AMATEUR BASEBALL

Miscues get to Gregory

SIOUX FALLS — A mulligan was needed after the first inning for the Gregory Prairie Dogs in the opening round of the state amateur baseball tournament Saturday against the Madison Broncos. Madison won 17-0 in a game that ended after five innings. Gregory yielded 10 runs —none earned — with seven errors and four Broncos hits to dig an early hole they couldn’t get out of. “All I can say is that it was one of those nights,” Prairie Dogs’ manager Greg Crose said. “We had a good year up until (Saturday). We lost our shortstop, Austin Hamilton, with a .359 batting average, in districts with a torn hamstring which hurt us.”

By By OWEN REITZEL , August 09, 2010

Winner-Colome cruises past Bryant in first-round game

SIOUX FALLS — The Winner-Colome amateur baseball team didn’t get the start it needed Saturday. A seven-run fifth inning changed that. Winner-Colome advanced to the second round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament by beating Bryant 17-7 Saturday.

By Sports staff , August 09, 2010

Kuiper pitches Killer Tomatoes into second round

SIOUX FALLS — Platte rode a two-hit pitching performance from Myles Kuiper to defeat Irene 10-0 in a game shortened to eight innings in first round play at the state amateur tournament Sunday. Kuiper fought the heat and humidity, being hit by a line drive in the leg, getting whapped on the shoulder while at-bat and after catching a foul fly ball, suffered a big-toe injury. Through all the suffering, Kupier pitched seven shutout innings. “The heat was a killer out there,” Kuiper said. “But the pitching has been shaky this year and I’m glad that I could come out and throw well in the state tournament for my team.”

By By OWEN REITZEL , August 09, 2010

Raptors roll past Wynot in second round

SIOUX FALLS — Thomas Pickett threw eight innings and struck out 10 batters to carry Dimock-Emery to a 14-3 rout over Wynot (Neb.) in a second-round game of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament Sunday night at Sioux Falls Stadium. Pickett allowed two runs on eight hits to help the Raptors secure their spot among the final eight teams vying for a state championship. “People know that this is the time of year to put it all together,” Pickett said. “Whether it be with our hitting, fielding or pitching. We picked up some great guys from Alexandria, and we have a pretty good pitching staff, so we’re a confident group right now.”

By Travis Mester , August 09, 2010

Salem falls in extras

SIOUX FALLS — Redfield’s Brent Osborn scored from third on a misplayed grounder in the bottom of the 10th inning to give his team an 11-10 win over the Salem Cubs in a first-round game of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament Friday afternoon at Sioux Falls Stadium. With the bases loaded and no one out, Redfield’s Keith Gall hit a hard bouncer toward Salem’s Jeremy Grady at third base that Grady was unable to field cleanly. The slight bobble allowed Osborn to slide home for the winning run in a back-and-forth contest that saw the lead switch hands three times in the final three innings.

By Travis Mester , August 07, 2010

Alfson's HRs help Gang avoid first-round upset

SIOUX FALLS — Devin Alfson hit a pair of three-run homers, Jared Donahue picked up the win in relief and Canova rallied from a six-run deficit in the first round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament Thursday. The defending state champions tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning on Alfson’s second homer and tacked on two runs in the eighth to win 8-6 at Sioux Falls Stadium. “A pair of changeups he left hanging,” Alfson said of the two pitches he sent soaring over the left-center field fence. “He had me guessing earlier in the game — up, down, in and out — but he left a couple hanging there for me.”

By Luke Hagen , August 06, 2010

Four-run seventh gets Mudcats past Owls

SIOUX FALLS – The Parkston Mudcats scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a tie game and beat Wessington Springs Thursday in the first round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament. Mudcats’ starting pitcher Jordan Gau helped his team forget last year’s one-run, first-round loss to Flandreau by throwing a complete game with 12 strikeouts in the 8-4 win over the Owls Thursday night at Sioux Falls Stadium. “That comes to mind quite often,” Parkston coach Dave Roth said of the 2-1 loss last year that knocked his team from the tournament. “It wasn’t mentioned at all before the game, but I’m sure it was in the back of the team’s minds.”

