Landon Dierks: Mudcats' bid for three-peat leads top stories to watch at 2023 Class B amateur baseball tournament

Aug. 1—MITCHELL — Ask the players, ask the coaches, ask the fans.

The regular season is fun, but the entire amateur baseball season builds for the state tournament, which gets underway on Wednesday in Mitchell. Single elimination; win or the season is over.

With eyes on the championship, here are three storylines we're looking at for this year's tournament:

The past two state tournaments have produced two state titles for the Dell Rapids Mudcats, both with a distinct path to a championship. They enter again in 2023 as the prohibitive favorite, with plenty of offense and pitching to do it again.

Those attributes showed through in the last two state tournament runs. In 2021, the Mudcats rolled through the tournament with little resistance, including a 16-1 victory over Cornbelt rival Flandreau in the state title game. Then, last season, Dell Rapids scored just 29 total runs in its five-game tournament run, relying on pitching an defense for a second-straight title.

As Dell Rapids enters the 2023 state tournament with a 21-4 record, finding a way to dethrone the Mudcats figures to be a difficult proposition once again. However, history doesn't point in the Mudcats' favor. While there have been a number of back-to-back champions, only once has a squad completed the quest for a three-peat.

Coincidentally, that one three-peat champion was Dell Rapids PBR, doing so in 1996, 1997 and 1998 during an extended run that produced eight titles in 12 seasons from 1991 to 2002. PBR also won back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994, then 2001 and 2002 during the span.

More recently, just before the Mudcats' current run began, the Alexandria Angels reached seven championship games in eight seasons between 2013 and 2020, including back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, then again in 2019 and 2020.

Related to the Mudcats above, only two Class B teams have defeated Dell Rapids this season, both from the Cornbelt League: a 4-3 Canova win on June 1 and a 6-4 Lennox Only One victory on July 16.

Those Cornbelt teams that know the Mudcats best will be the ones to watch for an upset. Lennox and Flandreau, another Cornbelt team with strong pitching, both potentially wait in the quarterfinals, as does Winner/Colome, which faced the Mudcats in the 2022 semifinals and in the Cornbelt/Sunshine Showdown on June 18, a 10-4 Dells win.

Five wins in 11 days, as it would take in the Mudcats' case, is a tough ask. But on the strength of a strong regular season, a nearly identical cast of characters and ample postseason experience, many signs point toward another deep run for the two-time defending champs.

Over the past five Class B state tournaments, the Cornbelt and Sunshine Leagues have accounted for three-fourths of all semifinalists.

And in 2023, that trend appears poised to continue.

Of the five squads to interrupt the two largest leagues' stranglehold on the semifinal spots, Garretson, of the State Line League, represents three and the only one since 2020. The Blue Jays reached the semifinals in 2018 and 2019 and the championship just last year. But despite another strong season in 2023, Garretson will not be in attendance, having been barred from the tournament for a roster rules violation.

The other two most recent semifinalists from outside of the Cornbelt and Sunshine were Wynot (Neb.), of the South Central League, in 2020 and now-defunct Harrisburg in 2018.

As such, the onus to break into the last four will fall on a new team in 2023, and a few stand out as semifinal hopefuls.

Four Corners and Kimball/White Lake — the top two teams from the Pony Hills League — both have competitive squads that have shown an ability to string together several solid performances through the regular season and district tournament. Additionally, KWL was among the eight quarterfinalists from 2022. But the Pony Hills League hasn't had a team reach the semifinals since Miller/Wessington did it in 2009.

The Eastern Dakota League's Lake Norden Lakers put together a 15-4 campaign this season and had eventual semifinalist Winner/Colome on the ropes in last season's second round before the Pheasants escaped via a come-from-behind walk-off win.

Though neither team was able to win its district tournament, Larchwood, of the State Line League, and Lesterville, of the South Central League, were No. 1 seeds and the most consistent squads from their respective leagues during the regular season and could factor into the picture by returning to form in the state tournament.

In a 32-team, single-elimination tournament, just two wins separate every squad from a spot in the quarterfinals.

Though matchups and a little bit of luck go a long way to deciding those final eight, it's not uncommon for a surprise team or two to make their way into the mix.

Last season, Mount Vernon was a prime example. The Mustangs entered the state tournament one game under .500 as a representative of the deep Sunshine League, yet navigated their way to the quarterfinals with a pair of victories.

With that in mind, here are three teams that could make their mark on the 2023 bracket, sorted alphabetically:

Madison: At 11-12 overall, the Broncos are one of the few teams with a losing record in the tournament field and sit in a nearly identical spot to last season's Mustangs. But as a product of the ever-strong Cornbelt League, Madison could benefit from facing non-league competition. The Broncos, who advanced through the opening round last season, face off with District 1B runner-up Volga in the final game of the first round on Sunday. Madison's second-round opponent would be either the Parkston Mudcats or Dell Rapids PBR, neither of which was a top-four qualifier from their league.

Milbank: With one of the most dominant arms in the tournament — Dom Boerger sports a video game-like 0.00 ERA after 52 innings pitched — and solid cover all around, the Firechiefs could well outperform their 12-8 record. Milbank could also benefit from having maximum rest afforded in the top of the bracket, playing the first three rounds over nine days, compared to six at the bottom of the bracket. Milbank also won its first-round game last season and nearly advanced through to the quarterfinals, dropping a 3-2 game to the Mount Vernon team that spurred this exercise. However, the Firechiefs have their work cut out with Lennox and Flandreau, both of the Cornbelt, and Lake Norden in their four-team pod.

Tabor: A Class B state tournament regular, the Bluebirds posted an 8-8 record and finished as the District 6B runner-up. With a roster including standouts Chase Kortan, Bryce Scieszinski and Beau Rothschadl, the Tabor will also get a big boost following the Legion season from Augustana commit Riley Rothschadl, who nearly willed the Bluebirds to an opening-round win over Canova last season. In the first round, Tabor plays Akron, which was a district runner-up but entered the postseason as the lowest-seeded team in the State Line standings. A win would set up a contest versus either Lennox/Chancellor/Worthing or the two-time defending champion Dell Rapids Mudcats.