Reloaded Trojans baseball readies for postseason play behind powerful pitching

May 13—PARKSTON, S.D. — For the Parkston/Ethan high school baseball program, much has changed in a year's time.

That is, except for the winning.

Despite a largely new-look starting lineup and a shift in style of play, victories have continued to roll in for the Trojans. Nine in a row, in fact, to give Parkston a 13-1 overall record as the regular season nears its conclusion.

If the postseason started Tuesday, the Trojans would be the No. 1 overall team by seed points, just ahead of unbeaten Winner/Colome and defending state champion Dell Rapids. As the top team in Region 1B, Parkston has earned the right to host its four-team regional qualifying pod, a first in the history of the spring ball program.

"The past few years, baseball has been thriving in Parkston. We've had good support, and so baseball has been a pretty important part of the summer overall," said Trojans' head coach Jeff Harris. "But it seemed like we've kind of had it all line up this year. It means a lot for us to get a play in front of our home crowd, which always seems to turn out incredibly well for us."

A year ago, Parkston/Ethan/Tripp fielded a potent offense built around creating pressure on the basepaths. It was a successful recipe, to say the least.

During the spring high school season, the Trojans went 12-5 and made a run to the Class B state semifinals. Later in the summer, with many of the same players, the Post 194 American Legion squad posted a 14-6 mark and finished as the Class B state runner-up.

From those teams, Parkston graduated five first-choice starters, including a first-team all-state outfielder and three more all-region talents.

Yet, somehow, the 2025 squad is off to an even hotter start.

"I definitely had confidence that this group was as good as we've had in the past," Harris said. "We knew we lost a good chunk of core players, but we also knew that the bench was going to be deep, and we were expecting to have a solid year this year."

Where last year's team carved out an advantage with their legs, this year's group is separating itself on the strength of a stable of quality pitching arms.

"Last year, we were kind of run-and-gun and caused havoc on the base paths whenever we could," Harris said. "We've had good pitching in the past, but this year, every time out, the starters have been phenomenal, and they've stepped up in the big situations."

Through May 11, the Trojans own a team earned-run average of 1.57 with opponents' batting .158 against the team's pitching. Leading the way, senior Carter Sommer has a sparkling 0.71 ERA over 29 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, through 18 innings, Wyatt Anderson's ERA remains a flat 0.00, as the junior has yielded just two hits. Kash Neuguebauer and Grady Bowar, the remaining two Trojans with double-digit innings on the mound, both maintain sub-2.6 ERAs.

While many players on this year's team experienced the successes of 2024, albeit most in a different role compared to this year, any pressures to continue winning have had little impact.

"If there is any pressure on them, they don't seem to show it. They just kind of go out there, have fun and play baseball," Harris said. "Through a lot of different sports, this group has had success, so I think they've learned to play with pressure whenever it's there. It seems like we've been up against the ropes a few times this year, but there's never really any panic."

But there still looms the challenge of finishing what other teams ahead of them started and winning the final game of the season, as Parkston looks for its first state baseball title since going back-to-back in 2007 and 2008.

With their blend of experience in the spotlight and depth, the Trojans feel like they're equipped to make another run at the top, starting with regional play next Tuesday, May 20. Should Parkston advance, the eight-team Class B state tournament is set for May 26-27 in Brookings.

"These guys know what to expect," Harris said. "Now we've just got to show up and play the games."