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PARKER, S.D. — The first round of state champions in the South Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars youth baseball state tournaments were crowned Sunday in three divisions.
In the Class B 12-and-under baseball bracket, which was played in Parker and Hurley, Canistota/Freeman emerged with the state title with a 14-3 win over Bon Homme. Winner defeated Scotland/Menno 19-3 in the third-place game, and claimed the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award. Canistota/Freeman finished the weekend without a loss, going 2-0 in pool play and then earning an 11-0 quarterfinal win over Clark Area and a 10-0 win over Winner in the semifinals. Parkston and Platte/Geddes were also in the championship bracket.
In the 8-and-under open-class championship, which uses a pitching machine and was contested in Bryant, Corsica/Stickney finished in second place with a 6-4 loss to Madison in the championship game. To get to the title round, Corsica/Stickney was 3-0 in pool play, allowing only nine runs in the first three games. From there, they defeated Platte/Geddes, 8-4, and the West Central Trojans 8-7 in the semifinals. Canistota/Freeman also made the championship bracket, falling to Madison in the quarterfinals.
At the Class A 12U state tournament in Humboldt, West Central Hammers defeated Dell Rapids 14-4 in the championship game, with the Bruce Stingers taking third place in a 13-9 win over the Dakota Valley Thunder. Wagner, the lone area team in the event, did not qualify for the championship bracket out of pool play.
