Corsica to host Class B 14-and-under baseball tourney this weekend
Jul. 19—CORSICA, S.D. — Corsica will play host to the 2023 South Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars Class B 14-and-under state baseball championships this weekend.
Beginning Friday, July 21 and concluding with the championship game on Sunday, July 23, the eight teams will compete in the single-elimination tournament.
The first round matchups begin at 11 a.m. Friday with the upper portion of the bracket, as Freeman/Marion (14-2) faces Corsica/Stickney (3-7), and Mount Vernon/Plankinton (9-2) takes on Baltic (7-10) at 1:30 p.m. The bottom part of the bracket starts at 4:15 p.m. Friday with Parkston (21-4) dueling Selby (19-7), and Clark Area (15-0-1) battling Platte/Geddes (18-7) at 7 p.m. An opening ceremony is planned for 3:45 p.m. Friday featuring all eight teams.
The winners of the upper bracket games square off in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday, and the bottom bracket winners follow at 6 p.m. The championship game is at 3 p.m. Sunday, with the third-place game preceding it at 1 p.m. All teams are guaranteed at least two games.
Teams qualified for the event by picking up a top finish in their region tournaments earlier in July. Corsica is hosting a VFW state tournament for the first time since 2018, when it hosted the 12-and-under state tournament with Platte. It last hosted a teener-level state tournament in 2008.
Here's a brief look at the path each team took to reach the state tournament:
* Selby: The hosts of the Region 1 tournament, Selby bounced back from an opening-round loss to Groton to win five games in a row to advance, including two wins in the championship round over Groton, 14-1 and 7-5.
* Clark Area: The Region 2 champions were 3-0 in region play, winning games by a combined 48-10 margin, including a 18-10 championship victory over Britton.
* Baltic: The Bulldogs won the Region 3 tournament with a 10-8 win over Salem in Garretson on July 12. Baltic was 3-0 in region play, winning each game by two runs or less.
* Mount Vernon/Plankinton: The Titans were 3-1 in the Region 4 tournament in Plankinton, which included a 7-2 win over Alexandria in the winner-take-all championship game.
* Platte/Geddes: The Region 5 champions went through the elimination bracket to reach the state tournament after a 10-5 loss to Gregory on the tournament's second day. P/G then won 16-7 and 17-5 in the championship round over Gregory to clinch a state berth.
* Corsica/Stickney: Already with a state tournament spot locked up as the host team, Corsica/Stickney was 0-2 in the regional tournament in Platte.
* Parkston: The host team in Region 6, Parkston won the three-team battle for the state trip with Canova and Parker with three wins by a combined score of 39-5.
* Freeman/Marion: The Sticks were undefeated in the Region 7 tournament in Scotland, picking up three wins, which included a 9-2 victory over Tyndall in the championship round.
