Royce Lewis has been tormenting opposing pitchers since his return earlier this month. It seems Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are now joining in on the fun.

The Twins’ big trio, led on Thursday by Correa, combined for eight hits in the team’s 6-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night at Target Field.

Correa entered the day with 11 hits in his past 18 at-bats, highlighted by five on Wednesday. His follow up act was a three-hit day, this one punctuated by a two-run home run in the seventh inning that helped give the Twins a comfortable cushion.

That home run earned him the honors of being the first to rock the Twins’ new celebration get-up: a Prince-themed vest with a fedora and guitar, appropriately introduced on Prince Night at Target Field. The new celebration is said to be the brainchild of starter Pablo López, who also thought up the since-retired fishing vest that the Twins donned after hitting home runs last year.

Correa’s first hit was an infield single and his second, which came in the fourth, broke open a game that had been tied in the third.

The shortstop also scored a run in the second, racing home to score on Buxton’s single up the middle, which tied the game at the time. Buxton, who had one hit on Wednesday and a pair of them — including a home run — on Tuesday, finished the day with three on Thursday, also reaching on a walk in his last plate appearance.

And just for good measure, Lewis added a pair of his own, scoring on Correa’s late home run.

That trio helped give starter Joe Ryan (5-5) the run support he needed during his seven-inning effort.

Ryan allowed a leadoff walk in the second and then promptly served up a two-run blast to Tyler Soderstrom on a splitter. But then Ryan settled in, giving up just two more hits in his start. It’s his fourth start of his last five in which Ryan threw seven innings.

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It’s scientifically impossible to quantify, but maybe a first-inning leaping catch by its left fielder was simply what St. Thomas Academy needed to keep its magical turnaround going.

However, that charmed stretch crashed hard late.

Jack Anderson hit a two-run single to cap a three-run seventh inning, and top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s rallied past the Cadets 6-5 in a Class 3A baseball quarterfinal on Thursday at Chaska Athletic Park.

“That’s Red Knights baseball,” said Ford Stoen, who had one of the four straight singles in the seventh for Benilde-St. Margaret’s. “We’ve had so many wins like that. We’re so clutch. We hit all the way through.”

The loss stings, no doubt, but for St. Thomas Academy players and coaches there is plenty for which to be proud considering where this team was just a few weeks ago.

The Cadets (12-13) started the season 6-1 before losing 11 of their final 13 regular season games. Seeded fourth in their section, they won four straight games.

Coach Bobby Thompson said his team had two choices against the 21-3 Red Knights: roll over against the No. 1 seed or compete with your best effort. “I’m incredibly proud of them today.”

“We put our best foot forward tonight, and that’s all you can ask for,” said Michael Stavseth, who had a web gem to save a couple runs in the first for St. Thomas Academy.

Already up 1-0 in the first, Anderson crushed a J.D. Dobis offering that appeared to have home run written all over it. However, Stavseth made a highlight catch by leaping at the wall, fully extending and reaching his glove over the yellow line and snagging the ball.

A standing ovation came from the Cadets faithful; Red Knights players applauded from their dugout, too.

“There were hitting them deep on J.D. early in the first inning and I just kind of stood back and envisioned a robbery. In my head I’m thinking that’d be crazy because I never robbed one like that before. Twenty seconds later, he hits one off the bat. I just sprint to the wall, find it, and I don’t really know. It was a dream really,” Stavseth said. “That catch kept us in the game for essentially the whole game.”

“Tip of the cap to him,” Anderson said of his good friend, “but I definitely got him back at the end of the game,”

Dobis, a University of Minnesota recruit, allowed five hits and struck out seven in six innings. Of his 103 pitches, 63 were strikes but his pitch count kept him on the bench in the seventh.

“We were on him to start, but he’s one damn good pitcher and one of my very, very close friends,” Anderson said. “Fun to compete against him.”

Three straight singles with one out in the seventh got Benilde with one before Anderson lined a single into right-center and the celebration was on near the first-base dugout.

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When the section tournaments started, Lakeville North called the playoffs a “second season.”

