Sports

TEAM PREVIEW: HASTINGS GIRLS SOCCER GEARS UP FOR NEW ARMSTRONG ERA

Hastings Girls Soccer has begun its practices for 2022 under first year head coach Paul Armstrong, who joined KDWA to talk to us about the team this year and how he's adapted to his new role here in Hastings

MUDHENS, BEARS LEARN POSTSEASON OPPONENTS

The Miesville Mudhens and Cannon Falls Bears are all set for postseason action after a live streamed bracket reveal show on Sunday night produced the brackets for the upcoming MBA Class B and Class C state tournaments. The Mudhens will kick the whole thing off as one of the co-hosts on Friday night, when they play the Prior Lake Jays at 7:30 at Jack Ruhr Field. KDWA will provide live coverage. The Mudhens, with a win, then move on to the second weekend to face either Cold Spring or Anoka. Miesville's other Section 1B foes see Dundas in position to potentially meet Miesville in the semifinals, while New Market and Rochester are in the bottom half of the bracket. The Mudhens earned the top seed from Section 1B with their sweep of Hampton. Hampton beat Elko in the first redemption round game to advance to Sunday to take on New Market, but the Muskies' bats were flying, and Hampton fell 17-7, handing New Market the final spot from the section. The Mudhens need to beat Prior Lake and then either Anoka or Cold Spring to advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket.

Cannon Falls meanwhile, will head down to Faribault on Saturday night in a strictly single elimination format in the 48-team Class C bracket. The Bears will take on the Buckman Billygoats out of Region 8C. Should the Bears win, they would advance to the following weekend in Faribault again. The opponent would be the Luverne Redbirds. As part of the Class C rules, the Bears are eligible to draft a handful of players from other teams, and while the Hastings Hawks fell short of State, Jordan Jeske will represent the Hawks, as he was drafted by the Bears to join their team for the State tournament. Hastings needed two wins to advance, and despite a hard fought effort, fell to Stewartville 7-4. Wanamingo advanced with the eventual bid from Region 5C.

KDWA will bring you live coverage of all the Mudhens games, with pregame coverage Friday starting at 7:15, and first pitch around 7:30. Adam Elling and Matt Leifeld will provide you with coverage of the entire game and you'll be able to listen everywhere you get KDWA.

The full list of games next weekend in Miesville:

Mudhens vs. Prior Lake, Friday @ 7:30 LIVE on KDWA

Cold Spring vs. Anoka Saturday @ 11 AM

Blaine vs. Sobieski Saturday @ 1:30 PM

Rochester vs. Hamel Saturday @ 4:30 PM

Chanhassen vs. Coon Rapids Saturday @ 7:00

Clinton vs. Willmar Sunday @ 11 AM

Kimball vs. Hutchinson Sunday at 1:30

Hinckley vs. Richmond Sunday at 4:30.

KDWA will not have coverage of the other games, but we will continue to bring you live Mudhens action.

TEAM PREVIEW: HASTINGS FOOTBALL

The Hastings Raiders football team is ready for another strong campaign in 2022, and with practice just days away, Head Coach Dana Strain joined KDWA for a wide ranging interview, to get us ready for the 2022 season.

PRESCOTT LAUNCHES NEW UNDER ARMOUR APPAREL DEAL

The Prescott Cardinals recently signed an apparel deal with Under Armour and have started an apparel store. Part of that deal includes a new agreement with the Women of Will program, or WOW.

Prescott Athletics Director Andrew Caudill discusses the new apparel deal, as well as the WOW program.

HASTINGS NEW ATHLETIC PARENT TOWN HALL MEETING TONIGHT; REGISTRATION NEARS ITS END

With registration nearly complete, and a town hall meeting set for tonight, Hastings High School AD Trent Hanson joined KDWA to talk about registration and gearing up for the Fall Sports season.

HASTINGS NEW ATHELTIC PARENT TOWN HALL MEETING TONIGHT; REGISTRATION NEARS ITS END

With registration nearly complete, and a town hall meeting set for tonight, Hastings High School AD Trent Hanson joined KDWA to talk about registration and gearing up for the Fall Sports season.

