The postseason has arrived for South Dakota’s high school baseball players and golfers. Here some recent awards and results:
High School Baseball Awards
Four players from the Watertown Arrows Post 17 and another from the Aberdeen Smittys have earned postseason honors from the South Dakota High School Baseball Association.
Senior pitcher Jackson McClemans and senior outfielder Markus Pitkin both have been named to the SDHSBA Class A All-State team for the Arrows (13-7), who open play on Friday, May 22, in the state tourney at Sioux Falls. Junior third baseman Jackson Post 17 also earned all-state honors for Aberdeen.
McClemans, a right-handed thrower, made the all-state first team by compiling a 4-2 record with one save, 35 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings and a 0.67 earned-run average to date this spring. Pitkin made the second team by batting .533 (32-for-60) so far this spring with a .587 on-base percentage and 1.487 OPS (on base plus slugging). He tallied nine doubles, five triples, one home, 19 runs and 20 RBIs.
Post batted .522 (24-for-46) with a .558 on-base percentage and 1.340 OPS for the Smittys, who went 4-10 this spring. He had seven doubles, one triple, one homer, 16 runs scored and 19 RBIs.
McClemans, Pitkin and teammates Johnathan Lake and Hunter Halaljian each earned Class A All-Region honors along with Post. Lake, a junior catcher, is hitting .354 (23-for-65) with a .419 on-base percentage and .911 OPS. He has six doubles and one homer to go with 21 RBIs. Halajian, a lefty-hander starter, is 4-0 this sprign with 38 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings and a 1.78 ERA.
- Class A All-State First Team — SS-P Brecken Biteler and 1B-C Caleb Bumann, SF Washington; UTL-P Jack Blomgren and OF-P Caleb Severin, Brandon Valley; CF Caiden Comparetto and 1B-P Trevor Schlosser, RC Stevens; 3B-P Bennett Duncan, O’Gorman; OF Bryson Esser, Harrisburg; 3B-P Samuel Gokie and P Beck Ryken, Yankton; UTL Colin Lunders, SF Lincoln; P Everett Salonen, SF Jefferson; SS Carter Schiefelbein, Pierre; and OF Steven Solano, RC Central.
- Class All-State Second Team — P Jacob Ebert, Mitchell; 1B Easton Feser and P Boston Frick, Yankton; IF Lawsen Hensley, SF Roosevelt; SS Brody Jacobson, SF Jefferson; OF-DH Noah Rutten, 1B-3B-P Kade Wede and UTL Gavin Weir, Harrisburg; C Sutton Sonnenschein and P Carter Templeton, Pierre; and UTL-P Opland Sonnichsen and 1B-OF Jude Timat of SF Lincoln.
Class B High School Baseball Playoffs
Top-seeded Madison and sixth-seeded Clark Area each qualified for the state Class B tournament by topping North Super Regional qualifiers on Wednesday, May 20.
At Madison, Madison (20-2) beat eighth-seeded Elkton-Lake Benton 3-2 on a walk-off error and fourth-seeded Groton Area used Case Reints’ two-run walk-off single to beat No. 5 Sioux Valley-Estelline-Arlington 3-2. Madison then held off Groton Area 4-3 to clinch a state-tourney berth.
JD Prorok doubled and earned the win with two innings of shutoff relief for Madison against ELB. Ryland Johnson added a triple for Madison. Colt Beck went 2-for-4 and also went the distance in the loss for ELB (6-12), allowing only one earned run with seven strikeouts. Lincoln Krause tripled to back the complete-game pitching effort of Gavin Englund for Groton Area against Sioux Valley. Bret Milton went 3-for-4 for SV-E-A (8-8)
Back-to-back homers by Prorok and Quincy Kurtz in the third inning gave Madison the lead against Groton Area, which trailed 4-1 before scoring twice in the top of the seventh. Prorok started and fanned nine batters in four innings on the mound. Krause had two hits, including a solo homer, for Groton Area (7-11).
At Sisseton, Clark Area (10-6) advanced by holding off third-seeded Milbank 5-4 in the first round and beating second-seeded Sisseton-Britton-Webster 6-2 in the final game. SBW won its opener 8-0 over seventh-seeded Redfield Area (6-11) 8-0.
Carter Stickland doubled and singled twice and Ben Suther added a double and single for SBW in the win over Redfield Area. Ryland Anderson fanned eight batters in five innings and two relievers each added scoreless innings in the shutout win.
Clark Area led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh against Milbank, which pulled within 5-4 on Bennett Hunt’s two-run double. Watson Grantham came on to strike out the final batter to preserve the win. Caleb Drenth doubled and singled and Charlie Luvaas scattered three hits and fanned eight batters over six inning Clark Area. Kaleb Lindstrom had three hits and Aiden Kelly went the distance in the loss.
Clark Area scored three unearned run in the top of the first and used Grantham’s strong pitching (5 1/3 innings and one hit allowed) to knock off SBW to advance to state. Drenth had two hits and Jakob Steen doubled for Clark Area.
The state B tourney is slated for Mary 25-26 at Bob Sheldon Field in Brookings.
SDHSBA Hall of Fame
Former Redfield Muskrats standout Bennett Osborn is one of six players, two umpires, one contributor and one Team of the Year inducted into the S.D. High School Baseball Hall of Fame in 2026.
