Schedule:
Saturday, May 28th
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
12:05 PM- #1 Roosevelt vs #4 Mitchell
2:05 PM- #6 Washington vs #7 Lincoln
5:05 PM- STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Team Previews
#1 Roosevelt (18-1)
The undisputed #1 throughout most of the season, Roosevelt comes into the tournament looking to complete a destiny. The Rough Riders only had to play 1 game in the Region tournament, taking down the Yankton Bucks on a walk-off sacrifice fly.
The Bucks had played well against the Rough Riders earlier on May 10th in the year, but Roosevelt held on for 2-0 and 4-1 victories and the Region title. Now, they set their sights to the Mitchell Kernels, a team they have not played yet this season.
Roosevelt is going to need to bring their top pitching to the tournament, lead by the 1st-Team All-State honoree Ben Irseld. Irseld was the winning pitcher in the Region game, going the distance while striking out 12. Jack Radel and Marcus Phillips then look to be the next 2 arms available.
Another 1st-Team All-State (UTL) selection, Phillip, who is a Iowa Western CC commit, hasn’t thrown since May 14th, when he got the 5-inning shutout victory with 8 strikeouts over O’Gorman. Phillips also went 3 innings against Jefferson back on the 5th, while Radel has made 2 starts this month against Pierre (7th) and a later Jefferson (16th) game. It will be interesting to see who the other starter will be, as Jack Mongar, Dexter Payne, Zach Te Grotenhuis have all made starts this month.
I would think it would have to be Radel or Phillips, barring an unforeseen injury, with the other ready to appear at a moments notice. No matter who the pitcher is though, the bats have been hot for the Rough Riders. In 7 of their last 10 games, Roosevelt has scored 9 or more runs. Those other 3 games? Against the Yankton Bucks.
2nd-Team All-State selection Jamie Legg looks to help lead the way for the Rough Riders, who have 10-run ruled both Washington and Lincoln this season.
Overall, the Rough Riders look to be in a good position to take the crown. They have the pitching plus the hitting, and hold strong as the favorites the win the state tournament.
#4 Mitchell (17-7)
The Kernels took down 2 team in their regional that both could have made a run in the state tournament. First, they defeated the newcomers, Jefferson, in a 5-3 victory. Harrisburg was their next opponent, a team known to mash the ball. Jake Helleloid, however, pitched great, giving up 0 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings while striking out 10. Dylan Soulek then cleaned up the win with 4 strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
Soulek actually got the save in the first game as well, which goes to show how valuable he is as an arm out of the pen for the Kernels. The Jefferson game was won by Landon Waddell, who went 6 innings. I think that the Kernels will probably flip the starters for the state tournament, which should make for an exciting battle between Helleloid and Irsfeld. Jonah Schmidt, Gavin Soukup, Peyton Schroder, and Jace Larson have all notably gotten starts in the last month, while Waddell has lead with 3 starts. My guess for the state championship would be Waddell, as the 2nd-Team All-Stater has not lost a game this season, highlighted by a 12 strikeout performance against Jefferson.
The Kernels are loaded with talent, with Helleloid and Schmidt receiving 1st-Team Honors, while Soulek, Larson and the aforementioned Waddell received 2nd-Team.
So while I spoke earlier about Roosevelt being the favorite, I left room for the Kernels to make some noise as well. Mitchell has proven that they can take down tough teams in big moments, and they have the talent to compete with anyone in the state. This semifinal game may very well be as exciting as it gets, with a ton of talent ready to battle it out for 7 innings between the chalk.
#6 Washington (12-10)
An upset run to the state tournament, the Warriors are now in a great position to reach the state championship. Bryce Ronken and Cael Swanson are 2 big bats that received 1st-Team All-State Honors. Washington also picked up a big time pitching performances in regionals from Myles Rees, who got the complete game victory against O’Gorman. In the Region final against Brookings, Ronken went 4 innings before Jack Nesje and Andrew Glovich threw a combined 3 innings to get the victory.
Glovich has been used as a solid closer recently, while Joe Jacobson went 6 innings with 1 earned run against Yankton on the 17th. Again, I think Washington is another team with the pitching talent to reach the state championship, though their last game against Lincoln was a battle. The Warriors won 15-8 behind a big game from Swanson, who had 3 hits, including a home run, and 4 RBIs against the Patriots. Glovich was also a solid bat with 4 RBIs in the game, and reached base 3 times versus Brookings in the finals.
The Warriors and the Patriots have split this season, and my gut feeling tells me this is going to be an exciting game.
#7 Lincoln (11-9)
The Patriots picked up, arguably, the biggest win of any team in the Class A this season, with a regional final win over Brandon Valley. Lincoln was coming off a 4-game losing streak heading into the playoffs, before Lincoln Vasgaard held Stevens to 1 run in a complete game victory. Jackson Boe then earned the win against BV, while Charlie Mickelson completed a huge day with a combined 5 hits between the 2 games.
Teammate Nathan Motl also drove in 4 RBIs versus the Lynx and he will look to carry that momentum into the state tournament.
The Patriots only had one player on the All-State list, with Mason Tolrud reaching 2nd-Team. He was absent from the lineup against BV, and that’s really all the info I have on the situation, so we shall see if he plays in the state tournament. (It is worth noting he played earlier against Stevens.)
Either way, Lincoln has opened some eyes with their appearance at the Birdcage and I’m excited to see how they perform on Saturday.
Record are based on standings provided by the SDHSBA + Playoff Wins. Games that are not included in the countable standings were not listed.
All statistical information provided by GameChanger. While we like to include as many athletes as we can, we are unable to include every athlete in our articles.
