Redfield, Clark-Willow Lake and Castlewood each qualify for State B Legion tourney
The ninth-seeded Aberdeen Smittys clinched a berth in next week's state Class A American Legion Baseball tournament with a 1-0 victory over eighth-seeded Watertown Post 17 at Watertown Stadium.
The Smittys (27-16) won the second game of the best-of-three series 1-0 on Saturday after winning Friday night's opener 15-4. Aberdeen qualified for the state tourney that opens Wednesday at Yankton.
It's the first time Aberdeen has qualified for state since 2017.
Phillip Zens tossed a shutout, allowing only five hits with six strikeouts.
Aberdeen scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. After loading the bases with a walk, hit batsmen and another walk, Zens plated the only run on a fielder's choice groundout. Casey Vining and Ethan Kjenstad each had singles for the Smittys.
Watertown pitchers Will Engstrom and Jackson Maag combined on a two-hitter in the loss. Engstrom went 4 1/3 innngs and took the loss. Maag pitched the final 1 2/3.
Drew Denzer had a double and a single, Carson Mutschler a double and Dylon Rawdon and Ryan Roby each singles for Post 17 (32-32).
State A American Legion Baseball Pairings
State tourney pairings on Tuesday include Harrisburg Maroon (12-23) vs. Sioux Falls East (37-8) at 10 a.m.; Harrisburg Gold (21-12) vs. Aberdeen at 12:30 a.m.; Brookings (25-15) vs. defending champion Rapid City Post 22 (46-21) at 5 p.m.; and Renner (28-17) vs. host Yankton (23-12) at 7:30 p.m. The double-elimination tourney continues through Saturday.
State B American Legion Baseball Pairings
The tourney opens Friday and continues through Tuesday, Aug. 1 at Redfield.
Thursday's first-round games include Region 2 champion Dell Rapids (25-2) vs. Region 7 champion Platte-Geddes (11-5) at 10 a.m.; Region 1 champion Castlewood (11-9) vs. Region 6 runner-up Clark-Willow Lake (9-10) at 12:30 p.m.; Region 4 champion Tabor (18-5) vs. Region 5 champion Salem-Montrose-Canova (17-5) at 5 p.m.; and Region 3 champion Elk Point-Jefferson (17-10) vs. Region 6 champion and host Redfield (20-8) at 7:30 p.m.
Region 1B
ORTONVILLE, Minn. — Xander Sheehan scattered four hits and also added a two-run double to lift Castlewood past Big Stone City 5-2 on Saturday to win the tournament.
Quincy Thu added two hits, including a two-run double. Castlewood trailed 2-0 before scoring three runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth.
Castlewood advances to the state Class B tourney that opens Friday in Redfield.
Hunter Merritt hit a double and a single for Big Stone (11-12). Dru Boots took the loss, allowing only three hits in six innings.
Big Stone City stayed alive with two wins on Friday, including a 10-9 10-inning win over Castlewood in the first championship game.
Carter Lee's run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th lifted Big Stone past Castlewood. Carter Brown and Dru Boots each had three hits and Connor Danielson drove in three runs with a double and single. Isaac Brown earned the win by striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings of relief.
Lane Tvedt had two hits and Jyler Tharaldsen, Hunter Smith and Quincy Thu each doubled for Castlewood. Jeremiah Wiersma drove in three runs.
Big Stone stayed alive earlier in the day on Friday with a 12-2 win over Claremont. Hunter Merritt drove in three runs with two doubles and a single. Carter Lee and Isaac Brown had two hits apiece. Will Schuller doubled for Claremont.
Region 5B
LAKE NORDEN — Salem-Montrose-Canova held off Lake Norden-Badger to win the Region 5B championship on Saturday.
After Lake Norden-Badger won the first game 5-1, SMC (17-5) came back to win the second game 9-0 and clinch a berth in the state Class B tournament that opens Friday in Redfield.
Luke Koepsell homered and scattered three hits over six innings for SMC, which led only 3-0 before plating six runs in the top of the seventh. Griffin Clubb added a double and a single with two RBIs and Weston Remmers also doubled.
Dawson Noem, Tyson Stevenson and Ryker Warrington each singled for LNB.
In the first game, Cristhian Rodriguez fanned 10 batters in 6 2/3 innings and doubled and singled for LNB. Stevenson drove in three runs with a double and a single and Dawson Noem also doubled.
Jackson Remmers doubled for SMC.
In elimination games on Thursday, Colton (6-15) topped Elkton 5-3 behind a solid pitching performance by Carter Sorenson and Lake Norden-Badger eliminated Colton 16-9. George Jensen had two hits and Rylan Thue drove in three runs for LNB.
Amateur Baseball
District 1B Tournament
CLARK — The second-seeded Milbank Firechiefs, third-seeded Volga Cormorants and fourth-seeded Clark Traders each recorded first-round wins on Saturday in the tournament.
Milbank (11-7) blanked the seventh-seeded Ramona Express 15-0 in six innings, Volga topped the sixth-seeded Elkton Snappers 17-1 in six innings and Clark (10-5) beat the fifth-seeded Castlewood Monarchs (4-11) 17-7 in seven innings.
Taylor Boerger tossed a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts for Milbank. Mitch Quade went 2-for-2 with two runs batted in and Merik Junker homered.
Connor Libis had the lone hit for Ramona.
Zack Puetz had two hits and drove in eight runs to lead Volga to victory. Puetz hit a grand slam and a two-run single and also drove in two other runs on groundouts. Dylan Vosburg had three hits and Dylen Milton and Bayley Colemer each two. Cole Gross got the win, allowing only four hits with six strikeouts.
Aiden Erickson hit a double and a single for Elkton.
Andrew Magedanz went 2-for-2 with a homer and three RBIs for Clark. Grayson Florey and David Novak each also had two hits and Brent Griffith also homered. Jay Huber earned the win in relief.
Jacob Steffensen drove in four runs with a double and a single for the Monarchs.
The tournament continues through Thursday.
Aberdeen Circus Sports Bar 22, Groton Locke Electric 0
Michael Babcock went 4-for-4 with two doubles and six runs batted in to lead Circus to the five-inning win on Wednesday. Spencer Sudbeck contributed three hits and Tyler Oliver two doubles.
Three Aberdeen (10-4) pitchers combined on a one-hitter. Ryan Groeblinghoff singled for Groton (2-5).
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Aberdeen Smittys qualify for state with 1-0 win over Watertown Post 17
