TRAPPERS ROUT PHOENIX TO ADVANCE TO STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT; STICKS ELIMINATED
Scotland/Menno is heading to the Class B State Softball Tournament.
Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix is heading home.
Facing off in the SoDak 16 Wednesday evening, May 21 in Scotland, the Trappers used the momentum of a two-out hit parade in the bottom of the first inning to jump in front of the Phoenix and never looked back. The result was a convincing 14-1 win to put them in the second-ever SDHSAA-sanctioned state tournament for softball.
The Trappers will take a 12-4 record into the tournament, which will be held at the Players Sports Complex in Aberdeen May 30-June 1.
They are the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Gayville-Volin at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30. The winner of that game advances to the semifinals the following afternoon against either No. 8 Elkton-Lake Benton or No. 1 Castlewood.
The Phoenix, which started its season 6-2, finish 7-9.
Freeman/Marion/FA scored first in the top of the first on account of two Trappers errors, and starting pitcher Harli Ross quickly retired the first two Scotland/Menno batters in the bottom of that inning, but a walk followed by a double, followed by a single, followed by a double, followed by another single put the Trappers in front 4-1 and they were off and running.
Scotland/Menno scored six in the second and four more in the third to make it 14-1, and the game ended by the mercy rule in the fifth inning.
Claire Loofbourrow, Cadence Hofer and Kaytlin Pankratz had the only hits for the Phoenix, with Loofbourrow and Pankratz both doubling.
For the Trappers, Kylie Guthmiller went 3-for-3 and had 4 RBI while Grace Robb and Kimmy Kubal each collected a pair of hits and 2 RBI each. Olivia Binde also drive in a pair of runs.
Sticks eliminated in Region 1 action
Also Wednesday evening, the Canistota/Freeman/Marion Sticks took the field in the South Dakota High School Baseball Association Region 1 Tournament at Dakota Valley looking to win two games to get to state.
They didn’t even win one.
Starting pitcher Taite Klumb and Parkston/Ethan/Tripp had the Sticks’ number from the start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead early and scoring six more in the third to make it an 8-0 game. By the time Canistota/Freeman/Marion came to bat in the sixth inning it was 13-0, and the Sticks hadn’t even recorded a hit. That changed when Tayden Kerrigan got on base with a two-out double — breaking up Klumb’s no-hitter — but it was of little importance otherwise.
Parkston/Ethan/Tripp collected 14 hits in the win.
