Standing by in sports, Sun. May 24

Hanson signs with Sioux Falls

Parker Hanson has signed with the Sioux Falls Sunfish , an expansion team in the 10-team summer college baseball Expedition League .

Hanson was a 2015 graduate of Hawley high school and a standout for the Detroit Lakes Post 15 American Legion baseball team prior to his collegiate career.

Hanson played his freshman year at Dakota County Technical College before transferring for two years to the University of Minnesota - Crookston.

As a sophomore he went 4-3 with a 4.93 ERA in 69.1 innings pitched with 46 strikeouts. He led the Golden Eagles in innings pitched with 56.2 to go along with a 3.02 ERA and 38 strikeouts his junior season.

His first stint in summer college baseball was with the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods league in 2018 before moving on to Augustana University in Sioux Falls for his senior season.

He started one game and made three appearances on the mound for the Vikings going 1-0 in 9.1 innings pitched with a 1.93 ERA, 11 strikeouts and a .156 opponent batting average before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. He was named to the Spring NSIC All-Academic team.

Hanson was an all-conference performer during his sophomore, junior and senior high school seasons with the Nuggets.

The Sunfish are an expansion team in the college summer Expedition League with teams from four states and Manitoba: Badlands Big Sticks - Dickinson, North Dakota; Pierre Trappers - Pierre, South Dakota; Souris Valley Sabre Dogs - Minot, North Dakota; Spearfish Sasquatch - Spearfish, South Dakota; Wheat City Whiskey Jacks - Brandon, Manitoba, Canada; Casper Horseheads - Casper, Wyoming; Fremont Moo - Fremont, Nebraska; Hastings Sodbusters - Hastings, Nebraska; Sioux Falls Sunfish - Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Western Nebraska Pioneers - Gering, Nebraska.

Pine to Palm, Resorters open registration

Hopes for live sports in the area this summer got a boost when both the Pine to Palm golf tournament and the Resorters Invitational joined The Birchmont in opening registration.

Some Pine to Palm qualifying times and match play flights have been eliminated to help comply with social distancing guidelines.

Match play will consist of 312 qualifiers. There will be 64 players in Championship Flight; 48 in three name glights (Pine, Palm, and Melissa); 16 in Mid-Am; 112 in Numbered Flights (1-14); 16 in Senior Championship; 32 in four Senior Name Flights (Pelican, Eunice, Lizzie, and Maud); 16 in Super Senior Championship and 8 in one Super Senior Name Flight (Pearl).

More information on the tournament will be published as the date of play nears: Aug. 10-16.

Basketball coaching openings

The Detroit Lakes girls basketball head coach opening was one of four remaining Mid-State vacancies, according to a report by Steve Bruce (@mnbuckets). Activities director Rob Nielsen filled the position with assistant Rachel Johnson , pending board approval, this week.

Staples-Motley is still looking for both a boys and girls head coach. Pequot Lakes has a girls opening.

The recent hire of Josh Meader in Park Rapids erased another conference opening.

Around the area there are two jobs in Moorhead, the Spuds girls head job and Park Christian girls. The Spuds recently replaced former Laker Tyler Bormann on the boys side with former Spud Matt Ellingson. Bormann was hired as the 12th head coach of the Concordia Cobbers’ men’s team in April. Johnson was an assistant under Bormann two seasons ago.

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley has a boys opening and East Grand Forks is looking to fill the girls head job.

In Section 8AAA, Bemidji is looking for a new boys coach after Travis Peterson resigned this spring .