PRESCOTT FOOTBALL GEARING UP FOR FIRST GAME

Prescott Football Coach Jordan Hansen joined KDWA to break down the first week of practice, their upcoming scrimmage at Osceola, and their tough nonconference schedule. Listen here:

MUDHENS QUALIFY FOR STATE; HAWKS NEED A FEW WINS

he Miesville Mudhens are state bound once again. The Mudhens took care of business against the Hampton Cardinals with a 9-0 win in Game 1 and a 7-4 win in Game 2.

Game 1 was pure domination from the Mudhens. Riley Ahearn got the start on the mound, and Miesville started things off early with a Matt VanderBosch home run. Austin LaDoux also went yard early and the Mudhens had already put some some distance between them and the Cardinals. Hampton would be held to just two hits and Miesville cruised to the win. Ahearn got credit for the win, while the other Ahearn, Shannon, and Cano also pitched. That would set up an all important second game for both teams.

In that second game, Miesville picked up right where they left off. Joey Werner would launch a ball out of Hampton's ball park and towards Highway 52 and the Mudhens would take an early advantage again. But this time, Hampton would keep it close. Jonathan Horn, who got the start on the mound, would have a tough inning and Hampton would take a 3-1 lead. But Miesville would bounce back, scoring six unanswered runs from there to make it 7-3, en route to a 7-4 victory. Miesville was one of two teams from Section1B to punch their state tickets over the weekend, as they joined rivals Rochester in doing so. New Market and Dundas as of this going to press had yet to play their game 3, while Elko and Hampton would play in the Redemption Round, where they need to win twice to go to state. Should Hampton win that game against Elko, they would play the loser of New Market and Dundas.

Meanwhile, the Cannon Falls Bears had punched their ticket to the state tournament with a win over Dodge County. Hastings fell to Red Wing 3-2 and will play Stewartville this weekend. Should the Hawks win, they would add their name to the State Tournament list, but a loss sends them into an elimination game against either Dodge County or Wanamingo. On the Class B side, 10 of the 16 slots for State had been filled as of Tuesday, and the Mudhens are anxiously awaiting their seeding and opponents. Those should come early next week. We will have more on a broadcast schedule at a later date, so stay tuned to KDWA both over the air and online.

HASTINGS YOUTH HOCKEY REGISTATION UNDERWAY

Curtis Gerrits of Hastings Hockey joined KDWA to talk to us about the current registration process, the new co-op with Cottage Grove, and other topics. Link is below:

RAIDER NATION COACH REVIEWS SEASON; MUDHENS POSTSEASON PREVIEW

KDWA Broadcaster Adam Elling, who is also a coach for Raider Nation, joined KDWA to talk about his team this season, the Raider Nation camaraderie as a whole, and also switched gears and previewed the upcoming Mudhens postseason journey.

RAIDER NATION FARM BALL RECAP

Vinnie DeGrote of Raider Nation joined KDWA to review the Raider Nation season and the end of year tournament. The Red team defeated the Purple team in the Farm Ball championship game, 12-8.

TEAM PREVIEW: PRESCOTT GOLF

The Prescott Girls' Golf team is ready to begin its defense of its state title, and is looking to make history with its third in a row. Head Coach Chad Salay joined KDWA to talk about the team and its busy offseason, and give us a look ahead to 2022.

MUDHENS, HAWKS, PIRATES, MORE, GEARING UP FOR POSTSEASON

The Miesville Mudhens found out who they will play later this week in postseason action, when Hampton beat Northfield 13-5 in the Section 1B Play-in game. That sets up a best of 3 series with the Cardinals that begins Friday. Game 1 will be in Miesville on Friday and Game 2 will be in Hampton on Sunday. If necessary, the final game will return to the Jack. From there, if Miesville wins, they advance to the state tournament, which begins the weekend of August 19, 20 and 21. A series loss to Hampton means that the Mudhens would move to the redemption round August 12 or 14 to try and gain the final spot from the bracket to state. If Miesville were to fall to that round, they would likely play on the later date, as the highest remaining seed earns a bye in the elimination bracket. Miesville earned the top seed by defeating Dundas 7-5, thanks to a home run from Ben Vujovich in the 2nd inning of the contest that drove in 3. Jonathan Horn got the win on the mound, while the save went to Quinn Krueger. Vujovich's home run broke a 1-1 tie and the Mudhens never looked back.

