SD Amateur Baseball Tournament 2022 by Mitchell Republic

A SupplementSpecialof the 2022

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The exterior of Salo Hall at the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2022 in Lake Norden, S.D.

NORDEN, S.D. — Make your way to Main Street in Lake Norden and to the building with the pair of replica Louisville Slugger bats on the exte riorOpenwall.the door, watch the automatic lights illu minate and witness more than a century’s worth of baseball history in South Dakota come into view.

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“There’sago. almost certainly going to be someone in the hall of fame that you didn’t know was there and that you probably know from over the years,” Lake Norden baseball legend Burt Tulson said. To an outsider, the museum being located in Lake Norden — pop. 550 in Hamlin County — seems like an odd choice. But the reasoning becomes clear inside the walls of Salo Hall, the modest-looking building that houses the state’s baseball artifacts. The building is named for Joe and Hanna Salo, with Joe being the former Lake Norden mayor and the owner of a hotel that previously sat on the site of

“You can go up there with five other baseball players and you don’t leave for three hours because of all of the stories and the good times that are going to come to mind,” said Dan Sabers, presi dent of the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame board of directors. Displays focus on past champions and previ ous teams, plus artifacts such as baseballs, bats and gloves collected from nearly 100 years’ worth of games. More than 275 individuals have been inducted into the hall of fame since its creation 65 years

LAKE

A history of the game preserved

Photos by Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic

HISTORY: Page 4

Decades of South Dakota baseball history lives on in Lake Norden

The South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame is a special place. Not just because it’s rare as a standalone building but because of how it char acterizes what South Dakota baseball entails at nearly every level of the game.

By Marcus Traxler Mitchell Republic

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the current Hall of Fame. Helen Mitchell, Salo’s daughter, donated the building site and provided funds for construction. The expected cost was $47,000, with the SDABA only agreeing to the plan for the hall of fame pro vided there would be no cost to the association for the building. It cost more than $52,000 but Mitch ell covered the entire cost, and amateur baseball’s history had its home. The Hall of Fame is on a multi-year campaign to raise $25,000 to help fund the Lake Norden museum and ensure its future with an endowment. (The museum is open daily during the summer from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and by appointment during the winter. Admission is free and donations are encouraged.)

But as the hall of fame shows, amateur baseball is much older than that. Photos show teams from the 1910s and 1920s and a Castlewood team dating back to the mid-1890s.

MITCHELL • 1301 S. Burr

SPECIAL TO A SMALL TOWN

The region has always been a hotspot for ama teur baseball. About 40 miles to the north is Garden City, which is where two young businessmen orga nized the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Associa tion in 1931. Two years later, the first state amateur baseball tournament was held at Watertown, with Langford winning the title. In the early days of the state tournament, it was open to league champions only, and the tournament was played over five or six days, ending in early September on Labor Day.

HISTORY From Page 3

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Among the professional baseball displays at the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame include the jerseys of South Dakota natives Mark Ellis (left) and Sparky Anderson (right).

“That’s the thing about baseball, there’s history made every day,” Tulson said. “There’s always rosters and stats and old stories that come up every time you talk or think about the game.”

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Decades ago, Lake Norden had a 3,000-seat grand stand at its ballpark and the tradition of baseball has stood the test of time.

A signed baseball from the state’s inaugural amateur baseball tournament in 1933 is on display at the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2022 in Lake Norden, S.D.

Five more members of the hall of fame will be honored at this year’s state tournament and will be formally inducted in Tabor in November at a banquet. That banquet is one of Sabers’ favorite parts of the year, he said, because each individual will have a table where they can bring items and scrapbooks from their career to display.

A Dimock amateur baseball hat is on display at the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2022 in Lake Norden, S.D.

“The stories that come out when those items are on display are really special,” Sabers said. “It’s a great, great thing.”

“Playing ability is always No. 1,” Sabers said. “And you try to recognize guys that have been in it for a long time. If you look at the inductees, they’re the ones that have been in it for their whole life, whether that’s coaching, umpiring, managing the town team. They’re the ones that maintain the field, they’re the ones that raise money to keep their fields looking nice.”

Sabers said the hall of fame continues to work on adding new items to view, including items on South Dakotans who are playing professional baseball and in the majors. Jerseys for Rapid City’s Dave Collins and Mark Ellis are on display, as are Bridgewater’s Sparky Anderson’s Detroit Tigers uniform, Sioux Falls’ Dusty Coleman and former Corsica and Mitchell resident Kerry Ligtenberg’s Baltimore Orioles uniform.

The hall of fame has existed since 1957 but the building itself didn’t become a reality for another 20 years. Ray Antonen, of Lake Norden, was the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association pres ident and wanted to have a physical presence to honor the history of the game in the state. Ray’s son, Rusty, now maintains the hall of fame as curator on a daily basis and was recognized by the SDABA as its Man of the Year in 2021. A wall in the Hall of Fame notes some of the town teams in the northeast part of the state that congregated around the Watertown area. Many of them are long gone — Alsville, Naples, Elrod, Foley, Bemis, Wallace, among others — a remind er of how much amateur baseball has changed.

“We’re just lucky, I think,” Tulson said. “We’ve had some great young players and some families that have really committed themselves to having a strong baseball program here. And then the com munity has been really supportive of the team and our ballpark.”

“There’s 70 years of history of great baseball in Lake Norden,” Sabers said. “And that’s just the stuff that is well documented, because we know it probably goes further back.”

