Class B VFW 16U state tournament begins Friday in Parkston
Aug. 2—PARKSTON, S.D. — The South Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars Class B 16-and-under teener baseball state tournament begins on Friday, Aug. 4, in Parkston. Eight teams will compete in the three-day, single-elimination tournament.
The first round begins at 11:00 a.m on Friday, with Alexandria facing Mount Vernon/ Plankinton in Game 1, and Scotland/Menno battling Elkton in Game 2 at 1:30 p.m. Game 3 at 4:30 p.m. pits together Hamlin and Tyndall, and Game 4 at 7:00 p.m. Parkston takes on Canova.
The semifinal matchups begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, when the Game 1 and Game 2 winners square off, with the Game 3 and Game 4 winners to follow at 6:30 p.m. Two consolation games will be at 11:00 a.m and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The championship game is at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6. Placement games for third and fifth place will take place at 1:30 p.m. and 11 a.m., respectively, on Sunday.
Teams qualified by finishing first or second in their region tournaments at the end of July. Here's how each team did it:
Alexandria: Alexandria averaged 11.3 runs in its three region tournament wins but scored just two combined runs in two games against Canova.
Canova: Canova finished 3-0 in the Region 3 tournament, allowing a combined six runs and posting back-to-back wins over host Alexandria.
Elkton: Elkton went 3-1 in Region 1 tournament play in Bryant, falling to Hamlin 9-8 in Game 1 of the final before avenging the loss with a 12-10 victory.
Hamlin: Hamlin managed to force a Game 2 of the Region 1 final but settled for a second-place finish and a 3-2 record.
Mount Vernon/Plankinton: MVP finished the Region 2 tournament in Gregory 3-0, out-scoring opponents 34-9.
Parkston: Parkston went 3-2 at the Region 2 tournament, beating three teams by a combined five runs, including a 6-5 win over Gregory to clinch a spot at state.
Scotland/Menno: Scotland/Menno finished 2-2 at the Region 4 tournament, falling to Tyndall twice but beating Corsica/Stickney 7-2 to reach the state playoffs.
Tyndall: Tyndall won four-straight games to clinch the Region 4 title in Freeman, including a 6-2 win over Scotland/Menno in the final.
