SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Class ‘A’ Region Playoffs are set to begin on Saturday, May 21 with four teams advancing to the State Tournament.
The 2022 regional playoff bracket was released by the South Dakota High School Baseball Association earlier this week and here’s a look at the bracket and what to watch for this weekend:
REGION 1
Roosevelt enters Region 1 as the top seed in the entire tournament. The Rough Riders finished 17-1 this season.
Pierre and Yankton enter as the eight and nine seeds. The Governors are 14-12 on the season, while Yankton sits at 12-10.
The two teams have yet to meet in the 2022 season.
Pierre has relied on their offense this season as they’re scoring more than seven runs per contest, but that’ll be tested on Saturday. The Bucks are allowing just 4.9 runs per game defensively, which means we could be in for a good battle.
The Bucks have been solid at the plate as well. They’re scoring seven runs per game.
The winner between Pierre and Yankton will have to meet red hot Roosevelt. The Rough Riders have won 11 straight games and they’ve lost just one game all season.
It takes a lot of skill to go 17-1 in class ‘A’ high school baseball, which is why the Rough Riders have looked sharp on both sides of the ball.
Roosevelt is scoring nearly nine runs per game while allowing their opponents to score just 3.6 runs.
REGION 2
Brandon Valley is the host team for Region 2 as they finished the season with a 13-3 record. The Lynx will meet Rapid City Central in the first round of the regionals.
Saturday’s matchup will be the first time that the two teams meet this season.
Brandon Valley will look to rely on their pitching staff as they own a team earned run average of 4.026. Trey Sejnoha is their innings leader as he has thrown 28.2 innings this spring. He owns a 2.198 ERA.
The Cobblers enter Saturday with a 4-17 league record. RC Central has a team batting average of .265 and they’ll look to use that on Saturday, in order to score runs against a tough BV pitching staff.
The winner of that contest will play the winner of Sioux Falls Lincoln and Rapid City Stevens.
Lincoln finished the season with a 9-9 record, while the Raiders closed the year at 9-14.
The Patriots will look to rely on their offense as they own a team batting average of .289. Mason Tolrud is batting an impressive .375 to lead the way.
Saturday’s first game in Brandon could see a lot of hits as Rapid City Stevens owns a .304 team average. Colton Nesland has been their leader as he has 29 hits and a .403 average.
REGION 3
Region 3 will be played at Bob Sheldon Field in Brookings. The Bobcats went 17-7 this season and now they’ll meet Huron in the first round.
The Tigers finished the season with a 6-11 league record. Brookings and Huron met in a doubleheader back on Wednesday, May 4. The Bobcats cruised to a pair of wins at 7-2 and 13-2. They met a third time on Sunday, May 15. Brookings won that game 7-0.
The Bobcats have relied on a stingy defense and pitching staff this season. Despite the move to metal bats, Brookings has found a way to hold opponents to just 3.33 runs per contest this season. They’re allowing just 3 runs per game in their 13 contests during May.
The Tigers have struggled on offense, but their pitching staff has been solid. Huron owns a 4.51 team earned run average, led by Mason Davis. He’s thrown 31 innings and owns a 2.68 ERA.
The winner of the Huron and Brookings matchup will meet either Sioux Falls Washington or O’Gorman.
The Knights have relied on one of the most consistent pitching staffs in the state. Their team ERA is 3.96, but the problem is the amount of unearned runs this season. The OG pitching staff has allowed 92 earned runs and 67 unearned runs. The team has 69 defensive errors this season.
The Warriors finished 10-10 in league play, including a season sweep of O’Gorman in two games.
Washington is allowing their opponents to score more than eight runs per game this season, but their offense has been their go-to side of the ball.
The Warriors are scoring eight runs per game and they’ll look to rely on that against a strong pitching staff from O’Gorman.
KELOLAND Media Group will have coverage from Region 3. The two winners of the 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. games will meet at 2 p.m. in a state qualifying contest.
That state qualifying game will livestream on KELOLAND.com with play-by-play being provided by KELOLAND.com’s Grant Sweeter.
REGION 4
The final region will be played at Cadwell Park in Mitchell. The Kernels will meet Sioux Falls Jefferson, followed by Harrisburg and Sturgis.
Mitchell enters the playoffs with a 15-7 record, while their opponent, Sioux Falls Jefferson sits at 6-18.
The Kernels are scoring more than 8.5 runs per game, but they’re also allowing just four runs per contest. That combination of strong hitting and stingy defense will certainly help Mitchell in the postseason.
Offense has been the strength for Jefferson as they’re putting up more than seven runs per league game this season, but they’ve really struggled on defense. The Cavs are allowing seven runs per game defensively, which is certainly taking away from the offensive production that they’ve seen.
The winner of the 12 p.m. game will meet either Harrisburg or Sturgis.
Harrisburg’s go to this season has been on the offensive side of the baseball. The Tigers own a team batting average of .312, led by senior standout, Tyman Long. He’s batting .419 this season and has a state high eight homeruns.
However, Saturday’s contest may see some run production as the Sturgis Scoopers own a team average of .324. Dustin Alan has been their leader as he is hitting .427 this season with an on base percentage of .511.
One team will advance from each of the four regions and those four teams will play for the Class ‘A’ State Championship on Saturday, May 28.
KELOLAND Media Group will have coverage both on-air and online of the Class ‘A’ Regions.