But there are tributes to more than just the base ball games between the lines. There is a tribute to John Martin, a native of Bryant, who worked on the grounds crew of the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. He donated a chunk of artificial turf from the stadium to the hall of fame when the Royals went to turf in 1995. There is Bob Lind’s baseline chalk tool from the 1930s used in the Salem area on a field built by Lind. It’s a long stick with a drum-like container on the end that has serrated holes in it to let out theWithoutchalk. a trip to the hall of fame, few baseball fans might know about the talents of Joe McGov ern — father of George McGovern — who played second base and had the chance to join the National League’s St. Louis Browns but passed it up and went to seminary instead. Or Amanda Clement, of Hudson, who umpired semi-pro baseball in the early 1900s and is considered the state’s first femaleLikelyumpire.fewbaseball fans today realize that North Dakota and South Dakota’s amateur champions had a playoff game between the states’ best. But they did in 1970, won by Aberdeen, with the Calvin Griffith Award — named for the former Minnesota Twins owner who brought the major leagues to the Upper Midwest — on display in the hall of fame.

“It’s something that we want to increase and add to,” Sabers said. “We focus on amateur baseball but the kids that have made pro ball are an import ant part of our displays.”

“There’s so much there and it’s a chance to give all of that old history some life,” Tulson said. “When it’s on display, it keeps on living.” Sabers, of Mitchell, said the selection process is often a difficult one, in part because of the number of players with strong credentials in the game of baseball. The board tries to select five new mem bers each year and members must be nominated to be inducted, with the emphasis being on the person’s amateur baseball impact.

A HISTORY OF THE GAME

Tulson has been there for most of it. He’s been involved with Lake Norden’s town team since 1966 and managed it for nearly five decades.

A team-by-team look at the 32 Class B state baseball qualifiers

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic Alexandria’s Ethan Davis delivers a pitch to home plate during a game earlier this year at Parkston.

AURORA ACES

AKRON (IOWA) REBELS

ALEXANDRIA ANGELS

Akron had a string of five consec utive trips to the Class B state tour nament from 2011 to 2015 and made it to the Class B semifinals in 2015. After qualifying in 2018 and 2019, the Rebels missed the tournament in 2020 but found themselves in it again last year but fell in the first round to Mount Vernon, 13-5. Akron will take on the District 1B champion Milbank Firechiefs at 1 p.m. Thursday.

6 2022 SD STATE AMATEUR BASEBALL TAB

By Mitchell Republic MITCHELL — The march to a state championship begins and ends at Cadwell Park. Five wins in the single-elimination bracket is what it takes to lift the trophy on Championship Sunday at Cadwell Park, which will be Aug. 15. Before then, 32 teams will be in pursuit of that title, starting Wednes day in Mitchell. Here is a team-byteam look at the entire 32-team field:

11AM-2PM11AM-9PM11AM-2PMWEEKENDALLDAYBUFFETSUNDAYBRUNCHBUFFETSTOREHOURSWEEKLYBUFFET&5-8:30PM•••

One of three out-of-state partici pants in this year’s tournament, the Akron Rebels are back in the Class B state tournament for the second year in a row in 2022. Akron was the No. 5 seed in the District 7B tournament and knocked off Elkwood, 16-3, to claim the dis trict’s third and final spot in Mitchell.

The five-time Class B state champs are in the tournament for the 12th year in a row. The Alexandria Angels come to Mitchell at 14-5 and fresh off a Dis trict 5B championship where they beat the Winner/Colome Pheasants to secure their seventh district crown in 10Alexandriayears. is led offensively by Tyson Gau, who is hitting .446 with 20 RBIs, five home runs and 19 runs scored. Cole Wenande is the team’s leader in batting average at .477, Jacob Giles is hitting .370 and has 16 runs scored, while teammate Jerrod Zens has knocked in 15 runs. On the mound, Ethan Davis, the former Dakota Wesleyan pitcher, is the team leader in innings pitched at 49 with 45 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.41. Recent Augustana graduate Jed Schmidt has thrown 33 innings and had 49 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.18, while Tyson Gau has struck out 51 batters in 34 2/3 innings to the tune of a 1.56 Alexandria’sERA. last state title came in 2020, which was the second half of its back-to-back titles and the fifth in eight years, but the Angels have made the semifinals in eight of the last 10 years. In 2021, Alexandria earned wins over Cano va and Volga before dropping a quarter final game against eventual Wessingtonp.m.anotherbeginFlandreau,runner-up5-3.TheAngelswilltheirchasefortitleat7:30ThursdayagainstSprings.

For the first time since 2010, the Aurora Aces will play in the Class B state amateur baseball tournament.

The Aces, who have played in Class A for many years, qualified through the District 1B tournament, clinching their spot in the Class B state tour nament with a 4-2 win over the Cas tlewood Monarchs to reach Mitchell. The Aces last played in the state tour nament in Class A in 2019. A member of the Eastern Dakota League, Aurora is in its second season competing in the Class B playoffs, and were the No. 6 seed in the district playoffs out of seven teams. Curt Anderson was a .345 hitter on the season and led the team in RBIs with seven, while Brandin Heesch hit .344. Anderson led the team in innings pitched with 25 1/3 and had 37 strikeouts. Cameron May had 41 punchouts and a team-best 1.48 ERA in 23 2/3 Cominginnings.inwith a 5-8 record, Aurora will take on Platte at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

CANOVA GANG

CASTLEWOOD MONARCHS

At 11-12, the 2010 state champion Dimock/Emery Raptors qualified for their second consecutive Class B state tournament. The Raptors have been led at the plate by former Mitchell Post 18 standout Peyton Nash, who is hit ting .406 at the plate and has reached base at a rate of .512 for the season and has 28 hits. Fellow former Mitchell standout Sam Michels has hit a team-best three home runs and scored 21 runs this season, while Phil Johnson has the team lead in RBIs with 17. Johnson is the team leader in innings pitched with

