sports as something nice to have rather than something worth aggressively pursuing.

Orlando hosts events. Vegas acquires franchises.

There’s a difference.

But the good news is Orlando may finally be waking up. Political leaders and business leaders are finally rallying around the effort to bring Major League Baseball to Central Florida.

For the first time, Orlando’s sports ambitions are starting to feel somewhat coordinated rather than aspirational.

And maybe that’s the lesson Vegas has taught us.

Sports isn’t just entertainment anymore.

It’s tourism.

It’s economic development.

It’s branding.

It’s convention business.

It’s national relevance.

Las Vegas figured that out a decade ago and raced past cities that should have had a head start, including Orlando.

The Golden Knights reaching another Stanley Cup Final should serve as both inspiration and irritation for Central Florida sports fans.

Inspiration because Vegas built something remarkable.

Irritation because Orlando has had every opportunity to do the same.

The encouraging part is that Orlando finally appears ready to stop watching the race and start running it.

Jun. 2—ABERDEEN — A pair of Mitchell-area programs are poised to battle for a place in the Class B softball state tournament semifinals, as fourth-seeded Hanson and fifth-seeded Avon meet up in the opening round on Thursday at the Players Softball Complex.

The Beavers and Pirates, who will take the field at noon Thursday, didn't go head-to-head during the regular season, but each managed a pair of wins against the rest of the tournament field. Hanson, at 18-4 overall, is 2-2 against Class B qualifiers, with wins over Gayville-Volin and Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy and setbacks against Castlewood and McCook Central/Montrose. Meanwhile, Avon (16-7) is 2-3 against fellow qualifiers, defeating FMFA and Redfield with losses to Castlewood (twice) and Gayville-Volin.

In reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2022-23, the debut season of softball sanctioned by the South Dakota High School Activities Association, Hanson used a late surge to get by Flandreau in the SoDak 16. Avon, back in the bracket for a second year in a row, took down nearby Scotland/Menno in the SoDak 16, avenging an earlier defeat.

Jozlynn Tegethoff maintains a batting average of .629 and an on-base percentage of .729, leading the Beavers in hits (39), walks (23), stolen bases (13), and runs scored (46). Neecee Suber, Skya White and Jacey Schoenrock all have batting averages above .400, as Schoenrock and White pace the team with 37 and 35 runs batted in, respectively. Schoenrock has hurled all 113 innings in the circle with a 4.52 earned-run average.

For Avon, Rilyn Thury has batted .600 with 38 RBIs, with Brielle Voigt at .531 and 35 RBIs. Jordyn Voigt has a .404 average and a team-best on-base percentage of .627, courtesy of 21 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches. Voigt, Thury and Rowan Brandt have all scored at least 30 runs. The Pirates' go-to arm is Kaydence Metzger, who has pitched 97 innings with a 4.71 ERA.

The two teams haven't played since 2024, but this time the winner will earn an opportunity to face either No. 1 Castlewood or No. 8 Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy in the semifinals on Friday.

Winners of 14 games in a row leading into the Class B quarterfinals, McCook Central/Montrose is white-hot ahead of its state tournament debut.

At 20-2 overall, MCM also boasts the most wins and highest win percentage out of the quarterfinalists, marks fueled by exceptional plate presence.

MCM fields the most potent offense in Class B at 12.8 runs per game, a full run per game more than any other team, which has powered the Fighting Cougars to a class-best run differential at plus-8.6 per game.

The Fighting Cougars are led by a standout trio that all bats at least .600 with 45 hits: Josalyn Traupel (.657 average, 46 hits), Ashtyn DeKnikker (.634 average, 45 hits) and Ella DeKnikker (.608 average, 48 hits). Three more bats — Zaidee Huls (.597 average, 37 hits), Cami McGuire (.574 average, 35 hits) and Landry Andal (.556 average, 30 hits) — aren't far behind, and Huls also serves as MCM's top pitcher.

Only one Class B team — Baltic — got the better of MCM this season, but the Bulldogs came up short of the tournament, falling in the SoDak 16 to the Fighting Cougars' quarterfinal opponent, Redfield. MCM and Redfield will play at 2 p.m. Thursday.

The Pheasants (10-7) were one of three lower-seeded teams to advance out of the SoDak 16 round, as the No. 11 Pheasants took out 6-seed Baltic. Redfield started the season 8-2 before dropping five of its final six regular-season games, including matchups with tournament teams Avon, Castlewood and Florence/Henry.

Redfield is led by Makayla Schulz with a .462 average and 24 hits, while Hayden Gall paces the team in walks (14), stolen bases (27), RBIs (18) and runs scored (28).

The winner between MCM and Redfield will face either No. 3 Florence/Henry (15-4) or No. 6 Gayville-Volin (14-5) in the semifinals on Friday.

As the No. 14 seed in the Class B SoDak 16, Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy scored the upset of the postseason by outlasting defending champion Deuel.

In their last act as an athletic co-op, the Phoenix will look to do it again, starting with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 1 seed Castlewood at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Making their state tournament debut, FMFA (11-7) has won four games in a row and nine of their last 12 following a 2-4 start to the campaign.

