LEGION BASEBALL

London faces former Alexandria teammates

Zach London was waiting a long time for his revenge. When he got his chance, he took full advantage. London — who lives in Mount Vernon but plays on Mitchell’s Legion team — remembers three years ago when his teener team lost to Alexandria in the state tournament. The come-from-behind win for Alexandria has stuck in the pit of London’s stomach for some time. That is, until late Wednesday night, when Mitchell beat Alexandria’s Legion team in the first round of the state Legion baseball tournament 13-10.

By Luke Hagen , July 30, 2010

Rainy day gives pitchers extra rest

Mitchell coach Luke Norden still isn’t sure who he’s going to start in today’s second-round state Legion baseball tournament game. Though, he usually doesn’t announce who’s going to pitch until pre-game warm ups. Thursday’s rain and postponed tournament isn’t bothering Norden much. Nor is it bugging Brandon Hunt, Sioux Falls East’s coach, whose team will play Mitchell at approximately 3 p.m. today.

By Luke Hagen , July 30, 2010

State Legion baseball tournament postponed to Friday

The state Legion baseball tournament has been postponed until Friday morning. Play will begin at 10 a.m. and all four second-round games will be shortened to seven innings. The conclusion of the Watertown versus Sioux Falls West game will be played at Cadwell Park at 10 a.m. Aberdeen and Alexandria will play their elimination game at approximately 11 a.m. on Drake Field. Pierre and Rapid City Post 22 will play following the Watertown/Sioux Falls West game at Cadwell Park and Sioux Falls East will play Mitchell following the Pierre/Post 22 game on Cadwell Park. Third-round games will be played immediately following the conclusion of the second round Friday. A decision will be made, depending on time, if the third-round games will be seven or nine-inning contests.

By Sports staff , July 29, 2010

State Legion tournament postponed further

Because of the rain in the Mitchell area, the state Legion baseball tournament has been postponed until 6 p.m. at the earliest. The field will be evaluated at 4 p.m. and the decision will be made at that time if the tournament will resume today or not. If the rain stops and the field is able to be worked on, play will begin with the Waterown and Sioux Falls West game resuming in the third inning at Cadwell Park and the other elimination game, which pits Aberdeen aginst Alexandria, will start at 6 p.m. on Drake Field. If play begins at 6 p.m., the two winner's bracket games would still be played tonight at Cadwell Park following the Watertown/S.F. West game.

By Sports staff , July 29, 2010

State tournament postponed, will resume at 3 p.m. today

The elimination game of the state Legion baseball tournament between Watertown and Sioux Falls West has been postponed by rain in the third inning. The field will be evaluated at 2 p.m. and the game will start up again tentatively at 3 p.m. The game is tied at 4 with two outs in the top of the third inning.

By Sports staff , July 29, 2010

Rain delays state Legion game at Cadwell Park

An elimination game between Watertown and Sioux Falls West was tied at 4 in the top of the third inning this morning when it was delayed by rain.

July 29, 2010

Post 18 avoids upset in round one

It took a while, but there was some life in the little Class B team from Alexandria. Trailing by seven runs in the first round of the Class A state Legion baseball tournament Wednesday evening at Cadwell Park, something finally turned on Alexandria’s offense. It batted 12 men in the fifth inning, picking up five hits and tied the game at 7. It wasn’t enough. Mitchell — which played in front of an estimated crowd of 1,500 — continued to score and got its biggest hit on a bases-clearing, three-RBI triple from Collin Moen in the seventh to avoid a first-round upset and beat Alexandria 13-10.

By Luke Hagen , July 29, 2010

Post 22 takes Sioux Falls West in extra innings

Rapid City Post 22’s Kolton Emery scored on a Donte Bledsoe single in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat Sioux Falls West 3-2 in the first round of the Class A state Legion baseball tournament Wednesday at Cadwell Park. Post 22 tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the ninth inning when Taylor Muhlbeier scored with one out on a Jake Bohne double.