DELL RAPIDS MUDCATS

59, followed by Jason Schmidt tossing 41 innings for the season. Johnson has 58 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.32, while Schmidt has 50 strikeouts and a 3.07 ERA. For the state tournament, the Raptors have picked up Caleb Crist from Corsica/Stickney, who pitches at Dakota Wesleyan. In 2021, the Raptors had a pair of one-run wins in the first two rounds of the Class B tourna ment over Castlewood and Milbank, followed by a 7-3 win over the Plankinton Bankers before bowing out in the state semifinals toDimock/EmeryFlandreau. opens the state tourna ment with a different opponent from the Cornbelt League, taking on the Hart ford/Humboldt Gamecocks at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic Dimock/Emery center fielder Peyton Nash reaches for the ball during a amateur baseball game against the Parkston Mudcats on Sunday, July 3, 2022 at Parkston.

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The reigning champs are back to defend their crown. The Dell Rapids Mudcats dominated in the 2021 Class B state tournament. Their slimmest margin of victory was six runs and they won the championship game 16-1 over Cornbelt League foe Flandreau. The Mudcats once again have a pitching staff that leaves opponents envious, with Kris Regas and Dalton Lehnen on the mound. The two shared MVP honors from the 2021 Class B state tournament when they accounted for 37 of Dell Rapids’ 39 innings on the mound and allowed five combined earned runs with 51However,strikeouts.the Mudcats fell to Flandreau in their first game of the District 4B tour nament this season. They followed that up by beating the Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks and Dell Rapids PBR to secure their spot in the tournament. After not making the state tournament in 2018, the Mudcats have experienced a track record of success, making the quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020 before winning the championship last year. They begin their title defense Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Northville Merchants.

The Canova Gang came up just short of a District 4B title, falling to the Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks in the championship game. Still, Canova qualified for the tournament and comes to Mitchell with a record of Riley14-7. Genzlinger is the Gang’s leader in batting average, hitting .382 with 21 RBIs, while Garrett Gassman is hitting .373 and has 30 RBIs.

Cole Gassman leads the team in on-base percent age at .506 and runs scored with 26. Justin Miller led the team with six home runs, with four more from Garrett Gassman. Trey Krier, Derek Miller and Kendall Gassman pace the Gang on the mound, with Krier throwing 50 innings and recording 62 strikeouts to only five walks allowed. In one of the first round’s marquee games from 2021, Canova dropped a 2-0 contest to Alexandria at Cadwell Park. Canova has experienced success in the tournament in years past, though, winning the title in 2009 and 2018, making the semifinals in 2019 and falling in the championship in 2020. This year, Canova opens its tournament with Tabor at 11 a.m. Friday.

The Castlewood Monarchs took down the Clark Traders, 6-3, to punch their ticket to Mitchell. Castlewood broke a three-year drought and was in the Class B state tournament in 2021 but bowed out after dropping its first game, 4-3, to Dimock/Emery. In the clinching game for the Monarchs, Kyler Tvedt tossed six innings and gave up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Tvedt and Kellan Benck have been among the Monarchs’ key pitchers this season. The Monarchs will play in the final first round against Kimball/White Lake at 1 p.m. Sunday.

DIMOCK/EMERY RAPTORS

After having a 12-year streak in the state tourna ment come to an end in 2021, the Bluejays return to the 32-team tournament this season.

The Cardinals first game of the 2022 tournament is at 11 a.m. Sunday against Menno.

The Freeman Blacksox are back in the Class B state tournament for the first time since 2019. Freeman fell to the Wynot Expos in the Dis trict 6B championship game, 4-2, on July 30 but still claimed a spot in the state tournament. The Blacksox came in as the No. 3 seed and beat Menno in the first round before topping second-seeded Tabor to go to the championship game.

FLANDREAU CARDINALS

Christensen pitched in the championship game against Wynot and threw 5 2/3 innings, surren dering five hits and four runs and taking the loss. The Blacksox first contest of the tournament is against Lake Norden at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Among the Bluejays’ leading pitchers are Dustin Steckler, Nick Bonte, Aaron Labrie and Trey Buck enberg, while Steckler, Scott Splett, Brady Bonte have helped to pace the offense. Prior to missing out in 2021, the Bluejays had put together a solid recent resume in Class B, including making it to the finals in 2016 and reaching the semifinals in 2018 and 2019.

The 2022 Class B state tournament will mark the eighth in a row that the westernmost Class B team hasFourqualified.Corners qualified for the trip to Mitchell this year after beating the Plankinton Gold Sox, 7-3, on July 25 in Chamberlain in the District 3B tournament, finishing the pre-state-tournament season at 10-7. Four Corners is led on the mound by Josh Davies and Jeremy Hand, with Davies throwing 34 innings on the season. Jeremy Hand has thrown 32 innings with 21 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.53, with J.D. Far ley posting a 2.55 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. Noah Hainy has a team-best 39 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings. Brad Hand leads the team in hitting, batting .477 and holding an on-base percentage of .688, followed by Nathan Hainy hitting .429. Hand has a team-best 30 runs scored, with Nathan Hainy knocking in 22 runs and Andrew McCloud with 19 RBIs.

The 2022 trip to Mitchell marks the 10th year in a row the Flandreau Cardinals qualified for the Class B state Flandreautournament.beatSalem, 7-5, on July 29 to punch their ticket to Mitchell and avoid playing in the last-chance game in the District 3B tournament. At 15-7, the Cardinals rely on consistency at the plate. They hit .319 as a team and have six players with at least 30 at bats hitting over .300, including Jacob Patterson, who leads the team at .485. Pat terson also has eight doubles, which is the most on the team. Aiden Ladd led the way in the power department, belting three home runs and knocking in 17 runs, both team highs. Jordan Gesling threw 42 innings for Flandreau over his eight appearances — six of which were starts. He went 3-0 and recorded a save while striking out 54 batters and pitching to a 3.00 ERA. Bret Severson led the team in ERA at 1.35 over 26 2/3 innings pitched. He also recorded 34 strikeouts, which was second behind Gesling.

