Mitchell White expects championship run

The Mitchell White teener baseball team enters the 13-14 AA minors state tournament with high expectations.

“Since this team has gotten together we all have set the bar pretty high,” coach Brett Flemmer said. “We expect to play in the championship. We’ve had that mindset all year long and we’ve viewed all the games and tournaments up to this point as preparation.”

White (24-14) begins play in the state tournament at 8 a.m. Friday in Huron against Aberdeen. On Saturday, White plays Watertown and Sioux Falls East, the other two teams in the pool.

White is 4-1 against Aberdeen on the season, 4-3 against Sioux Falls East and defeated Watertown in the only contest between the two teams.

Flemmer said his team is very confident heading into the tournament and will simply need to avoid critical mistakes to make a run at a title.

“In our eyes, we are the only team that can beat us,” he said. “I think we’d be disappointed in anything less than playing in the championship.”

Flemmer said pitching has been the key to White’s victories and said Spencer Neugebauer, Elijah Pommar and Sam Michels have stood out as aces of the staff.

At the plate, Neugebauer has been a leader for the team with both his average and power, batting fourth in the order. Flemmer also said Ross Yeo has been an important player as of late.

“Yeo bats fifth and went on a week-long vacation and has been tearing the cover off the ball ever since,” Flemmer said. “Our entire lineup can hit on any given day, but the fourth and fifth spots are the ones I would look for coming into the weekend.”

Flemmer said the team has struggled at times when the hitters are overly patient.

“We have to be aggressive at the plate,” he said. “We are full of hitters but sometimes we let the pitcher dictate our approach. I’d like to see us be more aggressive and hit our pitches early in the count.”

Pool play for the tournament runs Friday and Saturday with the championship taking place Sunday in Huron.

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