The Hastings Hawks advanced out of the Region 5C Playoffs with a 5-4 walk off win off the bat of Cole Benson over Pine Island. This win gave the Hawks the 6 seed in the bracket and they will open up play on Saturday at John Burch Park in Cannon Falls at 7:00 against Wanamingo, who are the 3 seed. If the Hawks win, they advance to Sunday against the winner of Red Wing and Lake City, and if they lose they would play Sunday against the loser. The two teams who advance to the finals earn the top two seeds for state.

The Prescott Pirates are also wrapping up their 2022 regular season. The Pirates finished 15-7 on the year, and split last weekend's games with a 7-3 win over Elmwood and a 5-3 loss to River Falls. The Pirates finished 13-5 in league play. The Pirates return to action in SCVBL League play this weekend, and then head to the WBA Regional Playoffs August 13 and 14. From there, the state tournament action is held August 19, 20 and 21. All 3 local teams have realistic shots of advancing to state, and we will provide you with endless coverage as the postseason begins. All of the Mudhens games will be broadcast live, while we will also have coverage of the Hawks and Pirates throughout their postseason runs, through reports, stories and interviews with those involved. You can find our unofficial broadcast schedule for the state tournament on our website, KDWA.com. Please note that game times and dates are subject to change depending on when and if the Mudhens play on those respective dates.

HASTINGS HOCKEY REGISTRATION UNDERWAY

The Hastings Hockey Association has announced it has begun registration for the 2022-2023 season. The association will be offering hockey at the In-House and Travelling levels, from beginners all the way to U16. The In-house levels are Learn Hockey, U6 Girls, Mite I, U8 Girls, and Mite II while the travelling levels are U10 Girls, Squirts, U12 Girls, Peewee, U15 Girls, Bantam, and Jr Gold/U16. The information about age deadline and pricings is posted to the registration page, with a link to that posted below. It is important to note that those registering must register with USA Hockey BEFORE registering with Hastings Hockey. Registration for traveling teams will close on August 15 with the exception of Jr Gold/U16 and and U15 Girls because of high school tryouts. The Learn Hockey program, which is the beginner level, is for those with no skating experience and those participating were born on or before September 1, 2018. Those players must be in their final year of Pre-K. The Learn Hockey program runs through the third grade. The rest of the In-House levels from U6 up to Mite II require one year or more of skating experience with U6 Girls and Mite I for grades K-1 and U8 Girls and Mite II for grades 2-3. The traveling levels vary, but U10 Girls and Squirts are for Grades 4 and 5 with birthdays from June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2013. U12 Girls and Peewee are for grades   6 and 7 and birthdays from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2011. U15 Girls and Bantam are for grades 8 and 9 and are birthdays from June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2009. JR Gold/U16 birthdate cutoff is from June 1, 2003 to May 31, 2007. For those registering for U15, U16 and Jr Gold teams, refunds of the initial payment will be provided if the player makes the Varsity or JV teams. The list of registration fees is available on the link below.

Registration forms are available on hastingshockey.com.

WILD STREET HOCKEY SERIES ENTERTAINS HASTINGS

The Minnesota Wild Street Hockey Series recently came through Hastings on their inaugural visit, and entertained hundreds of fans and residents with street hockey, games, food trucks, and even Nordy. Jim Vanek of the Wild told KDWA that Hastings was likely to be one of their bigger crowds.