Owen Feser, who homered in the title game, was the star offensively for Freeman. He led the team in average at .493 and RBIs with 27 and tied Bailey Sage for the team lead in home runs with five. Sage also was a standout at the plate, hitting .372 with 22 RBIs — both second on the team.

FREEMAN BLACKSOX

Flandreau made it all the way to the finals in last year’s tournament but fell, 16-1, to Cornbelt foe the Dell Rapids Mudcats. The Cardinals also lost in the finals in 2018 to another Cornbelt squad in Canova.

Trey Christensen and Blake Schroedermeier were the Blacksox two best pitchers this season. Chris tensen led the team in innings pitched with 33 1/3 and had a 2.16 ERA, while Schroedermeier threw 31 innings but had 63 strikeouts and a 2.01 ERA.

Garretson’s first game in the state tournament is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against the District 3B champion Plankinton Bankers.

FOUR CORNERS

The Bluejays, who started the season 6-0, were the No. 1 seed in the State Line League during the regular season and clinched a Class B state tourna ment trip with a 17-6 win over Akron, Iowa, on July 24. They followed that up with a District 7B cham pionship game appearance at Larchwood against the host Diamonds on July 30, with Larchwood winning 11-1 in eight innings.

Last season, Four Corners lost 9-2 to Wynot in the opening round of the tournament. This year, Four Corners will look to get past Salem in the first round when the two teams match up at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

PREVIEW From Page 7

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Larchwood was the No. 2 seed in the State Line League and took down Elk Point, 13-2, to secure its spot in Mitchell before defeating Garretson, 11-1, to win the Larchwood,championship.whichonce again has a deep line up, is led at the plate by Cody Groskreutz, a for mer baseball standout at Northwestern College, who is hitting .487 on the season with 20 runs scored. Mitchell Van Beek is hitting .429 and Mitch Peschon is hitting .368 with 19 RBIs. Micah Linn has scored 21 runs and has eight stolen bases, while Keaton Grevengoed leads the team with five home runs and 28 RBIs. On the mound, Larchwood is led by Brian Wede, who is 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 29 innings. Isaac Horigan has 52 punchouts in 25 innings and has opponents hitting .161 against him. Linn, Dan Gacke and Trevor Reinke are among the other leading Diamonds’ arms. The Diamonds come into the state tournament this year at 15-7. Last year they won a pair of onerun games in the first two rounds of the tourna ment, winning 6-5 over Lennox Only One and 3-2 over Lesterville, before falling to eventual state champion Dell Rapids Mudcats, 7-1, in the state quarterfinals.Larchwood’s first matchup of the tournament comes against Volga at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Back in the Class B state tournament for the fourth-straight year, the Lake Norden Lakers are looking to avenge their 15-0 loss to the eventual champion Dell Rapids Mudcats in the first round last year. Similarly to Castlewood, the Lakers beat Clark to reach the state tour nament, topping the Traders, 14-2, in the District 1B playoffs played on their home field. The Lakers were the No. 3 seed in the District 1B tournament.LakeNorden will take on the Free man Blacksox at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in their first game of the tournament.

LARCHWOOD (IOWA) DIAMONDS

Lennox beat Dell Rapids PBR to avoid a lastchance game in the District 4B tournament and claim their spot in Mitchell. Lennox entered the District 4B tournament as the No. 2 seed and beat Dell Rapids PBR in the quarterfinals, 10-0, but lost to Canova, 5-4, three days later. Lennox then went to the elimination bracket where it handled Dell Rapids PBR again to clinch a berth in the Class B state tournament.

Marcus Traxler Mitchell Kimball/White Lake's Brian Zeman throws a pitch during the District 3B championship game against the Plankinton Bankers on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Chamberlain.

Republic

The Kimball/White Lake Nationals have made it to the Class B state tournament from the Pony Hills League for the fourth year in a row. Despite turning into a state tournament reg ular, this season was the first in which KWL has reached the district title game, though the Nationals fell in the District 3B championship to the Plankinton Bankers, 7-1. Zak Wallner and Brian Zeman continue to lead the pitching staff, while Trent Wookey, Dylanger Pierson, Caden Lenz are pacing the offense for the Nationals.Afterlosing in the first round in 2020, the Nationals made a bit of a run in last year’s tourna ment, winning a pair of games. They topped their first-round matchup Elk Point, 8-1, before taking down the Redfield Pheasants in the second round, 9-4. However, they fell in the quarterfinals to Winner/Colome, 5-0. Kimball/White Lake takes on the Castlewood Monarchs in the final game of the first round at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The District 7B champion Larchwood Diamonds qualified for the Class B state tournament for the 18th year in a row.

