Three enter state’s Hall of Fame

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Darin Erstad gives his speech during the induction ceremony into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night at the Civic Center. Rick Helling (right) and Ed Beyer also were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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Ed Beyer, Darin Erstad and Rick Helling were inducted into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night at the Jamestown Civic Center.

A nice crowd was on hand for the event, which featured a silent auction prior to the induction ceremony.

Beyer, the well-known boys basketball coach for 37 years at Hillsboro, amassed 688 wins during his career, which included four state championships. He led the Burros to an unbeaten season in 1980-81. He also was an assistant football coach and head baseball coach in his time at Hillsboro.

Erstad, a Jamestown native, was a two-time American League All-Star during his 14-year baseball career. The No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft, Erstad had 1,697 hits during his career, finishing with a career average of .282 with 124 home runs, 699 RBIs and 179 stolen bases. He was a key member of the Angels 2002 World Series team, catching the final out of Game 7 against the San Francisco Giants.

He is currently the head baseball coach at his alma mater, the University of Nebraska. He led the Cornhuskers to a 35-23 record in his first season on the job.

Helling piled up 93 wins during his 14-year career, spending the majority of his career with the Texas Rangers, who made him a first-round draft pick out of Stanford in 1992.

The Lakota native was recruited to play football at UND, but baseball eventually won out.

Helling pitched for team USA in the 1992 Olympics. He finished his career with a 91-83 record and 4.68 ERA. He won a career-high 20 games in 1998 for the Rangers.

He was a part of two World Series championship teams with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and 2003.

Helling currently is a special assistant to Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Michael Weiner.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, baseball, hof