Watertown falls in State A Junior Legion title game; Aberdeen wins state 13-14 championship
REDFIELD — Dell Rapids clinched a berth in the championship game of the state Class B American Legion Baseball tournament with an 8-5 win over host Redfield on Sunday night.
The double-elimination tourney continues through Tuesday.
Dell Rapids (27-2) broke open the game with a five-run fourth inning. Brayden Pankonen had two hits and two runs batted in and also notched the save in relief of starter Tad Tjaden, who scattered three hits and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings.
Redfield (22-8) got a double and a single from Peyton Osborn and singles from Erik Salmen and and Kevin Weller. Nolan Gall took the loss.
In elimination games on Saturday, Elk Point-Jefferson edged Salem-Montrose-Canova 5-3 and Tabor handled the Clark-Willow Lake Senators 13-1.
Keaton Gale collected three hits and Ben Swatek doubled for EPJ (19-11). Tayson Swatek went six innings on the mound for the win. Jack Neises hit two doubles and Weston Remmers one for SMC (18-7).
An eight-run second inning paved the way for Tabor (20-6), which received three hits from Brady Bierema and two-hit performances from Riley Rothschadl, Landon Bares and Jackson Caba. Landon Schmidt allowed only one hit and struck out seven over four innings.
Trey Huber and Jakob Steen each singled for the Senators, who finished the season 10-12.
State Class A Junior Legion
HARRISBURG — Sioux Falls East spoiled Watertown Post 17's bid for the state championship on Sunday, scoring 12 runs in the top of the first on the way to a 13-0 win.
Post 17 (37-15-1) opened the day with a 1-0 semifinal win over the Rapid City Post 22 Expos, scoring the only run on the day when Markus Pitkin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning. Talan Jurgens tossed a two-hitter in the win.
East downed Renner 11-1 in the other semifinal.
In the championship, Nathan Briggs had three hits for Watertown.
Class A Baseball State Tourneys
Four teams won Class A Baseball state titles on Sunday: Yankton Black Sox (16-and-under), Harrisburg (14-and-under), Brandon Valley Black (13-and-under) and Aberdeen Smittys (13/14-and-under).
Yankton won the 16U tourney at Sioux Falls with a 12-10 win over Brandon Valley. Yankton blanked Renner 2-0 and Brandon Valley slipped past Pierre 5-3 in semifinals.
Harrisburg edged Sioux Falls 3-2 in the 14-and-under championship at Renner. Harrisburg opened the day with an 8-6 semifinal win over the Watertown Black Sox (22-12). Sioux Falls beat Rapid City Post 22 10-5 in the other semifinal.
In the state 13U tourney at Brookings, Brandon Valley Black blanked the Watertown Grey Sox (25-15-12) 3-0 in the semifinals and then topped Brandon Valley Red 10-0 in the championship. Brandon Valley Red topped Renner 7-5 in the other semifinal.
In the 13/14U tourney at Aberdeen, the host Smittys completed a 14-17-1 season by beating Harrisburg Black 10-4 in the championship. The Watertown White Sox (15-15-1) rolled past Brandon Valley 17-3 for third place.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Dell Rapids tops Redfield in unbeaten game in State B Legion tourney
