Two drastic changes are happening this spring to the Bishop Ryan softball program.

The Lions named Alec Grothe as their new head coach and they will also be moving down from Class A to Class B competition. Both changes were announced Thursday by Ryan’s Athletic Director Roger Coleman.

Grothe, a Bismarck native, was an assistant coach with the Minot State softball team during the 2017 season. The Beavers went 25-22 overall and finished ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

The Bismarck High graduate also pitched for the Minot State baseball team (2013-16).

“He is a high energy guy and we are excited for him to take over the program,” Coleman said. “He brings a passion for the game, knowledge and experience.”

Grothe replaces Julie Stewart, who moved to Minnesota at the start of the school year.

Ryan, with an 22-12 overall record, finished fourth at the Class A state softball tournament last season and the Lions finished in a three-way tie with Century and Dickinson to earn a share of the WDA regular season title.

They claimed three straight West Region regular season titles from 2013-15, and fell in the Class A state championship game three times in a row to West Fargo from 2012-14.

Yet, Ryan’s roster has shrunk considerably since then. They fielded a team of just 11 players last season.

“With our numbers in the program and with how Class B softball is exploding right now with a lot of new teams, we felt like this would be a good fit for us,” Coleman said.

The Lions had been a part of Class A softball since it was first sanctioned in 2009. Three years later in 2012, Class B was introduced and has continued to grow rapidly.

Class B softball had two regions with 23 teams last season. There have been talks about expanding to four regions with more teams likely to join before the cutoff deadline.

So, with a potential regional realignment ahead, Ryan will have to wait and see how things shake out before getting assigned into a region.

Majettes hockey shuts out

Devils Lake

The Minot High School girls hockey team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 4-0 road victory against Devils Lake Friday night. Maggie Sem scored twice and the Majettes outshot the Firebirds 51-9.

Sem scored early in both the first and third periods. Her first goal, assisted by Dessa Flom and Kaya Shaw, came 32 seconds into the contest. Her second tally, assisted by Paige Ackerman, was even quicker at 25 seconds into the third period.

Flom had her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the first period and Parker Larson scored the final goal of the game.

Majettes goaltender Amber Borkhuis made nine saves in the shutout, while Devils Lake goaltender Molly Black racked up 47 saves in the defeat.

The Majettes are right back at it this afternoon at 2 p.m. with a road game against Grand Forks Central.

Magi wrestling loses first dual of season

The Minot High School wrestling team dropped its first team dual of the season Friday in Sidney, Montana, to Columbia (Idaho) by a score of 43-27.

The Magi (1-1) picked up a majority of their wins in the lower weight classes with Kelby Armstrong (103 pounds, pin), Corey Hooker (126, pin), Brody Armstrong (132, TB-1 5-4) and Jacob Mortensen (152, pin).

Minot’s Elijah Huff was the lone outlier at 285 pounds and he got a pin in the first round of his bout.

The Magi forfeited two matches and Creighton Rudolph pulled out of his match with an injury.

Minot remains in Montana for more wrestling action today.

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