Renner Monarchs reclaim Class A championship

After a one-year hiatus, the Renner Monarchs are once again the Class A state amateur baseball champions.

Dallas Schneiderman threw a four-hitter to lead Renner past Brandon Valley 7-0 Sunday at Cadwell Park.

The Class A title is Renner's fourth in the last five years. Last year, Brandon Valley defeated Renner 5-3 in the championship game. The Monarchs have also won seven Class A titles since 2001 and the town of Renner has won 14 amateur championships since the tournament started in 1933. The first title was in 1939, and one of the titles was won by a Class B team, Macy's Renner, in 1995.

"We feel Renner is where the championship belongs," Monarchs manager Kevin Knetsch said. "That's what we play for every year, and we don't feel like it's an accident that we keep getting here.

"We keep getting older, and it doesn't get any easier, but we are fortunate enough to make it happen."

This was the ninth straight year the Renner Monarchs have played in the championship game.

Schneiderman made sure this championship was never in doubt. He pitched the complete game shutout and walked two batters, hit two more and struck out four batters.

The start was only Schneiderman's third of the year and two of the starts came during the state tournament. He started Renner's opening game of the tournament against the Vermillion Red Sox Aug. 5 in Pierre.

Schneiderman, who is 32, said he can not pitch as many games as he used to, but he still felt good on the mound Sunday.

"I started halfway through the year and I try to get to the point where I can throw in some games that actually matter," he said. "I'm just glad that everything worked out and glad the title is back with the Monarchs."

This is Schneiderman's third year playing for the Monarchs and he was part of the championship team in 2009.

"I've been retiring off and on," he said. "I really wanted to do this for the guys who are pretty old and want to go out on a high note.

"It was a good feeling to do it for the guys who are debating if they are going to come back next year."

Even though Schneiderman only made two starts before the championship game Sunday, Knetsch said he knew what Schneiderman was going to bring to the table for the game.

"That's why we call him the Magic Man," he said. "You know he is going to go out there and I would never bet against him in anything."

You just never know what kind of tricks he is going to pull out, and you never question his heart."

Renner scored its first run in the second inning. In the fourth inning, the Monarchs scored four more runs and added two more in the seventh in the win.

Michael Clapp was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, Luke Langenfeld was 1-for-4 and had two RBIs and a run scored and Brian McGuire was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Brandon Valley coach Bryce Ahrendt said he expects both teams to compete for the state title again.

"I wish it was a little bit better of a game than the scoreboard showed," he said. "I think you are going to see this championship for years to come. We seem to get guys back that play and compete, and so do they.

"I think it's a good, healthy rivalry that we have going on right now. It's a hard pill to swallow losing, but they swallowed that pill last year."

Notes: McGuire was named the Keith Cutler Most Valuable Player for the Class A tournament ... Brandon Valley's Drew Heithoff earned the Sid Lundquist state tournament batting champion in Class A. He hit .667 in the Class A tournament.