By Luke Hagen , August 06, 2010

Kortan slams door on Mount Vernon

SIOUX FALLS – With his team leading by one run, Tabor’s Gary Kortan kept Mount Vernon’s hitters off balance for the final three innings. Through the seventh, eighth and ninth, Kortan retired nine in a row and never allowed a base runner to maintain the slim lead for a 7-6 win over the Cardinals Thursday in the first round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium. “Early, I threw pretty much all sliders,” Kortan said. “Then later, I switched to fastballs and off-speed pitches.”

By Luke Hagen , August 06, 2010

Raptors dominate in first round of state tourney

SIOUX FALLS — Dimock/Emery coach Ron DeGeest could not have been more pleased with the way his team opened the Class B state amateur baseball tournament Wednesday night. The Raptors got a quality start from Phil Johnson, played sound defense behind him and put the game away with a pair of big innings offensively in their 13-3, seven-inning win over Montrose-Humboldt-Hartford in the opening game of the state tournament at the Birdcage.

By Sports staff , August 05, 2010

Ballrockers knocked out by Wynot, Neb.

SIOUX FALLS — The Geddes Ballrockers have seen this happen all season long. They’ve fallen behind early in games and had to fight their way back time and time again. But it wasn’t meant to be Wednesday night. The Ballrockers mustered just two base hits and were eliminated by Wynot, Neb., 7-0 in a first-round game of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium. “It’s the same reason we lost games all year,” Geddes’ coach Mike Slaba said. “We dug ourselves a hole and they just wouldn’t let us out.” In a name, it was Wynot’s Eric Hames that wouldn’t let the Ballrockers breath.

By Sports staff , August 05, 2010

Canova looking to repeat

After a three-decade hiatus from the top of the state amateur baseball mountain, the Canova Gang won the Class B state amateur baseball tournament last summer at Cadwell Park. But just taking a peek at the bracket for this summer’s state tournament makes Dave Gassman cringe. “Our bracket is full of good teams this year,” said Gassman, who coached the Gang to a 25-4 record this season, including the District 4B championship. “We’re hopeful that we can do well, but we have a tough row to hoe as we look at the pairings. But we did last year, too.” The tournament, which is single-elimination, begins today and the championship game will be played Sunday, Aug. 15, at Sioux Falls Stadium, commonly known as The Bird Cage.

By Travis Mester , August 04, 2010

Geddes earns trip to state

PARKSTON — Willie Meis struck out 10 batters in nine innings of work to lead the Geddes Ballrockers past the Corsica/Stickney Jaguars 10-5 in a District 5B amateur baseball tournament game Saturday night in Parkston.

By Sports staff , August 02, 2010

First-round pairings of the state amateur tournament released

The first round of the Class B state amateur baseball tournament was announced Sunday evening.

By Sports staff , August 02, 2010

Mudcats take District 5B

PARKSTON — Brady Nolz hit two home runs, a double, a single and drove in three runs to lead the Parkston Mudcats past the Mount Vernon Cardinals 17-7 in eight innings in the championship game of the District 5B amateur baseball tournament Friday night in Parkston. By making it to the championship game, both teams had already secured births in the upcoming amateur state tournament in Sioux Falls. Nolz also picked up the win on the mound after tossing 2.1 innings of relief for the Mudcats, who also were the regular-season champions of the Sunshine League. The Mudcats did lose their final two regular-season games against Mount Vernon and Dimock/Emery, but recaptured their dominance in district play.

By Travis Mester , July 31, 2010

Ballrockers end Rock Bass' season

PARKSTON — The Geddes Ballrockers kept their season alive with an 11-4 win over the Parkston Rock Bass in an elimination game at the District 5B amateur baseball tournament Wednesday night in Parkston. Travis Gant went all nine innings on the hill for Geddes. He struck out eight batters.

By Sports staff , July 29, 2010