Driving the Phoenix offense, Claire Loofbourrow owns a batting average of .660, collecting 35 hits with eight home runs and 44 RBIs. Harli Ross, who spun a shutout of Deuel in the SoDak 16, has a 5-4 record across 12 starts, while secondary arm Isabel Waltner is 5-0 in six starts.

Castlewood is 18-4 despite playing the third-most difficult schedule in Class B based on opponent winning percentage, though FMFA is also battle-tested in that regard with the ninth-most difficult schedule. Coincidentally, Deuel is the only Class B team to beat the Warriors this season.

A powerhouse in the brief history of SDHSAA-sponsored softball, the Warriors are 64-20 across four seasons and have made all four state tournaments, including a championship in 2023 and a runner-up finish in 2024.

Key to its success this season, Castlewood enters the tournament with Class B's top combination of pitching and defense, which allows four runs per game.

However, the Warriors can win at the plate, too. Castlewood has a team batting average of .468 with seven players above .400. Cydni Kudrna paces the bunch with a .600 average, 39 hits, five home runs and 34 RBIs.

DANVILLE — For over a decade, Eric Coleman saw close games take place at Danville Stadium.

On Friday, he was able to return to the place with so many memories and good friends while his former team continued a unbeaten first week of the season.

Coleman returned to be honored in a ceremony in the fourth inning. He was handed a plaque by team owners Rick Kurth and Jeanie Cooke and also addressed the crowd that he always enjoyed.

“I would have never thought that this could happen 11 years ago. Jeanie and Rick took a chance on me and I would have never thought that Danville would embrace me and it is an honor to be back,” Coleman said. “It is a family atmosphere here. You are a Dan for life one you play for me and a lot of guys stay in touch of me. I am happy to be a piece of the history in Danville because the tradition was here before me but it has been an honor and it has been a ride.”

Coleman is the lead rep for USA Baseball’s National Team Identification Series in Tennessee.

“We get to work with the 11-12 years olds in the area,” Coleman said. “I started last fall and I worked with (former Major Leaguer) Juan Pierre’s kid and there are a few kids that have a chance to make the US team and the major leagues. It is fun.”

As for the game, the Dans were able to break a 5-5 tie with two runs in the eighth in an 7-5 win over the Terre Haute Rex to remain undefeated for the first week of the season.

“This was a great day of baseball and it was tied a lot of the way, but like I said, these guys find a way to win. I am really proud and happy for them,” Danville coach Cam Gross said. “ I was also happy one of my guys, Will Burke, gets the winning triple. I wish I could win one by a lot so I don’t get a heart attack near the end of one, but I am ecstatic. Jackson Kees closing the game and Blake Hoffa coming in for Hayden Trier gave us great pitching. I am proud of them and I hope it is a reflection of me and the staff.”

Burke broke the tie with a triple to bring in Amir Streeter, while Carson Brady drove in Burke with an fly out. Burke and Brady are two of the guys that Gross has coached before reuniting in Danville.

“Burke, Carson Brady, JJ Baysinger, Mason McReynolds are some of my guys,” Gross said. “I have coached those guys before and I love those guys as mich as I love my own brother. They get to make the kids of Danville happy the same way they make me happy. They are great kids and good at the whole baseball thing.”

“We played for him last summer,” Burke said. “I know me and Carson were going to play in the Florida league before coach Cam texted us about coming up here right before we signed and it looked a lot cooler than that. I like it and the weather is cooler.

“There was a runner on third, so I had to get the ball in the air. He threw breaking balls low. Luckily, the first baseman dropped the foul ball I hit and then the next one, I stayed with it and got the job done.”

Nick Palmi had a three-run home run in the first to take a 3-2 lead, while Cameron Steinbaugh doubled in a run for a 4-2 lead. Brady reached on an error to score Burke in the second for a 5-2 lead.

The Rex scored a run in the third and added two in the sixth to tie things up.

Trier had five strikeouts in five innings, while Hoffa got the win with six strikeouts in three innings and Kees had two strikeouts in the ninth.

Gross was able to have a talk with Coleman as he tries to continue things how his predecessor had.

“He was here for 11 years and won hundreds of game and had numerous draft picks,” Gross said. “He is a savant for the game of baseball and I am happy to be his successor and we talked pregame for a while and he is an encyclopedia of knowledge. The Dans are not as respected if he wasn’t here, along with coach (Ron) Polk.”

“It is the same philosophy like get them on, get them over and get them in,” Coleman said. “We are playing small ball and in this park you do that. He is going to have his own style and own stamp on it. They are off to a good start and hopefully it continues.”

It continued on Saturday with an 11-inning win over the Decatur Bean Ballers.

Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin grad Caden Kelemenic started the game and had four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings, while Salt Fork product Pedro Rangel IV had four strikeouts in four innings to get his first win of the season.

Decatur took a 2-0 lead in the fourth, but Palmi had an RBI triple and Baysinger had an sacrifice fly in the sixth to tie things up.

In the 11th, Baysinger drove in two runs with a single and Hudson Roberts had an sacrifice fly to get the win.

The Dans complete the first week of the season with an 5-0 record and will try to build on that today. The team returns to Danville Stadium for a doubleheader with the Champion City Half Trax at 5:30 p.m.