The Sioux Falls Canaries (21-25) rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to pull ahead 7-4 and defeat the Grand Prairie AirHogs (21-25) by the same score on Friday night at QuikTrip Park. Canaries shortstop Tim Hutting drove in three runs for the Birds in the victory.
Grand Prairie took the lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Target Field has a target date.
Outdoor baseball is tentatively set to return to Minneapolis on April 12 when the Minnesota Twins play their 2010 home opener against the Boston Red Sox.

The date was contained in a draft schedule for next season that recently was sent to teams and revealed Friday to The Associated Press.

When Chicago would no longer give him a long-term contract, Martin Havlat turned his focus to Minnesota.
The Wild's new right wing checked out his new home arena Friday afternoon, two days after signing a six-year deal worth $30 million.

Havlat spoke recently with Marian Gaborik and wished Minnesota's now-former franchise player well.

The Sioux Falls Canaries (20-25) bid to sweep the Pensacola Pelicans (21-24) failed when the Canaries were defeated 7-3 on Thursday night at Jim Spooner Field. Ken Lup led the Canaries offensively going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
The Pelicans scored in the bottom of the first inning. Luis Guance and Adam Darby opened the inning with back-to-back singles and proceeded to execute a double steal.

Former Stampede forward Chad LaRose signed a two-year contract extension with the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday. The deal will pay LaRose $1.5 million in 2009-10 and $1.9 million in 2010-11.
“Chad has grown into a key player for our franchise,” Hurricanes President Jim Rutherford told Carolinahurricanes.com.

The Minnesota Twins have made another move with their bullpen, bringing up Brian Duensing and sending down Sean Henn.
The Twins said Thursday they will recall the left-handed Duensing from Triple-A Rochester before Friday's game against Detroit. The left-handed Henn was assigned to Rochester, where he'd been pitching before his contract was purchased on May 19.

Kurtiss Riggs isn't pulling any punches.
After building the Storm into the premiere franchise in Indoor Football, the coach says he and his players deserve better.

When the Storm was forced to forfeit five victories as part of a penalty for an insurance violation earlier this season, head coach Kurtiss Riggs felt the league had taken things too far.

The Sioux Falls Canaries (20-24) matched a season high with 18 hits, and scored 11 runs off those hits for a 11-5 victory over the Pensacola Pelicans (19-25) on Wednesday night at Jim Spooner Field. Jared Lemieux led the Canaries going 4-for-4 with two walks and a home run.
For the second straight game, the Canaries got ahead by scoring in the first inning.

On the day Marian Gaborik left Minnesota for good, the Wild signed free-agent right wing Martin Havlat to fill the big hole in their lineup The Wild signed Havlat, Chicago's leading scorer last season with 77 points, to a six-year contract late Wednesday night.

Gaborik signed earlier with the New York Rangers, leaving the Wild for a five-year, $37.5 million deal.

Joe Mauer went 3-for-3, raising his average to .392 and backing pitcher Glen Perkins in the Minnesota Twins' 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

After walking in the first inning, Mauer stroked three consecutive singles, driving in one run and scoring another as the Twins completed a 6-3 trip.

The Sioux Falls Skyforce announced today that minor league coaching veteran Duane Ticknor has been named assistant coach for the 2009-10 season. He comes to Sioux Falls after serving as head coach of the Dakota Wizards the past two seasons.
“We are extremely excited to add Duane Ticknor to our coaching staff,” said first-year head coach Tony Fritz.

Sioux Falls Canaries Closer Kris Regas has been named the American Association Pitcher of the Month for the month of June by PA-Sportsticker, the league’s official statistician. In a month where the Canaries went 14-13, Regas was 1-0 with 11 saves and a 0.60 ERA.
“Kris is a big part of the reason we were over .500 in the month of June,” said Canaries Manager Steve Shirley.

The Storm were officially eliminated from the playoffs Monday after the Indoor Football League decided not to ban Omaha and River City from the postseason, for late payment of league dues.
The $25-hundred fine each team received pales in comparison to the punishment Sioux Falls received earlier this season for violating worker's compensation coverage.

Meanwhile, former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat made a stop in Sioux Falls Tuesday, as the featured speaker for the Strongroots Education Foundation's "Midwest SportsFest."
The 16-time Gold Glove Winner told fans of all ages to chose their heroes wisely.

" think that's what was the big influence on my life and my career is that my parents were my role models.

Justin Morneau homered for the third straight game and Scott Baker labored through five tough innings, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over the hapless Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Baker (6-6) fought through a high pitch count to keep Minnesota in a tight game early and the Twins took advantage of another defensive miscue by the Royals for the go-ahead run in the sixth inning.

The Sioux Falls Canaries (19-24) scored five first inning runs to defeat the Pensacola Pelicans (20-23) on Tuesday night at Jim Spooner Field. Noel Baca threw six strong innings, allowing just two runs, in leading the Canaries past the team that cut him at the end of pre-season camp.
The Canaries scored all they needed and then some in a big first inning.

The Kansas City Chiefs have signed their fifth-round draft pick, offensive tackle Colin Brown.
Terms were not disclosed Tuesday.

Brown earned Big 12 honors as a junior and senior at Missouri, which finished both of those seasons ranked in the top 10 nationally in total offense.

The Minnesota Vikings have signed fifth-round draft pick Jasper Brinkley.
Brinkley is a linebacker from South Carolina. He received second-team All-SEC honors last year after recording 65 tackles with the Gamecocks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed on Tuesday.

Brinkley is expected to compete for time as a backup linebacker and be a big contributor on special teams.

On Wednesday, June 24th at the Indoor Football League’s home office, located in Richmond, Virginia, members of the local media were informed that SportsQuest, a multi level sports organization, has signed a letter of intent with the IFL to bring the league’s 21st franchise to the city. It is the second such expansion announcement by the league in as many weeks.

Developments that teased the Sioux Falls Storm with an unexpected trip to the playoffs yanked that chance away Monday.  
Earlier this season, the Indoor Football League took away five of the Storm's victories for violating worker's compensation coverage, effectively keeping them out of post-season contention.  But an investigation into two more IFL teams could have changed that.

The two teams in question are the Omaha Beef and the River City Rage.  Jeff Sprowls owns both teams and confirmed to KELOLAND Sports that his teams were the ones under investigation.

Sprowls says the IFL informed him last week that his league dues were late.