ABERDEEN — Defending champions Castlewood (Class B) and West Central (Class A) each cruised to first-round victories on Thursday in the South Dakota State High School Softball Tournament.
Class B and A games are being held at the Players Softball Complex. The tourney concludes on Saturday.
In first-round Class B games, top-seeded Castlewood downed Elkton-Lake Benton 13-3, No. 5 Scotland-Menno beat Gayville-Volin 12-8, No. 2 Alcester-Hudson held off Florence-Henry 7-5 and third-seeded Chester blanked Deuel 10-0.
No. 1 West Central throttled Elk Point-Jefferston 15-0, No. 4 Madison defeated Tri-Valley 7-2, No. 2 Dell Rapids blanked Dakota Valley 11-0 and No. 3 Tea Area blasted Beresford 16-0.
Class B (Castlewood 13, Elkton-Lake Benton 3)
Claire Horn fired a four-hitter with six strikeouts and also drove in three runs with a double and a single to lift the Warriors (16-4) to victory.
Bridgette Horn went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs and Cydni Kudrna and Lilly Jacobsen each were 2-for-3 for Castlewood.
Madelyn Jensen had two hits, including a double, for Elkton-Lake Benton (7-11).
Class B (Scotland-Menno 12, Gayville-Volin 8)
Olivia Binde went 5-for-5 with triple, three runs and three RBIs and also earned the win on the mound with 10 strikeouts in seven innings for Scotland-Menno (13-4).
Nora Robb contributed three hits and Trinity Bietz smacked a two-run homer as part of a three-RBI performance.
Ayla Dimmer collected three hits and Paisley Dimmer homered for Gayville-Volin (14-6).
Class B (Alcester-Hudson 7, Florence-Henry 5)
Alcester-Hudson (19-6) used a pair of three-run innings to turn back Florence-Hejnry. Emma Sollberg doubled and singled and Emma Moeller added a double along with tossing a five-hitter with nine strikeouts on the mound.
Haley Hlavacek hit a double, triple and home run for the Falcons (11-3). Allison Stark chipped in with a double and Elizabeth Reiter allowed only four earned runs with nine strikeouts in six innings.
Class B (Chester 10, Deuel 0)
Chester (18-1) grabbed control with a five-run second inning, which proved to be more than enough for pitcher Lauren Roberts. She tossed a one-hitter in the five-inning win.
Gracyn Goehring's single proved to be the lone hit for Deuel (14-6). Pitcher Katrina Hagberg finished with 13 strikeouts.
Class A (West Central 15, Elk Point-Jefferson 0)
The top-seeded Trojans (21-0) plated 13 runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to a three-inning win that included a no-hitter with six strikeouts by Emillee Stofferahn.
West Central's 14-hitt attack included three hits by Izzi Parsons and two hits apiece by Ayla Kramer, Hanna Raethz and Jocelyn Nilson. Kramer laced two triples and drove in six runs. Raethz hit two doubles.
Class A (Madison 7, Tri-Valley 2)
Amanda Vacanti fired a four-hitter with nine strikeouts in seven innings for Madison (16-4), which received two hits apiece from Mara Klingbile, Ella Malone and Cambree Hunsley. Malone clubbed a two-run homer.
Emry Jones hit a two-run homer for Tri-Valley (13-8).
State Softball Preview:Second sanctioned state tourney runs Thursday through Saturday in Aberdeen
Class A (Dell Rapids 11, Dakota Valley 0)
Claire Wynja went 3-for-4 with a homer and six RBIs and Jaycee Tebay 3-for-3 with two triples and a homer for Dell Rapids (13-2). Lexi Ingalls added two doubles and Kate Kvigne tossed a one-hitter with five strikeouts in the five-inning game.
Addie Dickson had the lone hit for Dakota Valley (10-11).
Class A (Tea Area 16, Beresford 0)
Two six-run innings guided Tea Area to the four-inning win.
Kalli Boom, Addisyn Hansen, Skyler Haines, Shealy Geelan and Abby Boom each had two hits and Emily Froendt homered and drove in three runs for the Titans (14-4). Hansen also allowed only one hit and fanned eight batters in four innings.
Lily Seivert singled for Beresford (15-10).
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
Local News
Comments / 0