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HARTFORD/HUMBOLDT GAMECOCKS Built around a young core of players, the Game cocks assured themselves a slot in the Class B state tournament field with an 11-1 quarterfinal win over Salem. They followed that up with a win over Flan dreau before besting Canova to claim the District 4BBrocchampionship.Haldemanis the catalyst for the Gamecocks offensively. During the season he hit .500 and led the team with 32 RBIs. During the District 4B tour nament, he was 10-for-13 and named tournament MVP. Joe Hanisch is also a force at the plate for H/H, posting a .452 average with a team-leading five home runs. Cole Barthel leads the team in innings pitched with 42, and he also boasts a 1.71 ERA. Drew Maras has also been solid on the mound for the Game cocks, with a 0.82 ERA in his 22 innings pitched, while Landry Knight leads the team with 42 strikeouts through 27 2/3 innings. After not making the tournament last year, the Cornbelt champions are 19-6 and they’ll take on 2021 semifi nalist Dimock/Emery in the first round at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Lennox’s offense is led by Drew Sweeter, Chris Kropuenske and Walker Hultgren — each of whom are current or former Dakota State baseball players — along with former Renner Monarch standout Corey Vasquez, who previously had a stint with the Sioux Falls Canaries and also threw a no-hitter on July 18 in a win over Class A opponent Tea. Only One has been a part of seven of the last 10 Class B state tournaments. In last year’s state tournament, the Alpacas fell, 6-5, to Larchwood in the first round. This year, Lennox will take on District 6B cham pion Wynot, Nebraska, at 1 p.m. Friday.

KIMBALL/WHITE LAKE NATIONALS

10 2022 SD STATE AMATEUR BASEBALL TAB 2022 South Dakota Amateur Baseball State Tournament- Class B Pairings August 3-14, 2022 *Designates Home team & 3rd Base Dugout

MOUNT VERNON MUSTANGS

After falling to Canova in their first game of the District 4B tournament, the Madison Broncos beat Colman and Salem to punch their ticket to Mitchell.

MILBANK FIRECHIEFS

PREVIEW:

Pitchers Luke Tiesler and Kade Bialas handled the pitching for the Mustangs in the district tourna ment, with Tiesler throwing 15 of the 17 innings on the mound and allowing two earned runs. In the 2021 event, Mount Vernon picked up a 13-5 first-round win over Akron before dropping an 11-1 contest to eventual state finalist Flandreau in the second round. The Mustangs open state tournament play at 11 a.m. Thursday against Red field Dairy Queen. Mount Vernon has a recent history with either potential second-round, facing either Akron for a second straight year or Mil bank, which ended Mount Vernon’s tournament run in 2019, also in the second round.

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PREVIEW From Page 9

MENNO MAD FROGS For the second straight season, the Menno Mad Frogs put it all together in the Dis trict 6B tournament to secure a spot in Mitchell.TheMad Frogs have tallied only three wins during the 2022 season to date but climbed out of the final seed in their district tournament to reach the Class B state tourna ment once again. It will be Menno’s fourth state appearance in five seasons and sixth in the last eight years.The Mad Frogs were 2-10 in South Central League play and allowed more than 12 runs per game. Menno was knocked off by Freeman in the open ing-round of the district tournament but bounced back and eliminated No. 1 seed Lesterville, winning 5-4 in 11 innings on July 28. In 2021, Menno won its first round game, a 10-7 victory over Redfield Dairy Queen, before falling in the second round to the Plankinton Bankers. This year, Menno will take on last year’s run ner-up, the Flandreau Cardinals, in the first round at 11 a.m. Sunday.

MADISON BRONCOS

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic Mount Vernon pitcher Luke Tiesler prepares to deliver to home plate during a game against Dimock/Emery at the District 5B tournament in Corsica on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Page 11

The Milbank Firechiefs went into the District 1B tournament as the top seed and came out of it asNowchampions.coming to Mitchell for the 13th season in a row, the Firechiefs boast a record of 13-3. Milbank is led offensively by Brady Krause, who paced the team in average (.439), hits (25), OPS (1.102) and was one of four players to hit a home run. On the mound, former Dakota Wesleyan Universi ty standout and Great Plains Athletic Conference pitcher of the year Dominique Boerger was the workhorse for the Firechiefs, throwing 71 2/3 of Milbank’s 129 innings, only allowing five runs and one earned run. He also struck out 158 bat ters and allowed only 32 hits and 11 walks.

The Broncos didn’t qualify in 2021 and were the first team eliminated in 2020 after losing to Groton, 7-4. This season, they’re led by slugger Greg Biagi, who led the team with a .450 average and connected on 12 home runs in just 60 at-bats. He also paced the team with 26 runs driven in and had a team-leading fiveTylerdoubles.Tappe was the Broncos’ best pitcher this sea son. He threw a team-high 54 innings and sported a team-best 3.17 ERA with 57 strikeouts.

The Broncos will look to win their first Class B state tournament game since 2018 when they made it to the quarterfinals. They take on the Plankinton Gold Sox in the tournament opener at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Milbank was the only Eastern Dakota League team to get out of the first round in the 2021 tournament, defeating Platte, 8-4, before facing another Sunshine League foe in Dimock/ Emery and losing, 5-4, in the second round. The Firechiefs take on the Akron (Iowa) Rebels at 1 p.m. Thursday.

At 10-11, Mount Vernon returns to the Class B state tournament for the fourth consecutive sea son and the sixth time since 2016 after qualifying out of the Sunshine League. The Mustangs assured themselves a spot with a 5-1 win over Platte on July 28. Brady Albrecht, Briggs Havlik and Bradley Dean were among the team’s leading hitters in the district tournament, with Albrecht hitting .571 in two games. In addi tion to Havlik, recent former Mitchell Post 18 standouts Koby Larson and Spencer Neugebauer are also key members of the Mustangs’ lineup.

Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic Menno's Nate Kucera connects with a pitch during a 2021 Class B state tournament game in Mitchell.

Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic The Plankinton Bankers' Josh Engquist, right, celebrates scoring a run with Kyle Bruinsma (5) during the District 3B championship game on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Chamberlain.