"We think this will be one of our bigger crowds, we spoke with someone from Hastings who told us that was likely to be the case" Vanek said. Other stops included Apple Valley, Woodbury, White Bear Lake, Plymouth and Eden Prairie. Vanek also mentioned that this was a Tuesday/Thursday Series, before the Wild hit the road for their Road Trip to Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud and Duluth. The weather cooperated for the event, with cooler conditions and partly cloudy skies creating a perfect atmosphere for the event. As for players attending the event:

"Most of our players live out of state or out of country in the offseason, and those that are here are finishing playing up in Edina, then that finishes and training camp is only a few weeks away" he said.

The event included a street hockey inflatable rink, vendors, food trucks, a gaming station where EA SPORTS NHL was able to be played, as well as a shot tracker and a DJ. Vanek said the Wild will also have their annual spot at the upcoming MN State Fair where some of the same opportunities will be available for fans.

MUDHENS SWEEP ROYALS; TOP SECTION SEED ONE WIN AWAY

The Miesville Mudhens clinched a top two seed in Section 1B with a thrilling, topsy-turvy win over Rochester on Wednesday night, 12-9. The Mudhens got off to a ferocious start, with homers from Joey Werner and two homers, including a grand slam from Austin LaDoux to take a 7-1 lead. But Rochester wouldn't let up, scoring 8 runs straight to take a 9-7 lead. In the back half of the game, Joey Werner responded again, with a huge at bat to clear the bases and give Miesville an 11-9 lead. The Mudhens would add another run to go up 12-9, and Cooper Smith would finish off the night with 3 scoreless innings to preserve the win. Conner Malcolm came on in relief of Riley Ahearn and was credited with the win.

Miesville had exceptional performances from Ben Vujovich, who went 4-6 at the plate with 2 RBI's, while Werner went 3-5 with a homer, and a the big game leading hit off of Rochester's ace, and 5 RBI's, while Austin LaDoux went 2-3 with 2 homers, including a grand slam, and 5 RBI's.

The Mudhens can wrap up their top seed in Section 1B with a win over Dundas on Friday night. The Dukes suffered their first loss in 14 games on Tuesday with a 6-3 defeat to Minnetonka, but remain one of the hottest teams in the section. A Miesville loss and a Rochester loss means the Mudhens keep the top seed, but a Miesville loss and a Rochester win gives the Royals the top seed, so Miesville can leave no doubt with a win.

PRESCOTT GIRLS GOLF HAS TUNE UP IN MILWAUKEE

The Prescott Girls Golf team had a tune up this week in Hartford at the Wisconsin Jr PGA Match Play Championship. Ava Salay finished with the 13th highest score in the Stroke Qualifiers on Monday, advancing her to the Championship Flight as the 13 seed. The Badger commit fell 3 and 2 to Grace Durkin, who ended up making the Finals.

One Prescott golfer did advance to the Finals of their flight, as Gabbi Matzek, who was the top seed in the 4th flight, finished runner up after earning a 20 hole playoff win in the first round, and then advancing to the finals with a 5 and 3 victory. Unfortunately she was unable to bring home the first place trophy, but as seen in the photo, she did bring home some hardware.

Nearly a dozen current, future and former Prescott golfers participated in the event, including Liz Rohl, Maddie Reiter, Lydia Feran and Rhianna Stutz. The Prescott golf team is again expected to contend for a state title.

LITTLE SOLDIER CONTINUES DOMINANT RUN; REPEATS AS 16U NATIONAL CHAMPION

She's done it again. Hastings Wrestler Skylar Little Soldier continues to make a name for herself on a global level, this time winning a national title. Little Soldier repeated as national champion in 16U wrestling in Fargo last weekend. In the 127 pound finals, the fourth ranked wrestler took down the 6th ranked wrestler Cadence Diduch out of Illinois, who had moved up in weight class from 117 pounds. The pair battled, but Little Soldier was able to hold on and win 3-2. As mentioned, this was her second consecutive national title in the 16U category. Her triumph inside the Fargodome comes on top of a wildly successful year for her, which included Little Soldier winning the school's and her weight class's first state title, followed by a Silver medal at the Pan-Am games in Argentina. She was also one of the four Hastings athletes who received senate resolutions earlier in the spring.

