Warriors currently hold top seed in Class B with a 10-2 season record
CASTLEWOOD — Don't think for a minute that Castlewood High School's softball team is content after winning the state Class B championship last June in the first season as a sanctioned sport in South Dakota.
Coach Craig Horn's Warriors did graduate four talented seniors off a team that capped a 13-5 season by rallying past second-seeded Arlington in the semifinals and top-seeded Alcester-Hudson 3-2 in the championship.
Castlewood's 2024 team recorded three more wins last week and currently holds the top seed among the state's 20 Class B teams with a 10-2 record.
"Our goal is to get back there (to state) and put ourselves in position to win it again," said Horn.
Successful First Season Wasn't Unexpected
Like many of the Class B and Class A teams in the state, the 2023 season was technically the first ever for Castlewood softball.
Still, the team wasn't a bunch rookies. Horn said at least seven or eight of the team's players last spring had played fastpitch softball before with summer teams in Watertown, Arlington and Brookings.
"We knew we'd be competitive and we thought we had a good chance to be there at the end," Coach Horn said. "Obviously, it came down to a couple of close games at the end."
2023 State Softball Tourney: Sioux Falls Lincoln, West Central and Castlewood win titles
The group of players who had played the sport included Horn's three daughters (Maddie, Bridgette and Claire). Maddie and fellow seniors Mackenzie Everson, Lindsey Archer and Olivia Akin helped provide the leadership for the 2023 Warriors.
"All four of them were instrumental in that championship," said Horn.
The Warriors dropped two regular-season games to Arlington last spring and trailed 5-2 after six innings in the championship before rallying in the top of the sevnth with two-run doubles by Everson and Maddie Horn. Archer's run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth proved to be the game-winning hit in the championship.
"They were great leaders last year so there were some big shoes to fill," currrent senior Gracie Haug said. "I think the seniors this year are doing a good job stepping into those shoes and being leaders."
A new look, but many familiar faces
Fastpitch softball aficionadoswould tell those unfamiliar with the game that pitching is a real big deal and the 2023 Warriors won the right arm of seventh-grader Claire Horn all the way to the state championship. The plan is still in place this spring, mainly because Horn is oniy and eighth-grader. Don't be fooled by the grade level, she's experienced and talented.
The Warriors looked pretty impressive on Saturday when they pushed their winning streak to seven games with a an 11-2 win over Avon and a 20-4 win over Redfield.
The team's offense was on full display. Second baseman Natalie Akin, center field Cydni Kudrna, cacher Lilly Jacobsen, first baseman Bridgette Horn, shorstop Sophia Kudrna, left fielder Cassidy Kirwan and Claire Horn, Morgan WIlson and Bryn Shooley each collected hits in the tripleheader. The Kudrna sisters each homered.
Only Haug, who has been on the team's leaders all seaon, didn't get a hit but she still reached base four times walk or hit by pitch.
"We're hitting as a team this year," Coach Horn said. "We have 12 girls who are playing at a very high level and some other ones who are working hard to get their chance."
Ready for the stretch run
Castlewood and the rest of the state's 59 softball teams (17 in Class AA, 22 in Class A and 20 in B) have two weeks left in the regular season with the top 16 teams in each class advances to SoDak 16 state-qualifying games on Tuesday, May 21.
Winners of those games advance to the state tournament, which will be held in Aberdeen again from Thursday, May 30 through Saturday, June 1.
Conference Track Meets: Watertown, Aberdeen Central set to compete in Eastern S.D. Conference meet at Brookings
Castlewood opened its season with a 5-1 loss to Class A Madison in a game played indoors at Sioux Center (Iowa) in late March. The Warriors' other loss came 9-6 to Hanson on April 12, a loss Castlewood avenged the next day by winning 8-2 in a game played at Avon.
Haug, and fellow seniors Karli Akin and Kelly Goens, are about to let the Warriors take anything for granted.
"Since we won last year, everybody is coming for us," Haug said. "We have to come ready to play every game because anybody can beat us if we don't come ready to play."
Other Area Teams
A number of other area teams could at least get shots to play in SoDak 16 state qualifying games.
Watertown (8-6) is currently ninth and Aberdeen CEntral (1-11) 16th in the Class AA standings.
Sioux Valley (10-5) is No. 8, Mobridge-Pollock (7-1) No. 9, Sisseton (1-7) No. 15 and Milbank (0-9) in Class A with Florence-Henry (8-1) currently fifth, Deuel (8-3) ninth, Arlington (5-7) 11th and Redfield (4-4) 12th in Class B.
Katrina Hagberg is talented returning pitcher for a Deuel team that took seventh in Class B last June. Arlington was third, but lost star pitcher Taya Clausen when she moved to Arizona.
Florence-Henry is a first-year squad this spring and also had a pretty good hurler in Elizabeth Reiter.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Young and talented Castlewood enjoying another talented softball season