“It was like a rebirth, a new start,” junior attackman Carson Piscitiello said, “and it gave us new life.”

The playoffs were a chance to make amends for what the Panthers felt were regular season mistakes that led to four losses amid a hyper-difficult schedule. Junior midfielder Lane Johnson got healthy and returned to the lineup for sections, and off the Panthers went.

They haven’t looked back since.

The third-seeded Panthers downed second-seeded Stillwater 17-5 in the state semifinals on Thursday at Chaska High School. The defending champs are back in Saturday’s state final, where they’ll duel top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s (17-1) at 6 p.m. at Eden Prairie High School after the Red Knights beat Prior Lake in the other semifinal.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s beat the Panthers 9-8 in early May.

Four of Lakeville North’s five postseason wins have come by double digits. It led 10-1 at the half Thursday and never let up.

Carson Piscitiello had five goals Thursday — including three in the first quarter — while his brother Blake had three as the Panthers did a ton of damage early from behind the net.

“We knew our matchups, and having Lane Johnson back healthy helped just round out our offense,” Carson said. “And we can be that dangerous when we’re playing well, and we just had to play that way.”

Defensively, the Panthers (14-4) held Stillwater stars Grant Giese and Anderson Wagner scoreless. It was total domination from Lakeville North from start to finish.

“A lot of forced turnovers. I think we came in with some nerves. A lot on the line, going to the state championship,” said Ponies junior midfielder Isaac Johnston, who scored two goals. “We could win that game if we play our best game. I think it just comes down to turnovers.”

It was a learning lesson for the Ponies (15-3), and motivation for the future. Many of Stillwater’s top players will be back next season. A year ago, when Stillwater fell to Mahtomedi in the section final, Johnston said players took a photo of the scoreboard.

“Used it as motivation, came back and won the section championship,” Johnston said. “Now, this year, I think we’re going to come in with the same (ticked) off energy next year when it comes to state, and it’s definitely going to be a different outcome next year.”

The Panthers, meanwhile hope for the same outcome Saturday that they got a year ago.

“When you’ve been there, you have a little more maturity about it. We knew that Stillwater, they needed to take that next step. And, for us, it’s just like, ‘We can do it,’” Carson Piscitiello said. “Having a four-loss regular season, things looked dark for a second. But it’s awesome to be back. One more, one more.”

The largest police association in Minnesota selected an Anoka County sheriff’s deputy as its Officer of the Year for — while on vacation — helping a South Dakota state trooper who’d been shot at.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association will formally honor Deputy Tanner Shipman at its annual convention Saturday.

Anoka County Sheriff’s Deputy Tanner Shipman (Courtesy of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association)

The association announced on Thursday that two St. Paul police sergeants are receiving 2024 Officer of the Year Honorable Mention.

Sgt. Jason Giampolo, a St. Paul officer of 18 years, is being awarded for his work during the past eight years as an investigator with the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The association also is recognizing St. Paul Police Sgt. Cody Blanshan for a December 2022 incident. As officers were looking for domestic assault suspect Howard Peter Holliday Johnson, Blanshan witnessed Johnson attempt to carjack a bystander.

Blanshan struck Johnson with his squad car, in an attempt to get him to stop, and Johnson shot at him and his police partner, authorities have said. The sergeant returned fire and Johnson died. Prosecutors determined Blanshan’s actions were legally justified.

“The innocent carjacking victim, the original victim of the domestic assault, and her children, are all safe thanks to Sgt. Blanshan’s quick and heroic actions,” said Brian Peters, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association executive director.

Shipman, the Officer of the Year, stopped at a convenience store while on vacation in Sturgis, S.D., in August. He saw a man shooting at a South Dakota trooper and trying to leave in the trooper’s squad.

Shipman quickly retrieved his sister-in-law’s handgun and ran to the trooper to assist him. The trooper and Shipman shot the suspect and the man surrendered his weapon. The man recently pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise recognized Shipman’s “bravery, selfless service, concern for others, swift decision-making, and commitment to justice.” He’s been an Anoka County sheriff’s deputy for 18 years.

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