The family that trained Ripken The Bat Dog — best known for fetching bats and football kicking tees during sporting events in North Carolina — says the black Labrador has died.

In a Facebook post Friday, the O’Donnell family said Ripken died Wednesday due to complications “from a serious undiagnosed medical condition.”

The 8-year-old Ripken’s history in the spotlight included retrieving bats for Durham Bulls minor-league baseball games and kicking tees during NC State college football games at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Ripken participated in a ceremonial puck drop for the NHL Stadium Series outdoor game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals in 2023 at Carter-Finley.

His last appearance was retrieving a kicking tee during a Dec. 22 home game for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

The O’Donnell family wrote that Ripken “was happiest when he was surrounded by people and making friends (and maybe eating a hot dog or two).”

The Bulls, the triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, NC State and the Panthers all honored Ripken in social-media posts Friday.

The Bulls wrote Ripken “put smiles on so many adoring fans’ faces,” while NC State thanked Ripken “for bringing so much joy to Wolfpack Nation.”

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ohio State senior midfielder Michael Adedokun and North Carolina junior forward Kate Faasse were voted Hermann Trophy winners Friday as the top college soccer players in the United States.

Adedokun had 11 goals and 11 assists as Ohio State reached the College Cup semifinals. He was selected by Montreal with the 13th overall pick in last month’s Major League Soccer draft.

Faasse scored an NCAA-leading 20 goals, including four in the NCAA tournament as the Tar Heels won their 23rd title.

Voting by coaches is conducted annually by the Missouri Athletic Club.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – For the second time in three years, Wilmington, North Carolina topped metro areas across the country when it came to where Americans moved in 2024, according to a study by United Van Lines.

The company released its 48th Annual Movers Study this week, with Wilmington topping the list of Metropolitan Statistical Areas with an 83% of moves being inbound and 17% outbound, ahead of Springfield (Missouri), Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) and Flagstaff (Arizona). You can see the list of highest-ranking cities by clicking here to visit the United Van Lines website. Wilmington also topped the same study in 2022.

When it comes to the most popular states seeing more inbound moves, the UVL study found “..West Virginia was the state with the highest percentage of inbound migration (66%), among states experiencing more than 250 moves* with United Van Lines”, according to a news release. North Carolina came in at #5 for most inbound moves. For the seventh year in a row, the study lists New Jersey with having more residents than any other state moving out, at 67% outbound.

According to the news release, the 2024 study “…shows for the first time in decades, the primary driver for moving interstate was a desire to be closer to family (28%)” than other reasons.

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