Dakota loses hard-fought state semifinal game to LeRoy in extra innings
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Forbes
14 hours ago
- Forbes
Jim Dandy Results: Sovereignty Wins, Baeza Places, And Hill Road Shows
Immediately after Sovereignty's decisive win over Baeza and Hill Road in the Jim Dandy stretch, trainer William Mott was, for a reserved South Dakotan, emotive. His athlete had just brought one of his usual deep closing runs to take the win, and in fact for a few strides he was running dead last as he and jockey Junior Alvarado fired up. The run was not simply in time to hit the wire at a mile-and-an-eighth; it had been something else, too, bringing the trainer a flash look of confirmation that he and the team had been on the right track since the June 7 Belmont, nearly two months back. "Hopefully he comes back good and trains as well for the Travers. We're trying to get ready for the Travers and that's the main objective for everybody,' the trainer said. Quite a lot of the playing public thought he would pull it off, perhaps not with the cliff-hanging moment he provided, but still. Going off at an expectedly low 1-2, Sovereignty paid $3.00. For his part, Junior Alvarado was never in doubt.


Chicago Tribune
18-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Let go by Philadelphia Phillies, Providence's Dakota Kotowski powers up for Windy City ThunderBolts. ‘Really cool.'
When he was released last summer by the Philadelphia Phillies organization, Providence graduate Dakota Kotowski made a quick decision. He wasn't done yet. Kotowski decided his love for baseball was still strong and he wasn't ready to give up. He quickly went back to training, then signed with the Windy City ThunderBolts for the 2025 season. 'I got released, and the first thing I did was call my parents,' Kotowski said. 'They picked me up from the airport the next day. It's kind of a life-changing thing, obviously, but I didn't really have time to be sad. I knew I wanted to keep playing.' In Crestwood, Kotowski is showcasing the power that originally sparked the interest of major-league organizations. As the second half of the Frontier League season was set to begin Friday, Kotowski led the T-Bolts with 12 home runs and was tied for the team lead in RBIs with 35. Before any of that could happen, though, Kotowski had to sit down and reflect on where he wanted his life to go. Kotowski spent three seasons in the Phillies organization. His highest level reached was with Class-A Clearwater, where he played 71 games. Overall, in those three seasons, he hit .253 with 24 homers and 79 RBIs. The Phillies released him in July 2024. He considered his options but decided to play on. 'I asked my mom and dad if they thought I should do it and they said, 'Dakota, you're young and you're single and you can only do this once,'' Kotowski said. 'That's where I kind of took the green light on the opportunity and I'm thankful I did. 'There's nothing like being between these two white lines. I get to play a kid's game and that's all you can ask for.' Doing it close to home is a bonus. Kotowski played in college at Missouri State and was on Florida-based teams each of the last three seasons. 'It's a new experience,' Kotowski said. 'I've been away from home since I was 18 years old. My sisters are growing up. I'm the oldest of four kids, so it's cool to get to see them do a lot of things that I missed out on before and seeing them grow up is really cool.' While Kotowski has put together plenty of big swings for the T-Bolts, his ability to consistently make contact has been an issue. He went into the All-Star break with 74 strikeouts in 189 at-bats and was hitting .201. Windy City hitting coach Kevin Santiago, who was also recently named the new head coach at Chicago Christian, said the T-Bolts staff knows what to expect from Kotowski. Now, it's just a matter of refinement. 'We told him that this is the kind of guy you are,' Santiago said. 'There's going to be some swing-and-miss. You're going to chase a little bit. But just stick to who you are and you're going to run balls out of the park. 'He's a great guy. He puts in the work every day. It's just a matter of knowing his strengths, a pitcher's strengths and figuring out how we want to attack. Dakota can definitely change a game with his power.' That ability to hit the ball out of the park is what continues to give Kotowski hope that he can earn another shot with a major-league organization. 'I've been blessed to have the frame that I do,' he said. 'I'm 6-5, 250 pounds. You never know when you're going to figure it out, and if you do that, there are a lot of people who would like to have a bigger guy that can play the outfield. 'I try to look at everything from a positive standpoint and not a negative one. Take it day by day and see what happens.'


New York Post
17-06-2025
- New York Post
Surfing legend's 20-year-old son ‘fighting for his life' after being pinned between cars in devastating accident
The 20-year-old son of Pipeline surfing great Shawn Briley is 'fighting for his life' in the ICU after he was 'pinned between two vehicles' in Hawaii over the weekend and 'sustained serious and extensive injuries.' Dakota Briley, a surfer based on the North Shore of Oahu, was struck on the side of the island's Kamehameha Highway and hospitalized with 'multiple fractures in his legs, pelvis, ribs, and skull,' according to a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the athlete, who also endured 'unthinkable injuries' to his spine. 4 Dakota Briley, the son of Pipeline surfing great Shawn Briley, is 'fighting for his life' following a devastating incident over the weekend. Ryder Briley/Instagram 4 The young surfer is currently hospitalized. Ryder Briley/Instagram 'Please continue to pray for our Dakota, he's in really rough shape and needs a miracle from god,' Dakota's brother Ryder wrote in an Instagram Story Monday. 'His ribs have been crushed, his spine is severed and broken in multiple places, the back of his skull has been crushed, fractured in over 8 places, from the hip down his legs have been crushed. He needs a miracle, please pray for God to make him whole again.' As of Tuesday, more than $51,000 has been raised, surpassing the fundraiser's original goal of $50,000. 4 Dakota Briley, pictured here in 2023 and tagged on Instagram at the far left, with his family. Natasha Briley/Instagram 4 A GoFundMe has been set up on Dakota Briley's behalf. Ryder Briley/Instagram '[Dakota's] incredible medical team were able to stabilize his legs and are now working tirelessly on multiple surgeries to the rest of his body,' the GoFundMe page noted. '… Our hope is that God performs a miracle.' Ryder added in a separate Instagram slide Monday that Dakota is 'the strongest person' he knows. 'This boy is a true warrior, the strongest person I know, so stubborn, I know you're not going anywhere,' he wrote of Dakota. 'Keep fighting for us.' The elder Briley won the Tavarua Tube Classic in 1995.