By Sports staff , July 28, 2010

Bledsoe's single wins it in the 12th for Post 22

Donte Bledsoe's single drove in Kolton Emery with the game-winning run and Rapid City Post 22 beat Sioux Falls West 3-2 in 12 innings in a first-round game at the Class A state Legion baseball tournament at Cadwell Park. The starters for both team were spectacular. Emery went nine innings for Post 22 and struck out 11. He allowed one earned run on eight hits. Tony Vigor pitched the first 10 innings for West and gave up two earned runs on 10 hits. He also struck out 11. Post 22 plays Pierre at 5 p.m. Thursday. West plays Watertown at 10 a.m. in an elimination game Thursday.

By Sports staff , July 28, 2010

Sioux Falls East routs Aberdeen in first round of Class A state Legion tourney

Sioux Falls East routed Aberdeen 9-1 in a first-round game of the Class A state Legion tournament Wednesday afternoon at Cadwell Park. East took care of business behind seven shutout innings from ace Brady Cross and posted a six-run third inning to take control of the contest. Cross allowed eight hits, struck out two batters and walked three.

By Sports staff , July 28, 2010

Pierre beats Watertown in first round of Class A state Legion tourney

Pierre beat Watertown 6-5 in the opening game of the Class A state Legion baseball tournament Wednesday morning at Cadwell Park in Mitchell. Pierre's Scott Cichos threw a complete game and allowed fiver runs, two of which were earned, and struck out five. He allowed 10 hits.

By Sports staff , July 28, 2010

Post 22 looking to repeat

Among the majority of coaches at today’s Class A state Legion baseball tournament, the consensus is the same. The defending state champion is the favorite. Rapid City Post 22 defeated Rapid City Post 320 in last year’s state championship under the direction of longtime manager Dave Ploof. Ploof, who’s been with Post 22 since 1965, has more than 2,400 career wins, 33 state championships and his 1993 team won the Legion World Series. At 5 p.m. today, Post 22 (43-11) starts its title defense against Sioux Falls West (17-34) in the first round of the Class A state Legion tournament at Cadwell Park.

By Luke Hagen , July 28, 2010

Post 18 starts state tourney run tonight against Alexandria

There were two times this season where Mitchell Legion coach Luke Norden was extremely impressed with his team. One being its third to last game of the regular season, when it beat Rapid City Post 22 9-5 in Rapid City July 17. Many things went right for Norden’s team the day it beat the defending state champion. “If you go back and focus on the good points and the good at-bats, we had some nice success (against Post 22),” Norden said. “Hopefully, we can do some similar things in this tournament.” At approximately 8 p.m. today at Cadwell Park, Mitchell will play Alexandria in the first round of the Class A state Legion baseball tournament, which is a five-day, double-elimination tournament that hosts eight teams from around South Dakota.

By Luke Hagen , July 28, 2010

Howard/Salem falls to Groton

LENNOX — The Howard/Salem baseball team had five hits, five errors and went down in order five times Sunday at the final day of the Class B state Legion baseball tournament. Groton defeated Howard/Salem 4-2 in an elimination game before moving on to fall to Alexandria in the championship game. Howard/Salem never got much going against Groton’s two pitchers. Howard/Salem’s offense scored one run in the first and one in the sixth, but struck out 10 times and went down in order in the third, fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

By Luke Hagen , July 26, 2010

Alexandria wins 'B' Legion title

LENNOX — It was evident to Jerry Smith that Tyson Gau would be a strikeout specialist when the young righty was six years old. Now Alexandria’s Legion baseball coach, Smith recalls Gau blowing fastballs past opponents four or five years older than he was in the backyard. Not much has changed over the years. Gau relieved Paul Paradies in the fourth inning of Sunday’s Class B state Legion championship game to strike out 12 Groton batters and lead his team to a 5-4 win.

By Luke Hagen , July 26, 2010