Lots O’ Stuff
Williamson matches career high, other area grad updates
This edition of Lots O’ Stuff contains nothing but updates on local graduates, either on the professional or collegiate level.
That is, other than our usual Fun Fact and Something Completely Different features.
Matches career high
Martin County West graduate Brandon Williamson matched a career high tonight (Monday) as he went 6.2 innings for the third time in his career in Miami.
The Cincinnati Reds left-hander allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four. He threw 93 pitches, 59 for strikes.
Williamson was the winning pitcher to even his record at 1-1. Cincinnati led 1-0 when he left the game and won the game 2-0.
After starting the game with a strikeout Williamson walked the second batter he faced. He then retired 10 straight batters.
After a 1-2-3 fifth inning he retired the first two hitters he faced in the sixth before Augustin Ramirez tripled. Williamson fanned Jakob Marsee to end the inning.
In the seventh, Miami got an infield single to lead off the inning. Williamson recorded a strikeout and a fly out to center field and was pulled from the game.
It was the fourth straight win for the Reds and puts their record at 7-3, a half-game behind 7-2 Milwaukee in the National League Central.
After playing three vs. Miami the Reds have a pair of three-game home series vs. the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants before visiting Minnesota for a three-game series against the Twins at Target Field April 17-19.
Look for more on Williamson’s win on Tuesday.
College updates
Eli Anderson, a Fairmont High School graduate, is a senior outfielder at Purdue.
He’s hitting .346 (37-107) with six doubles and one triple, Anderson has 16 runs batted in and is 12-for-16 on stolen base attempts.
The Boilermakers are 21-10 overall, 9-6 in the Big 10. They host Bradley in a nonconference game Tuesday and play a three-game series at Northwestern this weekend.
Fairmont grad Landen Meyerdirk is a junior outfielder at Minnesota Morris. He’s hitting .328 (20-64) with two doubles, one triple and one double. Meyerdirk has 10 RBI and is 19-20 in stolen bases.
The Cougars are 8-11, 4-2 in the UMAC. They’re scheduled to host North Central Wednesday and then play three at Northwestern (MN) this weekend.
Tegan Livesay, who played her senior season of high school softball at Fairmont, is now a junior pitcher at North Dakota.
She has a 9-5 record with a 3.14 earned run average. In 80.1 innings she has allowed 46 runs (36 earned) on 71 hits, walking 37, hitting 3 and striking out 65.
The Fighting Hawks are 22-14 overall, 0-3 in the Summit League. UND plays three games at Kansas City this weekend.
Jackson County Central graduate Evan Paplow, a sophomore at Iowa Central Community College, finished 22nd in the 1500 meters at the Huskers Spring Kickoff at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. His time was 4:20.30.
The Tritons are at the Grizzly Gold Invitational hosted by Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas Friday and Saturday.
Fairmont graduate Oliver Tordsen, a freshman at Dakota State, compete on consecutive days recently.
On March 30 at the Wildcat Open in Wayne, Neb., he improved his personal secord in the discus to 177 feet, 6 inches as he placed second. That mark is the second best in DSU history behind his older brother and former NAIA All-American Connor Tordsen, who has the school record of 178-8 in 2023.
Tordsen was also seventh in the shot put (48-7.25).
With favorable weather on March 30, Dakota State was able to put together a last-minute home meet as it hosted South Dakota State in the Steinhorn/Beacom Twilight meet in Madison.
Tordsen won the shot put (51-10) and placed third in the discus (167-2).
DSU is scheduled to host the Buzz Stevenson Twilight in Madison Wednesday and compete in the Sioux City Relays Friday and Saturday.
Martin County West graduate Hunter Schmidt, a sophomore at Mid America Nazarene University, placed 49th out of 63 golfers at the Dalton State College Invitational at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Georgia.
He had rounds of 78, 83 and 77. The Pioneers were fifth out of 12 teams.
MNU is playing in the Park University Spring Classic at The National Golf Club of Kansas City today (Monday) and Tuesday.
un fact
In 1954, the Cincinnati Reds officially changed their name to the “Redlegs” to avoid association with communism during the Cold War-era Red Scare. They changed back to “Reds” in 1959.
Reports on April Fools’ Day of the death of the world’s oldest living land animal - a 193-year-old tortoise called Jonathan - were greatly exaggerated.
Jonathan is still kicking - albeit slowly - on the island of St. Helena.
“It was a hoax,” Anne Dillon, head of communications on the island, told The Associated Press. “I can just assure you that he is very much alive.”
News of the Seychelles giant tortoise’s demise spread rapidly on social media on Wednesday.
An account on X, falsely claiming to be by Joe Hollins, a veterinarian who had worked with the reptile on the island in the south Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil, said he was heartbroken to announce the death of the “gentle giant” that “outlived empires, wars, and generations of humans.”
The post quickly accumulated nearly 2 million views through Thursday, mostly an outpouring of condolences.
But Hollins later said on Facebook that he didn’t even have an X account and something more sinister was afoot.
“There is a hoax - not even an April Fool - going around,” Hollins wrote. “The hoaxer is asking for crypto donations. It’s a con.”
Guinness World Records lists Jonathan as the oldest living land animal and the oldest tortoise ever. He was believed to be about 50 years old when he was brought to St. Helena in 1882.
The St. Helena government sent a photo of Jonathan taken Thursday of him roaming the grounds of the governor’s residence on the island best known as the place Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled following his defeat by the British at Waterloo in 1815. It was the place where the former emperor of France died in 1821, about a decade before Jonathan is believed to have taken the first steps in what would become a very long life.
From The Associated Press