PACKERS ROAD TRIP ROLLS INTO PRESCOTT

The Green Bay Packers visited Prescott High School on Friday as part of their annual Packers Road Trip. The closed door event was held in Prescott's brand new weight room alongside members of the football team and select softball players, as well as specially invited faculty, and KDWA. Several former Packers including James Starks and Tramon Williams, as well as Packers President Mark Murphy, spoke to the team for about 30 minutes, before surprising athletic director Andrew Caudill with a $5000 check to help with facility improvements at PHS. The team answered questions about football and mostly about life, and then the two groups posed for a photo before the Packers continued on their journey.

Packers President Mark Murphy spoke with KDWA about the Packers Road Trip and what drew them to Prescott:

After the event, we also spoke with Athletics Director Andrew Caudill for his thoughts on the amazing opportunity for the school

The Cardinals football team begins their 2022 season on August 20 at 11 AM against Eau Claire Regis. Their home opener is scheduled for August 26 against Durand.

HASTINGS FALL SPORTS REGISTRATION BEGINS FRIDAY

The Hastings Raiders' will start their fall sports registration process on Friday.

The first day of fall practices are scheduled for August 15. If forms come in on August 12, they will not be read until the following workday. Late registrations will be accepted starting on Monday, August 15 but any registrations submitted after the deadline are not guaranteed to be processed in the same day due to an expected high number of registrants. This means that athletes who submit a late registration could miss a few practices if it is on or after this date. Any questions can be directed to the athletic office at 651-480-7597.

The Hastings Athletics Department also addresses other assorted questions under the "teams" tab on their website, and a staff directory is available.

The Parent Handbook for this upcoming year has been revised and includes numerous resources.

A Town Hall meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 10 at 6:30 PM. This meeting will be mainly for parents of ninth graders or new athletes, but other parents for the other three grades will also be allowed to attend. According to the release from Hastings Athletics, this meeting will: "facilitate the agenda that will include: the purpose and goals of HHS athletics; programs offered, levels of play, athletic department profile; style of play, team selection, athlete promotion; athletic trainer, sports medicine provider, mental training partner; web tools, apps, and in-season communication; eligibility - MSHSL, academic, attendance, chemical; sportsmanship expectations; transportation policy, partner teams, community service."

The deadline to register for this meeting is August 9 at Noon and there is a pre-registration form. All of these forms can be found at hastingsathletics.org.

HASTINGS TRAP TEAM REVIEWS SEASON

The Hastings Trap Team finished 7th in the Nationals competition last weekend in Mason, Michigan. Head Coach Earl Robinson joined us to talk about it and the season as a whole.

Click here to listen

MINNESOTA WILD STREET HOCKEY SERIES IS COMING TO HASTINGS

In a late night news dump, the Minnesota Wild revealed their locations for the 2022 Street Hockey Series: Twin Cities Edition. On July 28, the Wild will entertain fans at Hastings High School from 6:00-9:00 where they will have street hockey, yard games, food and beverages, mascots and more. The free admission event is open to the public. Hastings joins Apple Valley, Minneapolis, White Bear Lake, Plymouth, Woodbury and Eden Prairie as metro locations selected. The Wild made the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past year where they lost in the first round to St. Louis in 6 games, while the Hastings hockey team fell to Lakeville North in overtime in the Sectional semifinals. We will have more information on this later on, and we have reached out to the Wild for comment.

HASTINGS TRAP TAKES 7TH AT NATIONALS

This past weekend, the Hastings Raiders Trap Team went to Mason, Michigan to participate in Nationals action. They were one of 230 teams that participated in the event, and the Raiders came home 7th overall. The Raiders were represented by Tanner Lamb, Brock Mosher, Luke Nadeau, Brennen Kieffer, and Cody Frandrup.We Will have more information in a later update.