For the first time ever, the Plank inton Gold Sox are in the Class B state tournament. It took until the final game for the Gold Sox to qualify, as they beat Colome, 15-4, in a last-chance game in District 3B on July 28 in Chamberlain to earn the final Pony Hills League spot in the 2022 tournament. Jesse Grosdidier leads the team in hits with 20, RBIs with 18 and hits with a .267 average. Andrew Becker has the team’s best average at .327 and Sean DeVries is the team leader in on-base percentage at .448, while Tom Harris has scored 16 runs to lead the Gold Sox. Nearly half of the team’s innings on the mound for the season have been thrown by Ryland DeVries and Devin Mehlhaff. DeVries, who has thrown 60 strikeouts this season with a 3.50 ERA, has a record of 4-3, while Mehlhaff has a 2.62 ERA and has picked up 35 pun chouts this season. Tom Harris, Tye Harris and Ben Laufman have been key pitchers for the Gold Sox, as well. The Gold Sox won’t have to wait long to make their state tournament debut. They’ll kick off the tournament with their contest against the Madison Broncos at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

assured themselves a

Travis Gant and Josh Engquist return as the Bankers’ top two pitchers, with Cole Knippling, Alex Loes, Trevor Sal monson, Gant and Engquist leading the Bankers’ lineup. In the District 3B tournament, Knippling hit five home runs, including three in the Bankers’ semifinal win over Four Corners. As a team, the Bankers hit seven district tournament homers, and average 10.3 runs per game during the season. The Bankers (15-2) play in the sec ond game of the tournament against the Garretson Bluejays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. If the Bankers and their town rival Gold Sox meet up in the second round, the Bankers will be looking for a fourth consecutive win in the series, with scores of 2-0, 19-6 and 25-0 on the season ledger this season.

The Platte Killer Tomatoes are in the Class B state tournament by claiming the Sunshine League’s last berth and using some dramatic offense to get the job done.

PREVIEW From Page 11

The Plankinton Bankers’ hold over the Pony Hills league continued in 2022 when they won their sixth consecu tive District 3B championship, beating Kimball/White Lake, 7-1, in the cham pionshipPlankintongame.is playing in its 10th consecutive Class B state tournament. After dropping their first-round con test to the Dell Rapids Mudcats in 2020, the Bankers rebounded last year, winning a pair of contests before falling to Dimock/Emery in the quar terfinals, 7-3.

The Merchants spot first time wild 28-12 victory Plains In that 2019 trip to Mitchell, Northville beat the South Central Storm, 18-11, in the first round but fell in the second round, 7-2, to the ClarkTheTraders.green-clad set open up their tournament with a battle against the defending champion Dell Rapids Mudcats at 11 a.m. Saturday.

PLANKINTON BANKERS

Merchants are

NORTHVILLE

in the Class B state tournament for the

PLANKINTON GOLD SOX

since 2019 with a

Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic Platte’s Sheldon Gant delivers a pitch to home plate during an amateur baseball game on Sunday, June 12, 2022 in Platte.

over Groton on July 28. Prior to that streak ending, North ville had qualified for six straight Class B tournaments out of the Northern

PLATTE KILLER TOMATOES

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In a last-chance game against Cor sica/Stickney on July 29 in Corsica, Hunter Hewitt broke a 6-all tie in the bottom of eighth with a three-run home run to put the Killer Tomatoes up before Grant Doom came in to pick up the save and send Platte to the tournament. Doom finished the district tournament 7-for-14 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs. Hewitt and Richard Sternberg drove in four runs each and all three players scored fourOwentimes.London threw 16 innings for Platte in the district tournament with a 2.81 ERA and nine strikeouts. Ster nberg had 11 strikeouts in five innings of work, with Doom and Micahel Buitenbos also involved regularly in theThispitching.yearmarks Platte’s third con secutive state tournament appearance, with last year’s ending in only one game after an 8-4 loss at the hands of ThisMilbank.season, the Killer Tomatoes will go up against the Aurora Aces in the first round at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

REDFIELD DAIRY QUEEN

Redfield DQ will match up with Mount Vernon for the first contest of Thursday’s slate of games at 11 a.m.

Redfield DQ is back in the Class B state tourna ment for the second straight season after falling to Menno in the first round last year, 10-7. Prior to last season’s appearance, Redfield hadn’t made the state tournament since 2014, including a period where the team was dormant.

At the bat, Kyle Tuschen was the Cubs’ best hitter. He won the team triple crown, hitting .446 with three home runs and 30 RBIs. Cole Cheeseman leads the team in runs scored with 30 and hit .337.

TABOR BLUEBIRDS

PREVIEW: Page 14

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

The Canova Gang's Riley Genzlinger slides into second base as the Salem Cubs Cole Cheeseman waits to apply the tag during a amateur baseball game on Thursday, July 7, 2022 at Canova.

The Redfield Dairy Queen got walked off by the Redfield Pheasants in the District 2B championship but already had its ticket punched after beating Mill er, 10-1, on July 26. The team is one of three repre sentatives from the Northern Plains League in this year’s tournament, while the league swelled to five teams this season with the addition of Miller, which moved from the Pony Hills League.

One of the most consistent teams in the state tournament field each year, the Bluebirds come to Mitchell with an 8-6 record and have made the Class B field each year since 2004. Tabor assured itself a spot in the state tournament field with an 11-6 win over Crofton, in a game where Beau Roth schadl had three hits and a home run. As a squad, Tabor hit .285 this season with eight home runs. Joey Slama has scored 19 runs and hit .417 and Hunter Hallock hit .306 and had an OPS of .924, thanks to his team-leading three home runs. Riley Rothschadl has been another spark in the lineup for the Bluebirds, hitting .414 with an OPS of 1.091. On the mound, the Bluebirds were led by Hal lock, whose ERA is at 3.60 through his 20 innings of work. Bryce Scieszinski also flashed good stuff, with 36 strikeouts through 30 innings of work with a 5.10 ERA. Chase Kortan has thrown 28 innings for the Bluebirds, with 27 strikeouts and a 3-2 record. In 2021, Tabor lost to the Flandreau Cardinals, 9-4, in the first round. The Bluebirds hope for a deep run — similar to the one in 2011 when they reached the state title game — and open against the Canova Gang in the first game of the day at 11 a.m. Friday.

