Region 7B champion Southern Hills of Hot Springs opened the South Dakota Class B American Legion baseball tournament with a 13-1 loss to host team Platte-Geddes on Wednesday in Platte.

Hayden Kuiper, Keith Cutler and Tommy Holleman each had two hits to lead Platte-Geddes, which scored seven runs in the first two innings, then added a six-run outburst in the fourth to take a 13-0 lead.

Hot Springs Post 71 scored its only run in the top of the fifth before the game ended on the mercy rule.

Christopher Housley and Ed Lesnick managed the only two hits of the night for Hot Springs.

In other Class B tournament games, Groton outslugged Chamberlain, 18-17; Alexandria blanked Garretson, 10-0; and Vermillion downed Big Stone City, 14-10.

Southern Hills plays Garretson at noon MDT today in an elimination game.

Stevens' Brandli signs with Northern State

Northern State University head men's and women's cross country coach Kevin Bjerke has announced the signing of six incoming student-athletes that will join the Wolves' cross country program starting this fall.

Jessica Brandli, a 2009 Rapid City Stevens graduate, joins the Wolves after a breakthrough 2009 track season in which she lowered her times in every event she ran, helping her qualify for the state Class AA track and field meet in all three distance events.

Rush hockey team introduces Miners' Club

The Rapid City Rush have introduced the Taco Bell's Rush Miners Club. Membership costs $20 and $15 for current season ticket holders and with a $5 discount for multi-member families.

Miners get a free Miners Club T-shirt, a membership card with a Rush lanyard, a private autograph party with the Rush and Nugget, a locker room tour and a Rush bus tour, a birthday card from the Rush, among other deals.

For more information on the Miners Club, go to www.rapidcityrush.com.

Christensen, Hay will go to national meet

Colette Christensen and Madison Hay will advance to the USATF Junior Olympic national track meet in North Carolina at the end of the month.

Christensen won a third-place finish in the triple jump at the Region 8 Junior Olympic USA Track & Field Championships in Omaha, Neb., on July 9-12. She also qualified for finals in the long jump, pentathlon and high jump.

Madison Hay won second place in the 200-meter hurdles with a time of 30.81 seconds.