SPRING SPORTS SEASON: TOP MOMENTS

The Spring Sports Season in Hastings and Prescott officially ended last week with the Trapshooting championships for Prescott, where the Cardinals finished in 18th. This gives us an opportunity to take a look back at some of the more memorable moments of the season

Hastings Baseball Impresses In Stoffel's Maiden Voyage

The first year of the Ryan Stoffel era did not disappoint, as the Raiders went 18-4, and won a section game for the first time in awhile. The Raiders wins included a sweep of eventual state tourney team Saint Thomas Academy, and a high flying doubleheader against Tartan, where the Raiders had 5 home runs over the two games. One of the bigger wins came against Park, another team that made it to state. The Raiders opened their season against a Park team that returned many pieces from a state bid the year prior, and beat them 7-1 on the road, making a statement in the process. Hastings also had a memorable game against South Saint Paul, where, after scoring six straight to take a 5 run lead, saw the game get tied again, only to explode for 10 runs in the 5th inning to run rule the Packers 20-10. The Raiders will return 8 starters next season, and have several other players in the pipeline.

Hastings State Representatives

The Raiders had several representatives in individual sports, with 10 athletes qualifying for either the Track or Golf state tournaments. Johnny Bezdicek set multiple school records for the Raiders in track this year as well, as Coach Jason Koch's Boys' team finished, in Koch's own words, a 'surprising' second at sectionals.

Prescott Success

The Cardinals' Softball team fell a bit short of their goal this year, but the team still had a remarkable year. Taylor Graf pitched a gem in a regular season win over Baldwin-Woodville, in what was the KDWA Sports Staff’s favorite softball win of the year. Individual achievements were also aplenty for the Cardinals. Liz Rohl became the first Prescott athlete to ever be named a state WIAA Scholar Athlete, Ava Salay won the Wisconsin Match Play Tournament, several athletes advanced to Track states, and many players were named all conference or even all state in their respective sports.

It was another fun and entertaining season of sports, and the fall season is right around the corner.

SPRING SPORTS SEASON: TOP MOMENTS

The Spring Sports Season in Hastings and Prescott officially ended last week with the Trapshooting championships for Prescott, where the Cardinals finished in 18th. This gives us an opportunity to take a look back at some of the more memorable moments of the season

Hastings Baseball Impresses In Stoffel’s Maiden Voyage

The first year of the Ryan Stoffel era did not disappoint, as the Raiders went 18-4, and won a section game for the first time in awhile. The Raiders wins included a sweep of eventual state tourney team Saint Thomas Academy, and a high flying doubleheader against Tartan, where the Raiders had 5 home runs over the two games. One of the bigger wins came against Park, another team that made it to state. The Raiders opened their season against a Park team that returned many pieces from a state bid the year prior, and beat them 7-1 on the road, making a statement in the process. Hastings also had a memorable game against South Saint Paul, where, after scoring six straight to take a 5 run lead, saw the game get tied again, only to explode for 10 runs in the 5th inning to run rule the Packers 20-10. The Raiders will return 8 starters next season, and have several other players in the pipeline.

Hastings State Representatives

The Raiders had several representatives in individual sports, with 10 athletes qualifying for either the Track or Golf state tournaments. Johnny Bezdicek set multiple school records for the Raiders in track this year as well, as Coach Jason Koch’s Boys’ team finished, in Koch’s own words, a “surprising” second at sectionals.

Prescott Success

The Cardinals' Softball team fell a bit short of their goal this year, but the team still had a remarkable year. Taylor Graf pitched a gem in a regular season win over Baldwin-Woodville, in what was the KDWA Sports Staff’s favorite softball win of the year. Individual achievements were also aplenty for the Cardinals. Liz Rohl became the first Prescott athlete to ever be named a state WIAA Scholar Athlete, Ava Salay won the Wisconsin Match Play Tournament, several athletes advanced to Track states, and many players were named all conference or even all state in their respective sports.

It was another fun and entertaining season of sports, and the fall season is right around the corner.