With two outs and a 3-2 count in the bottom of the ninth, Jared Kuehn drove in Keith Jandel to walk off in-town rivals Redfield Dairy Queen and win the District 2B title, 8-7. The Pheasants went into the District 2B tourna ment as the top seed and the win gave them their seventh district title in the last eight seasons, while the trip to the Class B state tournament is their ninth in the last 11 years. The Pheasants have made it to the second round two years in a row, beating Irene, 12-8, in the first round in 2020 before falling to Hartford/Humboldt, and taking down Colman, 4-1, last year before losing to Kimball/White Lake, 9-4. This year, the Pheasants square off with Winner/ Colome for a Pheasants-versus-Pheasants matchup in the Saturday nightcap of the first round at 7:30 p.m. The two teams were supposed to play earlier in the season but the game was canceled.

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REDFIELD PHEASANTS

Overall, the Cubs come to Mitchell with a 10-16 record and play Four Corners at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

SALEM CUBS

ERA and 48 strikeouts. Tyler Earls has thrown 62 1/3 innings with 56 strikeouts, while Luke Louden berg has thrown 39 1/3 innings with a 4.37 ERA.

It took a last-chance game to get there, but the Salem Cubs found their way to the Class B state tournament for the fourth year in a row. After beating the Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks, 4-3, in the first round of the District 4B tournament, the Cubs lost to the Hartford/Hum boldt Gamecocks, 11-1, in the next round. They then lost to the Madison Broncos, 7-4, before fall ing to the Flandreau Cardinals, 7-5, to send them to the last-chance game against Dell Rapids PBR, where they won, 7-3. Isaac Anderson, who’s been the Cubs’ best pitch er all season, fired a complete game against Dell Rapids PBR when his team needed him most. On the year, he’s thrown 65 1/3 innings with a 4.13

After just one win in the regular season, Wessington Springs represents the biggest sur prise of the Class B state field in 2022. A pair of wins in the District 3B tournament helped the Owls qualify for the first time since 2015. In that 2015 tournament, Wessington Springs won its first game against Lake Norden, 9-5, before dropping its second game to Platte, 4-3. Wessington Springs lost its first-round game in the District 3B tournament to the eventual cham pions, the Plankinton Bankers, and then went on a run to clinch a spot in Mitchell. The Owls beat the South Central Storm, 10-9, in a game where Parker DeJean pitched all nine innings and threw 154 pitches, giving up 15 hits and nine earned runs but still picking up the win, while Curtis Collins went 2-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk. The Owls then moved on to beat the Colome Chaos, 17-11, to claim a spot in the Class B state tournament. Terrek Butterfield went all nine innings in that game, as well, for the Owls, throw ing 124 pitches and giving up 14 hits and 11 runs but picking up the win. Butterfield also went 3-for-5 at the plate that day with two doubles and three runs scored, while Collins went 5-for-5 with three runs, two RBIs and a walk.

Wessington Springs second baseman

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

WESSINGTON SPRINGS OWLS

Wessington Springs will take on Alexandria in the first round at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Dakota Wesleyan Universi ty outfielder Drew DeMers hit .398 and led the team with 35 hits, while Chandler Bakley, Austin Calhoon, Reed Harter, Austin Richey, Derek Graesser and Oscar Pravacek are all hitting .400 or better. Richey is at .492 with a team-best five home runs and 28 RBIs to go along with an on-base percentage ofComing.582. out of District 5B, Winner/Colome was the top seed in the regular season and clinched a spot in the state tournament after beating Dimock/ Emery, 5-2, on July 24. But the Pheasants lost in the championship game to the Alexandria Angels when their bats were silenced from a complete game by Ethan Davis. On the rubber, Tarell Bauld led the team in innings pitched at 39 2/3 innings with a 4-1

This season’s venture to Mitchell marks the 14th year in a row Winner/Colome has gone to the Class B state tournament — the sec ond-longest active streak.

Offensively, Winner/Colome is one of the best teams in the bracket, hitting .383 as a team with 241 runs in 21 games and boasting a lineup littered with bats up andFormerdown.

VOLGA

Wynot returns to the Class B state amateur base ball tournament for a sixth year in a row, fresh off a District 6B championship over Freeman. It was the Expos’ third district championship game appearance in the last four seasons, with the last district championship coming in 2019. This one looked a little more unlikely in May and June, with Wynot losing four of its first five South Central League games and standing at 3-7 to start July. Since then, Wynot has won five in a row, including three in the district playoffs. Peyton Wieseler paced the Expos in the cham pionship game with a complete-game five-hitter, striking out eight, while Jaelen Wieseler and Jack son Sudbeck each had home runs for Wynot. Sud beck had a big tournament, with seven strikeouts in the Expos’ 6-3 12-inning semifinal win over top-seeded Lesterville and a 4-for-5 showing in the opening round when the Expos beat Nebraska rival Crofton by an 8-3 score. Wynot, which made the second round in 2021, defeated Four Corners, 9-2, before falling to even tual state champion Dell Rapids Mudcats, 13-5, in the Round of 16. The Expos will play in the 1 p.m. game Friday against Lennox Only One.

