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Email your submissions to sports@minotdailynews.com.

Submission: Todd Larson, Minot

In 2010, the Minot Vistas defeated the Bismarck Governors 8-5 in the North Dakota American Legion State Tournament that was played in Bismarck.

The Vistas actually defeated the Govs twice during the tournament. This was a Minot team that nobody picked to win the state title at the start of the season. But due to hard work, perseverance and an unmatched mental toughness, the Vistas pulled off the upset.

The 2010 championship marked the 5th state title in 10 years (2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2010) for the Vistas.

It was a 10-year stretch that has rarely been matched statewide.

During that stretch, we were as good as anybody in the upper Midwest. The Vistas finished the year with a record of 34-17.

A couple of noteworthy participants in this state tournament were: Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles quarterback as the starting first baseman for the Bismarck Govs) and Matt Strahm (MLB pitcher San Diego Padres as a pitcher for West Fargo).

I’d like to thank all the former Vistas who played for me from 1999-2015. Because of you, the “Vista Tradition” lives on.

Alex’s Tale of the Tape #2,069, Date: Oct. 31, 2019

With no music playing due to technical difficulties, the District 12 volleyball tournament kicked off rather quietly inside the vast Minot Municipal Auditorium.

The top-seeded Our Redeemer’s Knights silenced the No. 8-seeded Surrey Mustangs in a hurry by set scores of 25-6, 25-11, 25-4.

The opening set featured a 13-1 Knights run. Senior middle hitter Annie Folden was causing havoc at the net, and sophomore setter Eden Olson was spreading the ball across the court. She finished with a match-high 29 assists.

After dropping the first set 25-6, Surrey traded points with ORCS up to 7-7 in the second set. The Knights used a 10-1 run after that to pull away, eventually taking the frame at 25-11.

Two aces by sophomore Emily Brugman and a loft kill from Lang mercifully ended the match. Folden led the way with 10 kills, followed by Cheyenne Lang (8), Sydney Popinga (6) and Macy Lindquist (5).

“The first day is always a little bit quiet for all the games,” Olson said. “But it was OK. It got better toward the end. We just have to keep talking it up and having fun on every point.”

Alex’s Tale of the Tape #1,110, Date: May 1, 2018

A combined 19-0 to start the season, so something had to give.

In a clash for first place in the Class A West Region baseball standings, Bismarck Century (12-0) kept its perfect season alive at Corbett Field by ending Minot High’s unbeaten run.

The Patriots took Game 1 in a pitcher’s duel, 3-0, and held off the Magi (9-2) in a more offensive showcase in Game 2, 7-6.

Bismarck starting pitcher Cade Feeney threw a complete-game shutout in Game 1, striking out eight batters.

“He was just pitching strikes,” Minot’s Dylan Vigested said about Feeney. “We had to get our bats going a little more. He was throwing hard and mixing up speeds. But, (if we would have had) a better day hitting, then we would have been fine.”

In Game 2, a pair of errors allowed Century’s Matt Miller to score the first run without the Patriots recording a hit in the top of the second. Minot finished with five errors.

The Magi left the bases loaded in the fifth inning, and the Patriots pounced again to take the lead back for a final time with an RBI groundout by Dawson Weikum in the sixth, 7-6.