With state tournament spots up for grabs, amateur baseball district tournaments set to begin
Jul. 18—MITCHELL — South Dakota amateur baseball district tournament action is set to kick off this weekend, as teams begin the final push toward next month's state tournament in Mitchell.
Among Mitchell-area leagues, postseason contests are set to start Thursday night in Parkston for District 5B and the Sunshine League; Friday night in Flandreau and Crofton, Nebraska, for the District 4B and 6B tournaments; and Saturday night in Kimball for the District 3B tournament involving the Pony Hills League.
Here's a look at the initial bracket pairings for each of the districts and where the area squads stand entering the postseason.
Four of the six teams in the Pony Hills League will advance to the state tournament.
The first round, set for Saturday in Kimball, features No. 4 Colome against No. 5 Wessington Springs at 5 p.m., with No. 3 Plankinton versus No. 6 Chamberlain to follow.
As the top two seeds get byes to the semifinals, top-seeded Four Corners gets the winner of Game 1, while No. 2 Kimball/White Lake takes on the winner of Game 2. Both semifinals are slated for Sunday in Kimball.
Action shifts to Chamberlain after the first two days, with the district championship game set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 25. The state-qualifying rounds of the tournament run through July 26.
As the largest amateur league in the state, the Cornbelt League will send seven teams to the state tournament.
Tournament play in Flandreau starts with a pair of play-in games on Friday between the bottom four teams in the standings to fill out the quarterfinal matchups. No. 8 Madison plays No. 9 Colman, while No. 7 Salem battles the No. 10 Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks.
On Saturday, the No. 1 seed and two-time defending state champion Dell Rapids Mudcats face the first play-in winner, while second-seeded Canova gets the other winner from the play-in round. In the quarterfinal games already set, No. 3 Flandreau duels No. 6 Dell Rapids PBR and Lennox squares off with the Hartford/Humboldt Gamecocks in the No. 4 versus No. 5 showdown.
Semifinals are set for Tuesday, July 25, with the district championship to be played at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, July 29.
From the eight-team Sunshine League, six teams will emerge as state tournament qualifiers.
Platte and Dimock/Emery get the district tournament started at 6 p.m. Thursday in the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup, followed by No. 1 Winner/Colome against the No. 8 Parkston Devil Rays.
On Friday, third-seeded Alexandria meets up with sixth-seeded Corsica/Stickney, with No. 2 Mount Vernon pitted against the No. 7 Parkston Mudcats to round out the quarterfinals.
Semifinal contests are scheduled for Sunday, July 23, with the district title game to take place at 8 p.m. Friday, July 28.
Also getting underway Friday, the South Central League will begin to decide its four qualifiers.
Nebraska foes start the tournament with a matchup between No. 4 Wynot and No. 5 Crofton at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by No. 3 Freeman taking on No. 6 Menno.
No. 1 Lesterville and No. 2 Tabor both get byes into the semifinals on Sunday, with Lesterville to take on the first winner from Friday and Tabor getting the second.
Two state tournament bids will be decided in elimination games on Thursday, July 27, before the district title game takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 29.