Osborn, a four-year varsity performer, earned Class B all-state first team honors in both 2018 and 2019. As a senior in 2019, the shortstop-pitcher batted .456 with eight extra-base hits and 21 RBIs and also went 3-0 on the mound with a 1.78 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.
Other inductees are players Ryan Kessinger of SF Washington, George Eccarius of St. Thomas More, Sheldon Gant of Yankton; Spencer Sarringar of Pierre; and Dylan Kirkeby of Brandon Valley; contributor Randy Preston of Sioux Falls; umpires Matt Clark of Huron and Steve Krier of Sioux Valley; and the 2017 Dell Rapids team.
High School Golf
Area golfers punched their tickets to state during Region 1B and 2B tournaments early this week. The Region 1B tourney was held Monday, May 18 at Lee Park Golf Course in Aberdeen and Region 2B took place on Tuesday, May 19 at Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings.
State B tourneys are scheduled for June 1-2 at Brookings (girls at Edgebrook and boys at the Brookings Country Club). Area state qualifiers from the two regions include:
- Region 1B Boys — 1. Seth Lesnar, Webster Area, 1-under 70; 2. Briggs LaBrie, Doland (76); 3. Drake Mueller, Faulkton Area (78); 4. Seth Hettick, Edmunds Central (78); 5. Kooper Wookey, Clark-Willow Lake (79); 6. Kaiden Weinreis, Doland (79); 7. Harrison Beyers, EC (79); 8. Cade Gaikowski, CWL (79); 9. Wyatt Schlagel, CWL (81); 10. Barrett Pommer, Great Plains Lutheran (82); 11. Lofton Heer, Britton-Hecla (82); 12. Henry Bossly, Faulkton Area (84); 13. Blake Bjorgaard, Warner (84); 14. Hayden Liebl, Warner (84); 15. Jace Rein, BH (85); 16. Trent Beyers, EC (85); 17. Braylen Liebl, Warner (85); 18. Nate Bass, Ipswich (89); 19. Logan Borns, CWL (91); 20. Caysen Knust, Ipswich (91); 21. Spencer Melius, Faulkton Area (92); 22. Quinn Simonson, WA (92); 23. Maverick Coester, WA (92); 24. Ezra Schaffer, GPL (93) and 25, Charles Schuller, BH (93). Champion CWL (239) and runner-up EC (242) each qualified their teams for state. Warner, WA, Faulkton Area and BH, with three qualifiers, also will be eligible for team honors.
- Region 1B Girls— 1. Brynn Roehrich, CWL, 1-over 72 (fourth-straight region title); 2. Faith Roehrich, CWL (80); 3. Ruby Dallman, Frederick Area (81); 4. Sage Gaikowski, Waubay-Summit (82); 5. Anika Mueller, Faulkton Area (83); 6. Ellis Johnson, Warner (83); 7. Mollie Simon, Ipswich (84); 8. Delaney Johnson, Warner (86); 9. Bailee Ninke, WA (88); 10. Olivia Knox, Doland (91); 11. Raegaqn Geditz, Faulkton Area (82); 12. Addison Walkins, GPL (92); 13. Peyton Knox, Doland (96); 14. Mallory Nelson, CWL (96); 15. Mia Coester, WA (97); 16. Brooklyn Kast, Faulkton Area (99); and 25. Kinley Mueller, Faulkton Area (101). Champion CWL (248) and runner-up Faulkton Area (274) each qualified their teams for state.
- Region 2B Boys — 2. Gradyn Henrich, De Smet (80); 3. Aiden Abraham, Hamlin (80); 6. Davis Gales, Castlewood (82); 9. Atticus Eyjolfson, EH (93); 10. Lane Schindler, ELB (84); 12. Maxxon Kees, De Smet (85); 13. Emmett Schwiesow, Deuel (86); 15. Bryce Heflin, Arlington (87); 16. Cam Olsen, EH (88); 17. Carter Wilkinson, De Smet (88); 19. Corbin Lingrel, DA (89); 20. Cade Hexem, EH (89); 21. Gavin Maaland, Deuel (90); 23. Elyk Swiden, Hamlin (90); 23. Trysten Huntimer, Arlington (90) and 25. Chance Schoenfeld, DA (90). Champion Wessington Springs (249) and runner-up Howard (251) each qualified their teams for state. De Smet and EH, with three qualifiers, also will be eligible for team honors.
- Region 2B Girls — 1. Ava Crooks, Deubrook Area, 15-over 85; 3. Brooke Jennings, De Smet (88); 4. Harper Anderson, De Smet (89); 5. Brooklyn Gaddis, DA (89); 6. Sienna Ohlsen, DA (91); 7. Reese Jacobson, Hamlin (95); 8. Claryssa Hanson, Deuel (95); 9. Brynlee Hansen, DA (95); 10. Malyha Slegers, Elkton-Lake Benton (99); 11. Olivia Karst, Castlewood (99); 14. Lita Fryer, Estelline-Hendricks (100); 15. Quinn Slegers, ELB (101). Champion DA (263) and runner-up ELB (302) each qualfiied their teams for state.
Redfield golfers competed on May 19 in the Region 3A girls tournament at Mitchell, but didn’t qualify any golfers for the state tournament June 1-2 at North Sioux City. Other area girls were slated to compete Thursday, May 21 in the Region 1A tourney at Dell Rapids.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Postseason high school baseball and golf