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record and a 2.50 ERA, while Graesser has thrown 35 innings with a 6-0 record and 54 strikeouts and a 0.51 earned-run average. On top of that, Connor Hopkins has thrown 33 2/3 innings with 42 strikeouts with a 2.41 ERA, and J.J. Farner has thrown 26 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts and a 1.01 ERA. Teams are hitting .201 against the PheasantsWinner/Colomepitchers.begins its title chase in the firstround Pheasant Bowl against the Redfield Pheas ants at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. WYNOT (NEB.) EXPOS

CORMORANTS

Volga will flock to Cadwell Park for a third year in a row after a strong season in the Eastern Dakota League. The Cormorants (12-5) were the No. 2 seed in the District 1B playoffs and assured themselves a spot in Mitchell with wins over Bryant and Lake Norden before a 6-0 loss to Milbank in the champi onship game. The Cormorants have played in a few notably high-scoring games this season, including a July 1 win over Clark by an 18-17 score in 10 innings, with Parker Puetz hitting three home runs in the game. It was his second three-homer game of the season, with the other coming in an 18-15 victory over Lake Norden on May 29. In 2021, Volga picked up a first-round win over Crofton by a 3-2 margin, before dropping a sec ond-round game to Alexandria. In this year’s first round, Volga takes on Larchwood in the first round at 1 p.m. Saturday.

WINNER/COLOME PHEASANTS

PREVIEW From Page 13

Gerritt Brandenburg prepares to field a ground ball during an amateur baseball game against Chamberlain on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at Wessington Springs.

If there’s one thing that annually gets the spot light in the state amateur tournament, it’s the teams that play aggressive and smart baseball. The pitching is better, the offenses are better and the teams that play solid defense are always the ones that advance into the second weekend of the tournament.Inthelast five Class B tournaments, there have been an average of 12 to 14 home runs each year. It makes the long ball pretty rare (and pretty thrilling when it happens) but it can not be counted upon as it can be in some leagues.

Three state amateur baseball tourney storylines we’re watching closely

The Cornbelt League, through the District 4B tour nament, received seven slots in the 32-team Class B state field. The dispersion of bids per league is based on size and no other Class B district had more than five bids to hand out, so the Cornbelt will have an outsized contingent of teams in Mitchell over the next two weeks. In the last four state tournaments, the Cornbelt has had six teams in the state semifinals and has had five finalists in the last four state championship games, capped by the Dell Rapids Mudcats and Flandreau Cardinals in 2021, with the Mudcats picking up a championship game blowout. Canova won the title in 2018 — that was another all-Cornbelt title game with Flandreau — and the Gang finished second in 2020.Interestingly, the top two teams in the Cornbelt this season were two teams not mentioned above.

Mitchell Republic file photo Winner/Colome's Brendan Kamerzell, left, and Derek Graesser celebrate an out during the 2021 Class B State Amateur baseball tournament on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 at Cadwell Park.

The Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks were league champions by a game over Lennox Only One, with the Gamecocks finishing 14-4, and then H/H backed it up by winning the district title over Canova. Len nox was the No. 2 seed in the district tournament and also qualified. On sheer numbers alone, the Cornbelt figures to have a large say on who’s holding the cham pionship trophy at Cadwell Park’s home plate on Aug. 14.

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic Canova Gang’s Cole Gassman catches a fly ball during an amateur baseball game against Salem on Thursday, July 7, 2022 at Canova.

For all of the Cornbelt’s success, it’s the Sunshine League that still maintains the best tournament record since 2016, winning two-thirds of its games (52-26). Alexandria accounts for most of that, with four state championships in that time but Winner/Colome has made three straight trips to the Class B semifinals, Dimock/Emery made a run to the final four last season and Mount Vernon, Parkston and Platte have served as tough outs in recent tournaments.

2022 SD STATE AMATEUR BASEBALL TAB 15 110 N Railroad St, Wessington Springs, SD 57382 605-846-1599 Good Luck Owls!! Eatery• Bakery •Coffee Shop Catering Wessington Springs, SD •605-539-1330 608 1st Street NE, Wessington Springs, SD 605-539-1621 Lets Go Owls!! Rolling Hills Veterinary Clinic Dr. Kelli Tobin rollinghills@venturecomm.net 102 1st St. NE • Wessington Springs, SD • 605-539-1040 GO OWLS! TRAXLERMARCUS Assistant editor  MITCHELL — When the calendar turns to August, and it’s state ama teur baseball tournament time, it’s hard to not get excited. In Class B, 32 teams and 31 games are involved over 12 days, with five victories needed to raise the massive state championship trophy. It means that storylines are all over the place for the state tournament. Here’s a look at some of the sto rylines to keep an eye on out at the ballpark: CORNBELT POWER

So the ability to take the extra bases on a base hit or prevent a wild pitch or manufacture a run is still important. Only five of the 31 games last year involved a team winning with less than five runs scored, so piecing together the big inning and tallying runs in multiple frames are important.

In 2022, the major Sunshine League storyline in the Class B state tournament follows the Angels and their rival Pheasants from Winner/Colome. The latter looked the part as a state title contender all season but its only two losses of the season came to Alexan dria in the last month of the year. The Angels had five losses in the regular season but are looking sharper as the postseason has approached. The way the bracket shook out, if Alexandria and Winner/ Colome play again, it will be in the state champi onship game. Winner/Colome remains no pushover, with seven batters hitting better than .390 for the season and scoring more than 11 runs per game. One Sunshine League storyline could arrive in Round 2. If Platte and Alexandria both get out of the first round, they will meet in the second round on Aug. 8. The Killer Tomatoes already have a win over the Angels this season — a 4-3 win in 10 innings on July 7 — but Alexandria has won two of three con tests so far in 2022.

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